Moiwa Primeval Forest

What is the Moiwa Primeval Forest?

The Moiwa Primeval Forest covers the slopes of Mt. Moiwa, a forested peak that rises directly from Sapporo's southern districts. While the city of nearly two million people grew rapidly through the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the deep woodlands clinging to Mt. Moiwa's flanks were spared from logging and development. The result is a rare urban-edge forest where the natural vegetation of southwestern Hokkaido has continued more or less undisturbed for centuries.

The forest is especially celebrated for the diversity of its broad-leaved trees. Records from the original designation list a remarkable roll call of native species, including katsura, Japanese big-leaf magnolia (hoonoki), kobushi magnolia, Amur cork tree (kihada), Japanese quassia (nigaki), painted maple (itayakaede), linden, prickly castor oil tree (harigiri), Japanese tree lilac (hashidoi), white birch, monarch birch (udaikanba), Erman's birch, Mongolian oak (mizunara), and Sakhalin fir (todomatsu). Together with hundreds of understorey plants, more than 400 species have been recorded across the protected area.

Why It Was Designated a Natural Monument

On March 3, 1921, the forests of Mt. Moiwa were designated a National Natural Monument by the central government, alongside the nearby Maruyama Primeval Forest. The designation came at a time when Hokkaido's wild landscapes were rapidly being converted into farmland and timber plantations following the Meiji-era opening of the island, and scholars and citizens recognized that the forests of Mt. Moiwa offered an irreplaceable window onto the original vegetation of the Ishikari region.

Two qualities made the area particularly valuable. The first was its unusual richness in deciduous broad-leaved species, which provided researchers with an exceptional living archive of the cool-temperate forest type that once covered much of southwestern Hokkaido. The second was its location: a substantial tract of near-natural forest right on the edge of a fast-growing city, where it could continue to be studied, enjoyed, and learned from by future generations. To this day, entry off the marked trails requires a permit under the Cultural Properties Protection Act, and the forest is also protected under Japan's Forest Act, with the Ishikari Forest Management Office overseeing its care.

Highlights of a Visit

Ainu Heritage and the Sacred Mountain

Long before the forest received its modern designation, Mt. Moiwa was sacred to the Ainu, the Indigenous people of Hokkaido. In the Ainu language, the mountain was known as Inkar-ushi-pe, meaning roughly "the place where one always climbs to look out." The mid-nineteenth-century explorer Matsuura Takeshiro, who travelled extensively through Ainu territory, recorded that for the Ainu, Mt. Moiwa was both a lookout and a revered mountain inhabited by kamui — the spiritual presences of nature. This older layer of meaning still hangs over the forest today, lending its silent groves a quality of presence that visitors often remark on.

Around the Forest: What Else to See

Mt. Moiwa sits within easy reach of Sapporo's main attractions. The Maruyama Primeval Forest, designated as a National Natural Monument on the same day in 1921, lies a short distance to the north and offers a gentler walk with similar tree species. Nearby Maruyama Park is home to Hokkaido Shrine, one of the most important shrines on the island. In central Sapporo, travelers can explore Odori Park, the historic Clock Tower, and the lively Susukino district. For those continuing further afield, the hot spring town of Jozankei lies up the valley to the southwest, while Otaru's canals and seafood markets are a short train ride away.