Overview
Lavender was grown here for perfume oil from the 1940s until cheap synthetics killed the trade in the 1970s; one farm kept its fields, a railway poster made them famous, and the crop came back as agriculture for tourism. Farm Tomita is the largest and is free to enter. In winter Furano’s ski area gets consistent dry snow because storms cross the Sea of Japan and drop it inland at low temperature.
Highlights
The lavender is at its peak in the second and third weeks of July and the fields are busiest at midday; go early. Outside that fortnight the same farms are still worth a visit for the other flower strips and the melon. In winter, Furano is quieter and cheaper than Niseko for comparable snow.