Furano (富良野市, Furano-shi) is a city in the prefecture of Hokkaido, Japan, located in the southern reaches of Kamikawa Subprefecture, under whose jurisdiction it resides. Well known throughout Japan as a tourism destination, it is famous for its lavender fields, the television drama Kita no Kuni kara and the Furano Ski Resort, which held the Snowboarding World Cup in recent years. As of September 2016, the city has an estimated population of 22,715 and a density of 38 persons per km2 (98 persons per sq. mi.).
The total area is 600.97 km2 (232.04 sq mi).
Furano's main attractions are outdoors, though there are a few other options.
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Alcohol can be bought from convenience stores or most hotels, either in the restaurants or via vending machines. There are several local businesses, as well.
Local goods include Furano Wine and carrot juice. Hotel shops and grocery stores sell these.
The nearest airport to Furano is Asahikawa, which has flights to major Japanese cities but only limited seasonal connections elsewhere. Furano Bus has around 7 services per day directly from the airport (1 hour, ¥840).
During the ski season, Hokkaido Access Network also runs direct buses from Sapporo's much larger New Chitose Airport (3 hours, ¥5000).
Furano is known as Heso no Machi (the Belly Button Town) due to its central location. Furano's inland location (almost 100 km -- about as far inland as Japan gets) and high elevation result in a continental climate, the reason behind Furano's successful ski hill and wine industries. There is a very large temperature variation, so a light jacket is recommended even in the summer. Summer midday temperatures may exceed 30 °C, and midwinters will drop below -30 °C. Furano has very heavy snowfall in the winter.
The population is approximately 26,000, including the incorporated communities in the outskirts. The population of the main municipal area is said to be about 16,000. Don't expect to meet a large number of English speakers outside of the major hotel and tourist areas.
There has been a substantial increase in foreign skiers and snowboarders, particularly from Australia. Furano seems set to enjoy the same skiing success that Niseko has.
Meanwhile, the Furano Basin has become more and more famous for its summertime lavender fields, which draw multitudes of visitors from Taiwan and China as well as from all over Japan.
