Hokkaido
Hokkaido
A spacious island located at Japan's northern extremity with festivals throughout the seasons. A region with an abundance of natural beauty. Hokkaido is an island at Japan's northern extremity, surrounded by sea in all directions. It is an extensive land, accounting for 22% of Japan's total land area. Low humidity makes the summers pleasant, while in winter you can enjoy winter sports. The island is gaining popularity as a tourist destination throughout the four seasons. In Hokkaido you can enjoy the magnificence of nature to your heart's content: Daisetsu-zan National Park, which forms the roof of Hokkaido; the secluded Shiretoko-hanto Peninsula; Kushiro Marsh, home to many precious living things such as Japanese cranes; Shikotsu-Toya National Park, which is full of volcanoes and lakes; and the ever-changing Shakotan-kaigan Coast. There are also numerous hot springs, like the Noboribetsu-onsen, Jozan-kei-onsen and Soun-kyo-onsen, where you can enjoy a leisurely bath to help you get over the fatigue of your journey.
Sapporo Snow Festival
Sapporo turns into a snow museum! Internationally renowned and Japan's largest snow festival. Sapporo turns into a snow museum!Internationally renowned and Japan's largest snow festival.Rows of small and large snow statues are on display at three sites in Sapporo City during this festival, which is visited by two million people including overseas tourists. Odori Park which serves as the main venue is located in the city center, and a space extending 1.5km transforms into a snow museum. International Square (Nishi 11 chome, Odori) becomes the stage for the International Snow Statue Contest and every year more than 10 teams compete from all over the world. As this is a park, you can drop by whenever you like. The lit-up snow statues are so beautiful (-22:00). Moreover, the ice sculptures displayed at the Susukino Site, which is also a famous nightspot district, create a truly fantastic world. Here, you will discover unique works with Hokkaido delicacies such as crab, cuttlefish and salmon frozen inside the ice, which are fun to look at.
Hakodate
A vibrant and active morning seafood market. A unique blend of Japanese and Western architecture exists in the city. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido and facing the Tsugaru Strait, Hakodate developed as a port town for trade with foreign countries at the end of the 19th century, and is a gateway connecting Hokkaido with Honshu by the Seikan Tunnel. A morning market is held at the bay area near the railway station, where more than 360 stalls packed tightly together attract shoppers with freshly caught squid, scallops, salmon eggs, Atka mackerel, and many other kinds of fresh fish and shellfish. A five-minute walk will take you to the moored Seikan Strait ferryboat, named the Mashu-maru Memorial Ship, which used to link Aomori in Honshu with Hokkaido. There is a restaurant and a coffee shop at its bow where you can spend a nice, relaxing time viewing the scenery around the port.
Otaru
The town's nostalgic, old-fashioned mood is enhanced by its architecture and layout. A beautiful large canal flows through it. Otaru is situated in the western part of Hokkaido, facing Ishikari Bay. It has developed and prospered as "the sea entrance of Hokkaido" over the last 100 years and it has gained the nickname "Wall Street of the North." The glassworks shops, coffee shops, restaurants and shopping malls along the canal have been converted from stone-built or brick-built warehouses, which were used for storage in the days when commerce flourished and the canal was crowded with jostling barges. When night falls, oil lamps on the cobbled streets are lit, and the town evokes a gentle, nostalgic mood.Otaru's nickname is "the town of hills" as there are so many hills, including Jigoku-zaka (hell hill) - a very steep slope, and the long, winding Funami-zaka. Mt. Tengu-yama that towers behind Otaru is a popular ski resort in winter. There is an observation point on Mt. Tengu-yama, and the panoramic view including the whole of Otaru and its port area is absolutely wonderful. There are also cable cars to take you to the mountaintop.
Kushiro Marsh
Kushiro MarshTwo thousand spectacular varieties of animals and plants thrive in Kushiro, Japan's largest marshland. Kushiro Marsh stretches out to the north of Kushiro in eastern Hokkaido. This is a huge marsh with an overall area of 183 square kilometers, and was the first Japanese marshland registered under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. Two thousand varieties of animals and plants live there, including Hokkaido deer and the white-tailed sea eagle. In summer, all sorts of wild flowers bloom, while in winter it is home to Japanese cranes, a designated special natural monument.Observation points for viewing the wide marshland have been set up in the surrounding hills. A sightseeing walkway has been built at the marsh observatory in Kushiro so that you can walk around the marsh. The Hoso'oka Observatory offers great views of the winding Kushiro-gawa River beneath and the Akan Mountain Range in the distance.
Daisetsu-zan
A thriving world of art, filled with sculptures. Set against the magnificent background of Daisetsu-zan mountain range. Asahikawa is located almost in the center of Hokkaido, and is the second largest city in the prefecture after Sapporo. The city is full of natural splendor, with the magnificent Mt. Daisetsu-zan in the background and 120 rivers flowing through it. It is also the gateway for tourism to Soun Gorge and the Furano area. Asahikawa's thriving art world has led it to be called a town for art. Sculptures that made a famous sculptor dot the shopping park along Heiwa-dori Avenue, the road that leads straight from Asahikawa Station.Situated on a hill overlooking the town, the Hokkaido Traditional Arts and Crafts Village is full of buildings resembling castles from the Middle Ages in Europe, and has the atmosphere of an amusement park. There is a gallery of works made using the world-famous Yukara-ori, the traditional textile fabric of Hokkaido, from which you can get a better understanding of traditional Japanese fabric.
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