Outdoors, National Parks, Japanese-style Living, Hot Springs (Onsen), Volcanic Activity, Scenic Drives

<aside> 🍁

Autumn: Colourful Maple Leaves, Scenic Drives, Hiking

</aside>

<aside> ❄️

Winter: Skiing, Crane Watching, Drift Ice, Snow Festival

</aside>

<aside> 🌸

Spring: Cherry Blossoms, Hiking, Skiing, Scenic Drives

</aside>

<aside> 😎

Summer: River Rafting, Lavender Fields, Hiking

</aside>

<aside> ⛩️

All Year: Hotsprings, Ropeway Rides, Stargazing, Ainu Culture

</aside>

<aside> 📅 Duration: 6 - 20 days

</aside>

<aside> 👣 Activity Level: 4 / 5

</aside>

<aside> 💱 Expense Range: $$$

</aside>

<aside> <img src="/icons/dining_red.svg" alt="/icons/dining_red.svg" width="40px" /> Vegan/Vegetarian-friendly: Limited but we will figure it out for you

</aside>

<aside> <img src="/icons/map-pin-alternate_blue.svg" alt="/icons/map-pin-alternate_blue.svg" width="40px" />

Hokkaido: Youngest & Wildest of Japan's 4 main islands

</aside>

<aside> <img src="/icons/info-alternate_blue.svg" alt="/icons/info-alternate_blue.svg" width="40px" />

About Hokkaido: The island that was stolen, then forgotten, then discovered

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island, yet it accounts for over 20% of the country's total landmass — and less than 5% of its population. It was home to the Ainu — an indigenous people whose language & customs had nothing to do with the Japanese mainland. That changed in 1869, when the Meiji government formally annexed the island.

Hokkaido's irrational beauty — forged by millions of years of geological fury — is packed across six national parks:

• Daisetsuzan National Park: Japan's largest national park, featuring towering peaks, deep gorges, and early autumn colors.
• Shiretoko National Park: A World Natural Heritage site known for its dramatic cliffs, brown bears, and sea ice.
• Shikotsu-Toya National Park: Known for its large, clear caldera lakes (Toya and Shikotsu) and active volcanoes.
• Akan-Mashu National Park: Features old-growth forests, crater lakes with high transparency, and volcanic activity.
• Kushiroshitsugen National Park: Protects the largest marshland in Japan, home to the endangered red-crowned crane.
• Rishiri-Rebun-Sarobetsu National Park: Situated at the northern tip, it highlights alpine flowers and stunning sea-isolated peaks. </aside>

<aside>

Recommended Season: Hokkiado is an all year destination depending in your seasonal preferences.

</aside>

Activities covered / Highlights:

1. Marvel at Mt Yotei, Hokkiado’s answer to Mt Fuji
2. Ride the ropeway up Mt. Asahidake — Hokkaido's highest peak inside Daisetsuzan National Park
3. Stand inside Obako Gorge & watch the twin waterfalls — Ryusei (Shooting Star) and Ginga (Milky Way) falls
4. Stare into the Shirogane Blue Pond in Biei
5. Drive the Shakotan Coast — one of Japan's most dramatic coastal roads; turquoise water, steep sea cliffs, and a cape called Kamui that juts into the Japan Sea
6. Walk across Mt. Usu's Volcano Craters near Lake Toya — cross a landscape reshaped by a 2000 eruption; what looks like quiet hills is still quietly breathing
7. Raft the Shiribetsu or Chubetsu River
8. Lose an afternoon at Asahiyama Zoo
9. Hike to the Shiretoko Five Lakes on raised wooden boardwalks
10. Cruise the Shiretoko Peninsula by boat — sea cliffs, waterfalls, and brown bears
11. Climb Mount Rishiri
12. Walk the flower fields of Rebun Island
13. Witness the endangered red-crowned crane & canoe through Kushiro Marshland, Japan's largest wetlands
14. Experience volcanic scenery and pristine caldera lakes of Lake Mashu
15. See giant and rare marimo algae in Lake Akan