About Ashiribetsu Waterfall (ashiribetsu-no-taki [あしりべつの滝])
The Ashiribetsu Waterfall (ashiribetsu-no-taki [あしりべつの滝]; “New River Falls?”) was a pair of opposing waterfalls falling somewhat towards each other when we saw it during our July 2023 visit.
That said, the main drop is the one on the right side, and it’s where the Atsubetsu River is said to drop 30m easily making it the largest waterfall within the city limits of Sapporo.

I’d imagine that the waterfall on the opposite side of the cliff was where excess water on the Atsubetsu River flows, and thus the double waterfall phenomenon that we saw may only be a temporary occurrence.
Indeed, this is considered one of Japan’s Top 100 Waterfalls as gazetted by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment in 1990.
The name of the waterfall is said to be Ainu meaning “a new river”, and I’m not sure if they’re talking about the Atsubetsu River as a whole or the phenomenon where the second waterfall shows up.
Nevertheless, for such a large waterfall within the Takino Suzuran Hollside National Government Park in the suburbs of Hokkaido’s largest city, we were surprised by how quiet our visit was (though it was by no means empty).

To access this waterfall, we found the main car park for the Takino Suzuran Hillside Park though we had to fight GoogleMaps which kept ignoring it (see directions below).
By the way, this park is also accessible by public transportation (not surprising since it is so close to Sapporo City).
Anyways from the paid car park, we walked a mostly flat and paved 1.1km path (or 2.2km round-trip though my GPS said 1.2km each way and 2.4km round-trip) along the Atsubetsu River.
The path led us past vending machines, restrooms, quaint forest, picnic grounds, bridges, and spur trails to other waterfalls (e.g. Shiraho Falls, which we didn’t pursue).

After the second of a pair of bridges almost back-to-back, we noticed that there was a rather bare grassy cliff that may have seen a landslide or two.
At the end of the trail, there was yet another bridge spanning the river right in front of the Ashiribetsu Waterfall.
When we saw the waterfall in its two-waterfall state, we couldn’t get a clean look at both waterfalls at the same time due to foliage obstructions.
In any case, that bridge was the dead-end, and we pretty much went back the way we came for a nice family-friendly outing that took us around 80 minutes away from the car.

It turned out that the Takino Suzuran Hillside Park also has another waterfall called the Masumi Falls though its access was closed during our visit.
Maybe one of these days, we’ll be back when the closure is done, and we might finally see what that part of the park is all about…
Authorities
The Ashiribetsu Waterfall resides in the Takino Suzuran Hillside National Government Park in Sapporo City on Hokkaido, Japan. It may be administered by the local officials of Sapporo City. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, you can try visiting the Takino Park website.
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