It’s no secret that hot spots such as Tokyo and Kyoto are saturated with tourists. But ample room to roam can still be found in the northern reaches of Hokkaido, the second largest of Japan’s four main islands. Its expansive blanket of forests, farms and mountains accounts for nearly a quarter of Japan’s footprint but has less than five per cent of its population.
Powder hounds have long flocked to for top-tier skiing, and the world-famous Sapporo Snow Festival draws more than two million to the prefecture’s capital each February. But even when it’s not winter, Hokkaido has plenty to offer — and you’ll have relatively few people to share it with. That’s especially true in the remote tippy-top of Japan.
On a clear day, it’s possible to see Russia from Cape Soya, a windswept promontory hovering around the same latitude as Montreal. It was not a clear day in August as I stood on the cape in the drizzling rain, snapping an obligatory photo of the triangular monument marking the northernmost point in Japan.
I arrived at Cape Soya after a short flight from Tokyo to Wakkanai, a fishing port that felt like a ghost town compared to the neon-lit megalopolis.
Wakkanai sure makes the most of its geographical superlative as Japan’s northernmost city. The “” visitors’ guide invites travellers to touch the northernmost railway line in the country, for example, and to have fun at Japan’s “northernmost multipurpose complex,” where you can shop a food market or soak in an onsen. But Wakkanai’s real appeal to tourists is as a gateway to Japan’s northernmost national park, Rishiri-Rebun-Sarobetsu.
The park covers a swath of coastal sand dune forests and wetlands on Hokkaido’s northwest edge, along with large portions of Rebun and Rishiri islands. These two specs of land bobbing in the Sea of Japan are only 10 kilometres apart, yet each feels distinct — and far away from Japan’s well-trodden , the Tokyo-Osaka-Kyoto tourist trail.
The Momoiwa Observatory path is one of several hiking trails on Rebun Island.
Lori RacklA ferry ride of nearly two hours from Wakkanai took me to Rebun, the smaller of the two islands. About 2,200 people live here. That’s less than the number of pedestrians pouring into Tokyo’s Shibuya Crossing at peak times when the walk signal comes on.
Rebun is known as the floating island of flowers. The dreamy descriptor stems from the 300-some varieties of alpine plants that bloom on its rolling hills, including rare species of lady’s slipper orchids and edelweiss. Also unusual: Many of these high-altitude flowers grow at sea level. That’s thanks to the island’s cool climate, where daytime highs typically don’t get above 20 degrees.
The mild weather was a welcome contrast to steamy Tokyo, where restaurants’ fake-food displays were melting in a heat wave, and seemingly everyone had a hand-held fan aimed at their face.
My mid-August visit meant I was too late to catch Rebun’s flower show in all its glory. That spectacle usually happens in June and July. But uncrowded hiking trails and scenic overlooks still delivered on rugged beauty. Steep cliffs plunged into azure water on the wilder west side of the island. On the south end of Rebun, a gentle uphill walk on the Momoiwa Observatory path led to a tantalizing view of my next destination, Rishiri Island, a 45-minute ferry trip away.
The name Rishiri comes from the Indigenous Ainu people, who inhabited Hokkaido long before Japan fully took it over in the late 19th century. It means “high island,” a reference to the 1,721-metre-high, cone-shaped mountain that juts from the sea.
Mount Rishiri reflected in Himenuma (Hime Marsh), a popular photo op when the weather cooperates.
Hokkaido Tourism OrganizationThis dormant volcano cuts a striking silhouette, especially when its deep ridges and gullies are covered with snow. At just about any souvenir shop in Japan, you’ll see this iconic image emblazoned on boxes of Shiroi Koibito cookies, a much-loved Japanese confection made with Hokkaido’s famed dairy. The manufacturer, a Sapporo-based company called Ishiya, also uses Hokkaido dairy to produce milky, soft-serve ice cream that’s next-level delicious.
When Mount Rishiri isn’t wearing its white winter coat, it attracts hikers, who can take one of two long routes up the mountain. Shorter, less demanding treks include a 30-minute amble through old-growth forest on a boardwalk surrounding Himenuma (Hime Marsh). The pond is a popular photo spot for its mirror-like reflection of the mountain, a scene that’s even more spectacular when fall colours work their magic.
A 60-kilometre road follows the entire circumference of the island, home to roughly 5,000 people and an airport for those who don’t want to take the ferry. Cyclists can bike the perimeter for a full lap around Rishiri’s mini Mount Fuji.
I rented a bike from my hotel, , and stuck to the well-marked cycling route that follows the island’s northern edge. I had the path to myself, blissfully pedalling for 25 car-free kilometres, past meadows of tall grass and fishermen’s weathered houses.
Hokkaido’s nutrient-rich waters produce some of the country’s most coveted seafood and kelp, a type of seaweed that packs a big punch of savoury umami flavour. The kelp that flourishes off the coast of Rishiri is highly sought after, by both people and the spiky sea urchins that devour it.
Long rows of harvested kelp dry in the sun on Rishiri Island.
Hokkaido Tourism OrganizationI used a pole with a net to pry one of these sea urchins off a long strand of kelp at Kamui Seaside Park, tucked into the island’s west coast. During the warmer months, visitors here can pay 2,000 yen to pick their own spiny sphere and crack it open at tables set up along the rocky shore.
I gingerly scooped jiggly, egg-yolk-coloured lobes out of the urchin’s shell and ate the fresh-as-it-gets uni. The creamy, sweet delicacy is yet another reward for those who make the time and effort to travel to Japan’s far north.
Lori Rackl travelled as a guest of the Hokkaido Tourism Organization, which did not review or approve this article.
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