Japan observation deck
Taisetsu Observatory
You can see 26 km from here, looking south-east.
Calculating the panorama…
Drag to turn around. The relief is drawn 2.2 times taller so the ridges can be read; far ridges are paler, as in the real air.
The view
Up to 26 km away.
Calculated on the relief one degree at a time, up to 250 km, with the curvature of the Earth and the refraction of the air: what stands above the horizon from here.
Our own rating, from the relief and the climate only: open horizon (35 points), how far you see (25), sea and named peaks in view (20) and clear months (20).
- 26 kmFarthest ridgelooking south-east
- 96%Open horizonof the circle where the horizon is below your eyes
- 20Peaks in viewnamed summits that rise above the relief in front
- 401 mAltitudeabove the sea, at the highest point of the viewpoint
The 20 peaks you can name from here
From west to east as you turn around: height, distance and direction. Each one links to its guide on Peakyas, our mountain atlas.
From the relief only: buildings, trees and haze are not in the model. On a hazy day you see much less; 250 km is the limit of our calculation.
The sun
The best sunsets are from April to May and from September to October.
When the sun really disappears from this viewpoint — behind the relief or into the sea — and in which direction, on the 15th of each month, in local time.
- Jansouth-west14 min before the sea-level sunset13%
- Febwest14 min before the sea-level sunset17%
- Marwest18 min before the sea-level sunset22%
- Aprwest22 min before the sea-level sunset26%
- Maynorth-west8 min before the sea-level sunset27%
- Junnorth-west8 min before the sea-level sunset26%
- Julnorth-west8 min before the sea-level sunset24%
- Augwest22 min before the sea-level sunset24%
- Sepwest20 min before the sea-level sunset28%
- Octwest8 min before the sea-level sunset27%
- Novsouth-west16 min before the sea-level sunset14%
- Decsouth-west14 min before the sea-level sunset10%
- Time: when the sun goes behind the horizon you see from here.
- Minutes: how much earlier the relief hides the sun.
- %: share of clear sky that month (NASA, 2001–2020).
The highlighted months are the clearest. Golden hour starts about an hour before.
The place
Taisetsu Observatory.
Taisetsu Observatory is an observation deck in Japan, 401 m above the sea.
On a clear day the farthest ridge you can see is 26 km away, looking south-east.
20 named peaks rise above the relief in front; the most prominent is Mount Ryōun (2,125 m), 21 km away.
The horizon is open, below your eyes, over 96% of the circle.
The skies are clearest from April to May and from September to October.
Get there and stay
- Going upCheck the opening hours before you go: towers and decks close in bad weather.
- 上川ファミリーオートキャンプ村campsite · 2.1 km · 2 within 10 km
- Anshindo Micro Hotelplace to stay · 1.0 km · 4 within 10 km
- Kamikawanearest town · 2.1 km in a straight linePlaces to stay in KamikawaBooking.com · sponsored link↗
- Asahikawa Airport (AKJ)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 33 km in a straight lineCar hire at KUH airport (Kushiro)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
Plan the visit
A guided tour, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
From above
The viewpoint and its surroundings.
The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the viewpoint, with what OpenStreetMap shows nearby.
Around, in OpenStreetMap
- 2named peaks within 5 km留辺志部山, 江差牛山
- 24car parks within 3 km
- 10restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- 2campsites within 10 km上川ファミリーオートキャンプ村, きのこの里あいべつオートキャンプ場
- 4places to stay within 10 kmAnshindo Micro Hotel, さつき荘, ヴィラ and 1 more
- other viewpoints within 5 km
- cable car and funicular stations within 5 km
- marked trails within 3 km
- shelters and huts within 5 km
- visitor centres within 5 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.
In our other atlases
What you see from Taisetsu Observatory, and what is near.
Everything around this viewpoint — mountains, water, forests, birds, caves and the night sky — in the family's atlases.
Peakyas47 mountains within 25 km
Canyonyas1 canyons within 20 kmFigures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap, GBIF). Links open when each site is online.
Photographs
The view, as people saw it.
Other viewpoints nearby.
Taisetsu Observatory
Japan
- 51Viewyas Score
- 26 kmFarthest ridge
- 20Peaks in view
- 401 mAltitude
Hitsujigaoka Observation Hill
Japan · 146 km
- 78Viewyas Score
- 144 kmFarthest ridge
- 135Peaks in view
- 139 mAltitude
Okurayama Ski Jump Stadium
Japan · 149 km
- 78Viewyas Score
- 148 kmFarthest ridge
- 124Peaks in view
- 273 mAltitude
Hosooka Observatory
Japan · 160 km
- 79Viewyas Score
- 151 kmFarthest ridge
- 128Peaks in view
- 50 mAltitude
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q11441802) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Sun | J. Meeus, Astronomical Algorithms |
| Peaks in view | Peakyas (Wikidata, CC0) |
| Panorama and altitude | Copernicus DEM GLO-90 / GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Clouds | NASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2) |
| What is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Sister atlases | Peakyas, Islandyas, Darkskyas, Canyonyas, Riveryas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.
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Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit 
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Every cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit 
dark skies
Where the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit 
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Every viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.You are here
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