The Furano and Biei districts of central Hokkaido transform each summer into Japan’s most celebrated flower landscape — rolling hills striped with lavender, sunflowers, poppies, cosmos and salvia in bands of saturated colour against a backdrop of the Tokachi mountain range. The landscape, shaped by decades of flower farming and increasingly sophisticated agricultural tourism, draws visitors from across Japan and the world between late June and mid-August.
The Lavender Season
Lavender — introduced to Hokkaido as a perfume ingredient in the 1950s — defines Furano’s summer identity despite competition from synthetic fragrances reducing commercial cultivation. Farm Tomita in Nakafurano is the region’s most famous lavender farm, operating continuously since 1976 and maintaining fields visible from Lavender Farm Station on the JR Furano Line during summer. The farm’s gentle hills of purple bloom, typically peaking in the third and fourth weeks of July, are among Japan’s most photographed summer images.
Early July brings early-blooming varieties; late July–early August sees the main lavender bloom alongside purple salvia, pink cosmos and yellow sunflowers in the interplanted field strips that produce the characteristic multicolour banded compositions. The lavender harvest — when fields are cut before the bloom fully completes, producing the maximum fragrance — often occurs in late July to early August.
Farm Tomita and the Furano Valley
Farm Tomita (Naka-Furano) maintains seven distinct flower fields across a hillside, each named for its predominant planting: the lavender field, the rainbow field, the popular field, the dew field. Entry is free; the farm shop sells lavender-based products — dried bundles, essential oil, soap, soft serve ice cream with lavender flavouring — from a building styled as a Provençal farmhouse. The farm’s own branded lavender perfume has been produced since 1974.
Several other farms in the Furano valley offer comparable experiences: Flower Land Kamifurano (largest single flower field in Japan), Nakafurano Town Flower Park, and numerous smaller roadside stands where farmers sell cut flowers and seasonal products directly. A cycling route connecting farms takes approximately 3–4 hours.
Biei’s Patchwork Hills
Biei, 30 kilometres north of Furano, is known for a different landscape: rolling farmland photographed by advertising agencies and nature photographers since the 1970s for its composed patchwork of contrasting crop colours — green potatoes, gold wheat, white buckwheat, brown ploughed earth — on gently curved hills. Unlike Furano’s flower farms, Biei’s landscape is working agriculture rather than ornamental planting, and the compositions are found by exploring back roads rather than entering designated sites.
Several individual trees — notably the “Ken and Mary’s tree” (a solitary elm photographed for a 1972 Nissan car advertisement that became nationally iconic) and the “Seven Stars tree” — became landmarks through advertising photography and are now pilgrimage points for photographers. The Biei town tourism office provides maps of known composition points on the patchwork road and blue pond (Aoi Ike) route.
Biei’s Blue Pond — an artificial reservoir whose colloidal aluminium content produces a brilliant turquoise colour — is one of Japan’s most shared photography subjects. Accessible by bus from Biei Station; the pond has a parking area and boardwalk. Dawn and overcast light produce the most vivid colour rendition.
Getting There and Around
Furano is approximately 2 hours from Sapporo by JR Furano Line (limited service — confirm timetable). The Rich Furano Express operates seasonal summer service from Sapporo on weekends. Biei is on the JR Furano Line between Asahikawa and Furano; the Asahikawa–Biei leg takes 35 minutes. Car rental from Asahikawa or Sapporo provides the most flexibility for the patchwork road exploration in Biei. Cycling rental is available in both Furano and Biei towns. The most efficient approach for a 2-day itinerary combines: Day 1 — arrive Furano, Farm Tomita, lavender area farms; Day 2 — Biei patchwork hills by bicycle or car, Blue Pond, depart via Asahikawa.
Seasonal Calendar
Late June: early lavender varieties and poppies. Early–mid July: lavender peak approach, sunflowers emerging. Late July–early August: lavender peak bloom, multicolour field strips at maximum. Late August–September: sunflowers, cosmos, salvia dominate as lavender recedes. The region’s winter (December–March) offers a completely different aesthetic — snow-covered farmland and bare tree silhouettes favoured by winter landscape photographers.