Southern Circuit

The Southern Circuit (道南 Dōnan) covers the western and central parts of the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.

• 🌍 Hakodate (函館市 Hakodate-shi) – domestic tourists come in droves for the food, culture and history
• 🌍 Hokuto (北斗市 Hokuto-shi) – adjacent to Hakodate, terminus of the Hokkaido Shinkansen's first phase; it is a bedroom community for Hakodate

• 🌍 Matsumae (松前町 Matsumae-chō) — it has the only traditional-style castle in Hokkaido, and an Edo village
• 🌍 Oshamambe (長万部町 Oshamambe-chō) — known for Kanimeshi bento (crabmeat on rice)

• 🌍 Onuma Quasi-National Park (大沼国定公園 Ōnuma Kokutei Kōen) - placid lakes and a steaming volcano

Hakodate is the main gateway, with trains north to Sapporo and south to Honshu, as well as ferry connections to Tohoku.