Regional attractions

Takaoka is a quiet farming area in Ishikari-shi, situated about 1 hour away from the center of Sapporo city. From your car window you can see a lovely changing landscape unfold in front of you; at first you see the modern center of Sapporo city, then the huge residential area where two million Sapporo citizens live. Then the scenery changes to the hilly terrain in which you can see the broad stretch of land known as the Ishikari Plain.

The Gonosawa area of Takaoka is located in the valley of Takaoka hills. This is the farmland in which people began wet rice farming for the first time in Ishikari-shi. In the year 1903 an American oil company struck oil in the Gonosawa area, and after they had a town sprung up which had a few shops and even an elementary school. But the oil field was closed down in 1962, and the town disappeared and returned to being nothing more than farm land. Traces of the crude oil still remain, and if you look closely, you can even see the remnants of a crude oil pond. Please enjoy the lovely scenery of Hokkaido, and all of it’s beautiful farms to your heart’s content.