Things to Do in Hokkaido, Japan

Upopoy National Ainu Museum and Park

Japan's National Ainu Museum, With Ainu Language on Every Label First

The national centre for Ainu culture, opened in 2020 on the shore of Lake Poroto in Shiraoi: the ...

Lake Mashu

A 212 m Deep Caldera You Can Only See From the Rim, Fog Permitting

A caldera lake 212 m deep, walled in by cliffs up to 350 m high, that you look down on from obser...

Michi-no-Eki Shikabe Kanketsusen Koen

A geyser, a footbath and seafood you steam yourself

A roadside station on Route 278 in Shikabe, built beside a hot-spring geyser that goes off roughl...

Rebun Island

Rebun Island: Flower Trails at the Far End of the Wakkanai Ferry

A long, low island west of Wakkanai, reached only by a ferry of about two hours. From late May to...

Shiretoko Five Lakes

Shiretoko Five Lakes: a Free Bear-Proof Boardwalk, or the Forest Trail With a Lecture or a Guide

Five small lakes in old forest about 14 km past Utoro, inside the Shiretoko World Natural Heritag...

Michi-no-Eki Mashu Onsen

A hot-spring footbath and trip planning between Lake Mashu and Lake Akan

Teshikaga's roadside station sits close to where Routes 241, 243 and 391 meet, which makes it the...

Michi-no-Eki Niseko View Plaza

Farm stalls under Mount Yotei

Where Route 5 meets the Iwanai–Toya road in Niseko, local farmers sell their own vegetables besid...

Mount Moiwa

A Ropeway and Mini Cable Car to Sapporo's Night View at 531 m

A 531 m forested hill on the south-west edge of Sapporo, reached by a ropeway and then the small ...

Mount Usu and Showa-shinzan

A Volcano That Grew From a Wheat Field, and One That Erupted in 2000

Mount Usu, the active volcano on the south shore of Lake Toya, and Showa-shinzan, the lava dome a...

Noboribetsu Date Jidaimura

An Edo-period town with ninja and oiran shows near Noboribetsu Onsen

A recreated Edo-period town on the road up to Noboribetsu Onsen. No rides; the point is the shows...

Goryokaku Fort

Hakodate’s star-shaped fortress marks Japan’s encounter with Western military design at the end o...

Matsumae Castle

Hokkaido’s northern frontier history comes into focus at Matsumae Castle, where an original gate ...

Michi-no-Eki Utoro Shirietoku

Salmon lunch at the gateway to Shiretoko

The roadside station in Utoro, on Route 334 next to the Shiretoko World Heritage Center. Eat salm...

Jozankei Onsen

Sapporo's Own Hot Spring Town, an Hour by Bus, With Kappa Statues and a Red Bridge Over the Gorge

Jozankei is inside Sapporo's city limits, in the mountains of Minami-ku, about an hour from Sappo...

Lake Kussharo

Dig Your Own Hot Bath on the Beach at Japan's Largest Caldera Lake

Japan's largest caldera lake, about 80 square kilometres, in Akan-Mashu National Park. At Sunayu ...