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Kyoto · Japan
A vermillion hall and arched bridge reflected in a still pond among autumn maples at Daigo-ji, Kyoto
Kyoto · Japan
Autumn at Daigo-ji, the vermilion hall among the maples.
Two red-crowned cranes standing in snow beneath a larch wood, Hokkaido

a region of japan

Hokkaido

Hokkaido is the northernmost of Japan's four main islands and a prefecture in its own right: caldera lakes, volcanoes, onsen towns and the Ainu north, with Sapporo, Hakodate and Otaru its cities.

Red-crowned cranes, eastern Hokkaido

Prefecture
Hokkaido

overview

Hokkaido, at a glance

Hokkaido covers a fifth of Japan's land and a small share of its people, and it feels it: wide farmland around Biei and Furano, the caldera lakes of Toya, Shikotsu and Akan, the volcanic valley above Noboribetsu, and the Shiretoko Peninsula, a World Heritage coast at the island's north-eastern tip. It was the land of the Ainu long before it was settled from Honshu in the nineteenth century, and the National Ainu Museum at Shiraoi tells that story well.

It is also the best-provided island in Japan for the onsen ryokan of the newer kind: rooms with an open-air onsen of their own on a lake shore or a forested ridge, and kaiseki built on Hokkaido crab, sea urchin, dairy and vegetables. Sapporo is the gateway, by New Chitose Airport, an hour and a half from Tokyo by air; Hakodate is joined to Honshu by the Shinkansen beneath the Tsugaru Strait.

In winter Niseko, the island's English-speaking ski area, draws skiers from across the world for the depth and dryness of its snow.

places

Where to go in Hokkaido

Our tours stay overnightOur tours visit for the dayOn a Custom Tour of Japan

  1. BieiFields drawn in long curves over the hills, and a pond the colour of the sky.
  2. DaisetsuzanThe roof of Hokkaido: volcanoes, high meadows, and the springs at their feet.
  3. FuranoFields in bands of purple and gold, with a line of volcanoes behind them.
  4. HakodateA harbour of churches, consulates and a star-shaped fort, between two shores of dark water.
  5. JozankeiA river gorge of hot springs, an hour from the city and a world from it.
  6. KushiroA great marsh of reed and winding river, and the cranes that dance in it.
  7. Lake AkanA lake of green spheres and Ainu song, beneath two volcanoes.
  8. Lake MashuA lake of deep blue in a crater of cliffs, appearing and vanishing in the mist.
  9. Lake ShikotsuDeep, clear water set in a ring of volcanoes, forty minutes from the airport.
  10. Lake ToyaA round lake in an old volcano, islands at its centre and a young mountain on its shore.
  11. MatsumaeThe one castle of the north, among ten thousand cherry trees on the Tsugaru Strait.
  12. NisekoLight snow falling all day, a volcano across the valley, and an onsen at the end of it.
  13. NoboribetsuA valley of steam above the town, and nine kinds of water below it.
  14. OnumaA lake of small wooded islands, and a volcano standing over the water.
  15. OtaruA herring port of stone, glass and gaslight, with the sea at the end of every street.
  16. Rishiri and RebunA volcano rising straight from the sea, and an island of flowers beside it.
  17. SapporoA northern capital of wide avenues, with the sea's best catch on its counters and the mountains at its edge.
  18. ShiraoiOn a quiet lake by the sea, the culture of the first people of Hokkaido.
  19. ShiretokoWhere the forest meets the sea and the road stops.
  20. SounkyoCliffs of grey stone rising from the river, and waterfalls falling down them.
  21. TokachiA wide plain of wheat and beans, and gardens made by people who love it.
  22. YoichiStone stillhouses by the sea, and the smell of malt and coal smoke on the wind.

journeys

Tours of Japan that include Hokkaido

Each journey below includes Hokkaido; choose one to see its route, dates and price. Every one of them compared on one page: luxury Hokkaido tours.

questions

Hokkaido: questions answered

How do you get to Hokkaido from Tokyo?

By air from Haneda to New Chitose Airport for Sapporo, about an hour and a half, or to Hakodate, Asahikawa, Kushiro or Memanbetsu for the rest of the island. The Hokkaido Shinkansen also runs from Tokyo to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto in about four hours.

How many days do you need in Hokkaido?

A week shows the south-west: Sapporo, Otaru, the lakes and Noboribetsu. Ten days to two weeks adds the centre (Biei, Furano, the Daisetsuzan) or the east (Akan, Mashu and Shiretoko). The distances are long, and the island rewards an easy pace.

What is Hokkaido known for?

Its caldera lakes, volcanic onsen, open farmland, the Shiretoko Peninsula and its wildlife, the red-crowned cranes of the east, the deep snow of Niseko, and its food: crab, sea urchin, salmon roe, dairy and Sapporo's own ramen.

Which Luxury Japan Travel journeys include Hokkaido?

The Summer Tour of Hokkaido, The Cherry Blossom Tour of Hokkaido, Pure Hokkaido, The Autumn Leaves Tour of Northern Japan and The Wild North Tour of Hokkaido include Hokkaido. The Custom Tour of Japan can include anywhere in Hokkaido, on your own dates.

the regions of japan

The rest of Japan

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Reading on Hokkaido

Hokkaido, planned for you.

Tell us when you would like to travel and which places in Hokkaido draw you. We will answer with a journey shaped around them: one of our tours, a journey of The Private Collection, or a Custom Tour of Japan created around your party alone.

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