43°43′N 142°57′E
Daisetsuzan
The Kurodake ropeway into the alpine roof of Hokkaido, where the ground still steams
The Wild North Tour of Hokkaido
27 july to 6 august 2027 · wild north hokkaido
The Wild North Tour of Hokkaido 2027
eleven days · the World Heritage coast in summer
27 July to 6 August 2027
$21,500 per person, twin share
While Honshu sits in the high thirties in July and serious touring is set aside until autumn, the far north of Hokkaido does the opposite. Up here summer means cool clean air with the bite of the mountains still in it, a sea breeze off the Okhotsk, the high country green and in flower, and light that lasts well past eight in the evening. This is the wild north very few travellers of any kind reach: an alpine roof where the ground breathes steam, a World Heritage coast of basalt cliffs falling straight into the sea, a roadless peninsula so rich in its own wildlife that you watch it from the calm of a boat, caldera lakes so clear the colour seems impossible, and a living Ainu community on a lake shore. Your Tour Directors travel every mile of it beside you, and for eleven days your only work is to be there.
44°04′N 144°59′E
Shiretoko
A World Heritage coast on the Okhotsk Sea, read from the calm of the water
44°05′N 145°07′E
Mount Rausu
A roadless peninsula and its wildlife, the eagles, the whales, and the life along its tideline
42°46′N 141°20′E
Lake Shikotsu
The clearest lake of the journey, three nights in a suite with an onsen on the water
signature experiences
kamuy
The north as a living world
The Ainu, the Indigenous people of this island, understand the natural world in a way that is worth carrying with you before you travel it. In their belief, the things of the world are kamuy: the animal on the shore, the owl in the forest, the fish in the river, the mountain, the fire, the sea itself, each carries a spirit and is met with respect rather than mastered. It is a whole way of living alongside a place, one that shaped how people survived in a hard, beautiful country, and it is still carried by the community you meet on the shore of Lake Akan. To travel the wild north with that understanding in mind changes what you are looking at. The animal on the tideline, watched in silence from the water, is not a sight ticked off a list. It is another life, living as its kind always has, in a place that still belongs to it. The whole of this journey, the coast and the lakes and the wetland and the mountains, reads differently once you meet it as the Ainu have always met it: as a world that is alive, and owed respect.
signature moments
The heart of the journey
the wild coast
The wild coast, read from the water
A roadless peninsula and its living wildlife, watched in silence from the calm of a boat: the eagles, the whales of the strait, and a brown bear at the tideline.
the clearest water
The clearest water in Japan
Caldera lakes so clear the colour seems impossible, one sealed below its walls, one you can look clean to the bottom of.
ainu craft
The Ainu craft of Lake Akan
A living community of carvers on a lake shore, met as neighbours, five minutes from your room.
the cool north
The cool north in high summer
Suites with private onsen facing the water, long light until past eight, and the afternoons left open.
Cool, green and long in the light
The high country stays cool and green through July, the light lasting well past eight in the evening.
the itinerary
the itinerary
The shape of the journey
The tour opens high, in the alpine roof of the island, where the ground still steams. It crosses to a World Heritage coast on the Okhotsk Sea for three nights, one of them given wholly to a roadless peninsula and its wildlife, read from the calm of the water. It comes down through the caldera country, past two of the clearest lakes in Japan, to a quiet ryokan on an Ainu lake, then to the great wetland where the cranes came back from almost nothing, and closes, after one short flight across the island, on the deepest, clearest lake of all, with three nights to let the whole north settle. Eleven days of cool clean air, and country that receives very few travellers of any kind.
- Sounkyo, one night
- Shiretoko, three nights
- Lake Akan, two nights
- Kushiro, Noboribetsu, one night
- Lake Shikotsu, three nights
the journey begins at home
Before you depart
The journey begins weeks before Japan. Your Tour Directors meet you in a private video call: introductions, the shape of the eleven days, and your preferences gathered quietly, so every kaiseki kitchen knows your table before you land. A digital welcome pack follows: packing guidance for the season, arrival instructions, and reading worth the flight. By the time you clear arrivals at Asahikawa, you are already known, and already expected.
one night
Sounkyo
three nights
Shiretoko
two nights
Lake Akan
one night
Kushiro, Noboribetsu
three nights
Lake Shikotsu
- Sounkyo, one night
- Shiretoko, three nights
- Lake Akan, two nights
- Kushiro, Noboribetsu, one night
- Lake Shikotsu, three nights
An island traverse, north to south
11
days
10
nights
5
places
8
guests
accommodation
accommodation
Where you stay
sounkyo · night 1
Sounkyo Choyotei
A ryokan set in the gorge at Sounkyo, the onsen on the top floor looking straight out at the columnar cliffs and the ridgeline.
shiretoko, utoro · nights 2 to 4
Kitakobushi Shiretoko
A hotel at the edge of Utoro facing the Okhotsk Sea directly, the rooms with a private open-air onsen on the terrace looking at nothing but the water.
