Sumimasen Guide
🌐 Language

Machine translations are made by Google Translate and may contain mistakes. Please check laws and prices (yen amounts) on the English page.

Home › Destinations › Hokkaido

Local rule · Hokkaido

Biei and Furano (Hokkaido) Farm Fields: Why You Shouldn't Step In

Straw bales and a tractor on a farm field in Biei (Hokkaido)
Farm fields in Biei (Hokkaido) are private land where farmers work.Photo: 蔡佩書, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The rolling "patchwork hills" of Biei (Hokkaido) and the lavender of Furano (Hokkaido) look like a giant park. They aren't. Almost every hill you see is a working farm, and the town and its tourism association say visitors keep walking into the fields for photos. This guide explains, from Biei Town (Hokkaido)'s own pages, why stepping in does real damage, what the local photo rules say, and where you can enjoy the same view without worrying anyone.

This page may contain affiliate links. If you buy through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

  • Why one step into a field can hurt a farm for years
  • Snow-covered fields in winter: still crops underneath
  • Biei Town (Hokkaido)'s photo and drone rules
  • Where to stand instead, and when the flowers bloom

Please read this first. This guide is based on the official pages of Biei Town (Hokkaido), the tourism associations of Biei (Hokkaido) and Furano (Hokkaido) (checked October 2026). Signs on site always take priority.

The hills are farms, not a park

Biei Town (Hokkaido) says on its tourism page that most of the hills are private land belonging to farmers. Entering a field without permission is trespassing, and the town adds a second reason that many visitors don't know: germs and pests on the soles of your shoes can infect the crops.

The tourism association goes further. It explains that once a disease such as a nematode infestation gets into a field, that field may be unable to grow certain crops for a long time, which can cost a farming family its livelihood. That is why the town asks you to enjoy the view from viewpoints and paved roads, even where there is no "keep out" sign. Its photo rules say plainly: don't enter farmland, even if there is no sign.

How one step can damage a field How soil on shoes spreads crop disease Four steps. 1: A visitor walks into a field for a photo. 2: Soil, germs or pests on the shoes come in with them. 3: Crops in that field can become infected. 4: The farmer may be unable to grow that crop there for years. Below: stay on paved roads and viewpoints instead. 1Someone walks into a field for a photo 2Soil, germs or pests come in on shoes 3The crops in that field can be infected 4That crop may not grow there for years Instead: viewpoints and paved roads.The view is the same; the field stays safe.
Based on Biei Town (Hokkaido) and its tourism association (checked October 2026).

In winter, the snow is still a field

A smooth white hill looks like an open snowfield. Biei Town (Hokkaido) says that even when the fields are covered in snow, crops such as autumn-sown wheat are growing underneath. The tourism association asks visitors never to step off public roads that have been cleared of snow. Its list of requests also includes two winter warnings for the Blue Pond (Aoi-ike): don't walk on the frozen pond, because the ice can break, and don't throw stones or litter into it.

Biei Town (Hokkaido)'s photo rules

The town publishes photo rules for everyone taking pictures or video. In short:

Drones: Biei Town (Hokkaido) says flying and aerial filming in the town are prohibited in principle, except for people who have permission under the national Civil Aeronautics Act and the landowner's consent, with an application to the town about a week before.

Where you can stand, and where you can't OK and not OK places in Biei (Hokkaido) Two columns. OK: observation parks and viewpoints, paved public roads (keep to the side, move away when cars come), snow-cleared public roads in winter, the marked path at the birch corridor. Not OK: inside any field even without a sign, snow-covered fields, gravel farm roads, the frozen surface of the Blue Pond, flower beds beside paths. OK Viewpoints andobservation parks Paved public roads(keep to the side) Snow-clearedpublic roads (winter) Marked paths only,e.g. the birchcorridor walkway NOT OK Inside any field,sign or no sign Snow-covered fields Gravel farm roads The frozenBlue Pond Flower beds besidepaths
Summarized from the requests of Biei Town (Hokkaido) and its tourism association (checked October 2026).

On the road: don't stop in the middle

The tourism association also asks visitors not to stand or sit in the middle of the road for photos, and to move away quickly when a car comes; it calls this very dangerous. If you stop a car on a narrow road, don't block traffic, and stay on paved roads rather than gravel farm tracks. If you drive, park only where parking is allowed.

Furano (Hokkaido): lavender and sunflowers

The same thinking applies in and around Furano (Hokkaido). The tourism association of Furano (Hokkaido) notes two things worth knowing before you go:

Flower farms and gardens that welcome visitors, such as those listed by the association, are the places to walk among the flowers. Even there, stay on the paths.

A respectful visit in four steps

  1. Plan your stops at viewpoints and visitor-friendly flower farms.
  2. Take every photo from a paved road, a cleared road or a marked path.
  3. When a tractor comes, lower the camera and step aside.
  4. Carry your litter out with you.

The view exists because farmers grow it every year. Keeping your feet on the road is the simplest way to say thank you. For more of Hokkaido, see bears and foxes in Hokkaido, walking on icy sidewalks in Sapporo (Hokkaido) and our Hokkaido destination page.

Last reviewed: October 4, 2026. Rules and signs can change; please follow the signs on site and the official pages below.

References

More in Hokkaido

Photo credits

  1. Straw bales and a tractor on a farm field in Biei (Hokkaido). Photo: 蔡佩書, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  2. Yellow road sign with a bear silhouette warning that bears appear in the area, Hokkaido. Photo: Robert Thomson, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped, title text added)
  3. Snow piled along a sidewalk under street lights at night in Sapporo (Hokkaido). Photo: Fumikas Sagisavas, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped, title text added)

Card images combine these photos with the page title. Photos are used under their licenses (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); adapted images are shared under the same license as the original.