AT A GLANCE
Why go?
Mikuni Pass (listed on Maps as Jikkoku Pass) is the highest point on a national highway anywhere in Hokkaido. At 1,139 metres, the saddle on National Route 273 straddles the border between Kamikawa and Kamishihoro and sits inside Daisetsuzan National Park, on the Mitsumata side of town. Its name recalls the meeting point of three old provinces — Ishikari, Tokachi and Kitami — and the reward for the climb is one of Hokkaido's great wilderness panoramas: a vast, unbroken sea of Yezo spruce and fir falling away into a bowl of forest, with the red S-curve of the Matsumi Ōhashi Bridge threading the valley below.↗↗↗
This is a drive-to-the-summit kind of place. A free parking area and observation deck wait at the top, alongside a seasonal café where people stop for hand-drip coffee and soft-serve with the mountains for a backdrop. The road itself is the attraction: hairpin curves, the long tunnel bored through Mikuni Mountain, and a descent toward Tokachi where the highway looks almost like a brushstroke across the green.↗↗
A view across the East Daisetsu wilderness
From the summit viewpoint the land opens into a giant, mortar-shaped basin of virgin forest — the Tokachi-Mikumata taiga — where Yezo sika deer, foxes and brown bear roam and not a single house stands between here and Daisetsu Lake far to the north. On clear days the panorama reaches to the peaks of the East Daisetsu range, among them Nipesoshu and the Kumaneshiri massif, framing one of Hokkaido's most dramatic high-mountain scenes.↗
The signature sight below the pass is the Matsumi Ōhashi Bridge, a red arch span some 30 metres high and roughly 330 metres long, known locally as a "road to the sky." Its graceful curve against the deep green canopy is the postcard of Mikuni Pass and a favourite photographic stop for scenic-drive travellers.↗↗
Four seasons on Route 273
The pass is reached via the old engineering feat of the Mikuni Tunnel, and the road's story mirrors the change of seasons. In early summer the forest glows with fresh green; in autumn — best from late September to about early October — the slopes turn gold and amber. By the foliage's end the first snow can already make the surface slick, and winter wraps the summit in quiet, snow-covered silence. The mountain breeze keeps the air cool even on summer days.↗↗↗
Pausing at the top
Facilities at the summit are simple but well worth the stop: an observation area, a free car park, public toilets and a rest house. The Mikuni Pass Café serves hand-drip coffee from house-roasted beans and soft-serve ice cream behind large windows looking out over the trees and ridges. It is seasonal — open roughly from late April through late October and closed from early November to mid-April, with hours that can shift with the weather — so check ahead if the café matters to your visit.↗↗↗↗
Building a drive around the pass
Mikuni Pass makes the spine of a memorable day in the Tokachi-Daisetsu highlands. On the Kamikawa (north) side you can pair it with Daisetsu Lake, Sounkyo Gorge and Sounkyo Onsen; on the Kamishihoro (south) side, with the Horoka and Nukabira hot springs, Nukabira Lake and the ghostly Taushubetsu River Bridge, plus Naitai Terrace, one of Japan's largest public pastures. Roadside signage and the rest house introduce the pass's construction history, so allow half an hour to an unhurried hour at the summit to take it all in.↗↗↗
What makes it special
Highest pass on a national road in Hokkaido — 1,139 m on Route 273, inside Daisetsuzan National Park.↗↗
Panorama over the Tokachi-Mikumata 'sea of trees' and the red, S-curved Matsumi Ōhashi Bridge.↗
A little planning goes a long way
- Reach the pass by car: roughly 50–60 minutes from Kamikawa-Sounkyo IC, or about 90–120 minutes from the Otofuke-Obihiro IC on the Doto Expressway. There are no homes or services along much of Route 273 across the pass, so fill your tank beforehand.↗↗↗
- Drive with care in shoulder seasons. The Kamikawa side has a special rain-triggered closure section, deer cross at dawn and dusk, and by early October the surface can turn to ice. Carry chains or winter tyres when there is any chance of snow.↗
- You are in genuine brown-bear country within a national park. Stay on paved areas and viewpoint platforms, keep food sealed, and mind the posted bear cautions around the rest house.↗
- Weather at 1,139 m changes fast — bring layers and rain gear even on a fine day in the lowlands, and check the café and road status before making the trip purely for the summit stop.↗↗
About this guide
Compiled with AI assistance from the sources below; this is not a first-hand visit. Place details collected October 5, 2026. Hours, access and ratings can change; confirm with the venue before visiting.