lake akan · nights 5 to 6
Hinanoza
An intimate ryokan of twenty-five rooms on the shore of Lake Akan, each with its own open-air onsen, the Ainu community five minutes on foot.
noboribetsu · night 7
Takinoya
A ryokan of quiet refinement above the volcanic valley at Noboribetsu, the room with its own onsen and the kaiseki table waiting.
lake shikotsu · nights 8 to 10
Ao no Za
The flagship ryokan on Lake Shikotsu, every one of its suites over a hundred square metres with a private open-air onsen facing the water.
tour experiences
tour experiences
Moments along the way
what is included
Looked after, entirely
From the moment you land, everything is anticipated. This is omotenashi, the Japanese art of caring for a guest before they think to ask, and for eleven days it is the texture of the whole tour. A private chauffeur meets you at Asahikawa, and at the close your Tour Directors travel with you by private car to New Chitose for your flight home. Every day between, they travel with the group, by private van and one short internal flight, and every table is laid and every door is open before you arrive. One price, settled before you travel, covers everything from the airport to the last dinner on the lake: every night, more than twenty-five meals, and every arrangement in between. Your only task is to give the north your whole attention, while someone who knows it completely carries the rest.
One price, settled before you travel
$21,500
per person, twin share
every detail was carefully considered
Part of your journey
included, always
All ten nights of the journey, at the properties named above
Your Tour Directors with the group throughout
A private vehicle on certain days, and the one internal flight across the island, Kushiro to New Chitose
A private chauffeur meeting you at Asahikawa, and your Tour Directors travelling with you to New Chitose at the close
Every entrance, and every arrangement in between
the days
The Kurodake ropeway into the alpine roof of Hokkaido, where the ground still steams
A World Heritage coast on the Okhotsk Sea, read from the calm of the water
A roadless peninsula and its wildlife, the eagles, the whales, and the life along its tideline
The blue-black of Lake Mashu and the warm sand of Lake Kussharo
A living Ainu community and its carvers on the shore of Lake Akan
The great Kushiro wetland, home of the red-crowned cranes
The clearest lake of the journey, three nights in a suite with an onsen on the water
at the table
Kaiseki at every ryokan, the cold-water seafood of the north in summer
A robatayaki counter on the Kushiro harbourside
The prized Rausu kelp, as a clear dashi on its own coast
The produce and dairy the cool northern summer makes so good
A farewell kaiseki on the lake
More than twenty-five meals in all, every one included
Every night, more than twenty-five meals, and every arrangement in between: one price covers everything from the airport at Asahikawa to the last dinner on the lake.
the journey
Japan is all we do, and every day of this journey is ours
Your Tour Directors travel every mile of this one with you, in a group that never exceeds eight, a small number of couples and no more. In a country this wild, eight is the perfect number: the right boat for the wild coast, an introduction to a living Ainu community as neighbours, and a room with its own open-air onsen on every lake.
how it works
How it works, and the terms
The process
Enquire through the form and we reply personally. Your Tour Directors will talk the journey through with you on a call whenever you wish. A deposit of $3,500 per person secures your place, and the balance falls due 95 days before departure. Nearer the time, your Tour Directors call you again to prepare you for the days ahead.
Payment
One price, tax included. It covers every night, every transfer, every reservation, and every meal set out in this itinerary. Payment is safe, secure and encrypted, by card or bank transfer.
The terms
Your booking is governed by our Booking Conditions, which set out what is included and excluded, and our cancellation terms in full.
Good to know
We advise on your flights: into Asahikawa, a short connection from Tokyo, and home from New Chitose, and you book them yourself. The one internal flight within the tour, Kushiro to New Chitose, is included. We strongly recommend comprehensive travel insurance, and we are glad to tell you what it should cover.
questions
frequently asked
Questions before you enquire
If your question is not answered here, ask us; it is what the enquiry is for.
How many guests travel on the tour?
What is the pace of the tour like?
What is included in the price?
Can you cater for dietary requirements?
Where does the tour finish?
When does the tour run, and when should I enquire?
Further questions
when to speak to us
A journey that keeps coming back to you
This is a journey that keeps coming back to you long after you are home: the steam curling off the alpine slope, the wildlife of a roadless coast watched in silence from the water, the blue-black of Lake Mashu the moment the rim drops away, the carver's hands at the bench, the onsen on the terrace facing a lake you can see clean to the bottom of. None of it happens in a temple, and none of it happens in the heat, which is the whole idea. Japan cannot be seen, Japan must be discovered, and you have discovered it.
Considered. Intimate. Perfect.
Request the itinerary, and the wild north of Hokkaido is yours, from the alpine high country above Sounkyo to the World Heritage coast of Shiretoko and the clear water of Lake Shikotsu, in a group that never exceeds eight.
27 July to 6 August 2027eight places$21,500 per person, twin share
other journeys
Another tour of the season
from The Japan Edition
Read before you go
On your own dates, or in your own way: The Private Collection, the Custom Tour of Japan, or the Expert Japan Itinerary.