Home to over five million people, Sapporo is the bustling capital city of the mountainous northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. As Japan's fifth-largest city, Sapporo has earned a worldwide reputation for its excellent local beer and annual winter festival when the streets sport an unbelievable display of superbly crafted snow sculptures. Visitors can look forward to various attractions, including upmarket cafes, glitzy nightlife, a thriving food scene, and excellent shopping. Foodies can head to Curb Market for a sublime selection of freshly caught seafood or to the Susukino area to sample the region's famous miso ramen, which is noodles in a miso-based broth, as well as enjoy a visit to the Sapporo Beer Museum. Niseko Ski Resort is roughly an hour's journey from town and is globally renowned for its extensive network of powdery ski trails for adventure seekers and nature lovers.
Aptly named 'Daisetsuzan', meaning 'Great Snowy Mountains', this extraordinary national park features a number of towering snow-capped peaks, lush valleys, burbling rivers, and vast expanses of primaeval forest teeming with rare and exotic wildlife. The park is located in the centre of the Japanese island of Hokkaido and is the largest natural reserve in the country, covering an impressive 2267 square kilometres. Visitors typically use the hot-spring villages on the park's periphery as a base for hiking trips into the mountains. You will find hiking trails to suit any level of fitness, from trails that traverse the length of the park and take around 5-7 days to complete, with rest huts and campsites stationed along the way. Short day trips up Asahi-dake, Hokkaido's tallest peak, can be summited in 2 to 3 hours, thanks to a head start from a convenient aerial tramway.
The Shiretoko Peninsula in eastern Hokkaido, Japan, juts out into the Sea of Okhotsk. It is said to be the last unexplored region of Japan and consists of steep mountain peaks covered with virgin forests. This pocket of nature, a UNESCO World Heritage since 2005, is also known as the “waterfall kingdom” and hosts an impressive range of waterfalls from the steaming hot-falls of Kamuiwakkayu to the magnificent Oshinkoshin falls that drops into the sea. The land is home to the red fox, sika deer and Ussuri brown bear, while sea eagles, seals and whales can be spotted in the waves. Visitors can see the whole of the peninsula and its cliffs by boarding a sightseeing boat that departs from Utoro Port and can explore the Shiretoko-Goko lakes (The Five Jewels lakes) on foot.
Akan National Park spans the eastern part of the Japanese island of Hokkaido. The park is known for its spectacular natural scenery, which features large, crystal-clear caldera lakes, dramatic volcanoes, tranquil geothermal springs, and lush emerald-green forests. Visitors flock here to marvel at the area's unusual-looking spherical moss that grows into large green balls and to visit the park's quaint traditional village inhabited by the Ainu people who are indigenous to the island. Other activities include canoeing, fishing, mountain bike tours, snowshoeing, camping and relaxing in the hot spring baths on the lakeside after an adventurous day of exploring this vast expanse of pristine wilderness.
