(Sept 19) Every morning the colorful market district near the train station bustles with vendors selling the fresh produce and fresh seafood for which Hokkaido is famous.

(Sept 18) Hakodate takes its name from the Ainu words for “box house”, referring to a trading post built there centuries ago. Over the years it grew into a bustling… Read more »

(Sept 17) Toyako Onsen is located on the shore of Lake Toya, s beautiful caldera lake, at the foot of Mt Usu (Usuzan), one of Japan’s most active volcanoes.

(Sept 15) This figure of an oni is the first thing you see when you emerge from the Noboribetsu train station.

(Sept 14) The Sounkyo hot springs resort is a very small community nestled among the spectacular scenery of the Daisetsuzan National Park.

(Sept 13) As the town’s only business is tourism, most of the street space in Akanko is devoted to hotels, restaurants and (most of all) souvenir stores. Gift-giving is very… Read more »

(Sept 13) The Lake Akan hot springs resort is a small community surrounded by the forests of Akan National Park.

(Sept 12) An area with a number of geothermal sites.

(Sept 11) The starkly beautiful Shiretoko Peninsula (from an Ainu phrase meaning “the end of the earth”) extends north into the frigid Sea of Okhotsk. Much of it is taken… Read more »