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Ⓒ Hill Town Biei DMO
HOME > Japan’s Local Treasures > Biei’s Yellow Flower Meadows
Discover what fate awaits this carpet of yellow on the hillside, and why it is so important
Hill Town Biei DMO
The small town of Biei in central Hokkaido is known for its “Patchwork Hills”.
From mid-September through to early October, bright yellow fields appear in this patchwork tapestry. These are fields of mustard greens or sunflowers.
Unlike Hokkaido’s popular flower meadows, however, they are not planted for tourist entertainment, but as “green manure” crops, forming an important part of Biei’s crop rotation farming technique.
The yellow flowers are allowed to reach full bloom before being ploughed back into the earth to enrich it once again.
It certainly is a sad fate, but the flowers’ sacrifice will be a noble one. Their work is vital, providing essential nourishment to the next crops to be planted in the cycle.
And during their brief tenure, they make Biei’s hills all the more beautiful!
When visiting Biei, please keep in mind that, unlike other Hokkaido’s tourism flower meadows, mustard green and sunflower meadows are private land and are out of bounds to visitors. Please be respectful of local landowners and do not enter any agricultural fields.
How to get there
It takes just 15 minutes by car from Asahikawa Airport to Biei.
Alternatively, you can take a limited express from JR Sapporo Station to Asahikawa Station (1 hour 20 minutes), then a local JR Furano Line train to Biei (35 minutes).
Biei-cho, Kamikawa-gun, Hokkaido
