the japan edition · field notes

Hokkaido

Hokkaido keeps its own calendar: a later, longer blossom, a summer of lavender and clear lakes, an early and deep autumn, a winter of cranes and ice. Three of our published tours are spent wholly on the island, a fourth opens there, and Pure Hokkaido, one of the four journeys of The Private Collection, runs from Hakodate to Sapporo. These pieces follow its seasons across the island, out to the wild east, and to a table unlike that of the rest of the country.

17 articles
Steam from a hot spring drifting past a gorge of yellow, orange and red autumn maplesseasonsAutumn in the North: Tōhoku and HokkaidōTōhoku and Hokkaidō have Japan's earliest great autumn, the colour arriving broad and cold across mountains and open land weeks before the old capitals have begun.the full articleRows of purple salvia in a field below the snow-streaked Tokachi range, FuranoregionsBiei and Furano: the Flower Fields of SummerBiei's patchwork hills and Furano's flower slopes lie forty minutes apart in central Hokkaidō, joined by farm roads, named trees and the Tokachi range that stands behind both.the full articleMature cherry trees in full bloom scattered across an open grass lawn under a bright blue skyseasonsThe Late Bloom: Cherry Blossom in HokkaidōWhen Honshū has turned to green leaf, Hokkaidō's cherry blossom is only beginning: a second spring, weeks behind the rest of Japan, with a deeper pink cherry of its own and plum and cherry flowering side by side.the full articleA dense grove of bare trees standing in a wide, untouched snowfield under a pale winter skyregionsEastern Hokkaidō in WinterDrift ice presses against the Okhotsk coast, the great marsh and the caldera lakes lie under snow, and the far east of Hokkaidō becomes the emptiest and most elemental country in Japan.the full articleThe wooden stage of Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto, built out over the hillside on tall pillarsplanningWhat Eighteen Months Ahead Actually MeansJapan specialists begin the best journeys a year and a half out. The reason lies in the country's own calendars: inns of a dozen rooms, gardens seen by application, and seasons the whole nation travels for.the full articleSugatami pond below Asahidake, white steam rising from the fumaroles on the mountain's flank above green alpine slopes, Daisetsuzan National ParkexperiencesHiking in Hokkaido: the Daisetsuzan TraverseThirteen kilometres across the roof of Hokkaidō, from the steam of Asahidake over the island's highest summit and the rim of a caldera to the onsen of Sōunkyō. The pinnacle of hiking in Hokkaidō, step by step.the full articleSnow-covered Mount Yōtei glowing orange under a clearing winter sky above a snow-laden forest in HokkaidōseasonsHokkaido by SeasonHokkaidō keeps four seasons as distinct as four countries: deep snow in February, cherry blossom in May, a cool, clear July and the first autumn colour in Japan. When to go, and what each season gives.the full articleSea urchin still in its spiny shell, grilling over open charcoal flameexperiencesThe Northern Table: Hokkaidō's FoodCold water, open pasture and a short summer built Japan's northern kitchen: hairy crab and sea urchin, scallops and salmon roe, milk and butter, Yūbari melon, and the ramen of three cities.the full articleA fenced path running out along a narrow green ridge to the rocky tip of Cape Kamui, the sea clear turquoise on one side and dark blue on the other under a summer skyregionsA Hokkaido Itinerary: Seven Days, Ten Days and the Route for Each SeasonHokkaido is a fifth of Japan, and the right itinerary keeps to the part of it a week can encompass. Seven days from Hakodate to Sapporo, ten days through Biei and the lakes in summer, a winter route to the drift ice, and the ryokan for every night.the full articleRows of lavender in full bloom across a farmed field in central Hokkaidō, the flower spikes dense with colourseasonsHokkaido's Lavender SeasonEvery July the farm hills of central Hokkaidō turn the clearest colour of the Japanese summer. When the lavender peaks, and how a Mediterranean flower came to a northern island in 1937 and stayed.the full articleSnow-covered gassho-zukuri farmhouses with steep thatched roofs in Shirakawa-go, a snowy mountain ridge under a clear blue sky beyondseasonsJapan in Winter: Snow Country, Onsen and a Quiet KyotoWinter is the season Japan keeps for itself: snow on the thatch of Shirakawa-go, macaques in a steaming spring in Nagano, drift ice off Hokkaido and Kyoto at its quietest. Where to go, and why it is worth it.the full articleThe white keep of Matsumae Castle, its gold roof ornaments bright against the sky, beside a branch of cherry blossomregionsMatsumae and the Castles of the Northern BloomHokkaidō's late cherry blossom season belongs to three places: Matsumae's park of ten thousand trees flowering in turn, the star-shaped fort of Goryōkaku seen from above, and Hakodate, one of the first two ports Japan agreed to open to foreign ships.the full articleA path of diamond-patterned stone pavers leading straight to a small temple gate between trees in spring greenplanningHow to Plan a Japan ItineraryA Japan itinerary works when it is built on rhythm: enough nights in each place, honest transfers, and a clear decision about what to leave out.the full articleSapporo under snow seen from high above, the towers of the city centre catching low winter light and the white plain stretching to the horizon beyondcultureThe Sapporo Snow Festival: Dates, the Three Sites and Where to StayEvery February Hokkaido's capital builds a city of snow down the length of Odori Park. When the 2027 festival runs, what each of its three sites offers, how to see it well, and where to stay in Sapporo and beyond.the full articleA yellow gondola climbing above a sea of cloud at the Unkai Terrace, Tomamu, HokkaidoseasonsSummer in Hokkaido: The Japan Skiers Never SeeFor twenty years the world has come to Hokkaidō for its snow. The Japanese come in summer, for caldera lakes, empty roads, the wild coast of Shiretoko and the kitchen the whole country eats from.the full articleA pair of red-crowned cranes calling together with visible breath in the cold air over a snowy fieldexperiencesThe Cranes of KushiroThe red-crowned crane spends its winter in the marsh and farmland around Kushiro, dancing in pairs on snow-covered ground, the courtship of a bird recovered from the edge of extinction.the full articleRed maple leaves over a mountain stream in autumn colourseasonsThe Foliage Front: How Japan's Autumn MovesJapan's autumn colour moves as a front, from the mountains of Hokkaidō in September to the temples of Kyoto in late November. Where it stands in a given week decides where a traveller should be.the full article

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