This is Jordan from Hokkaido Treasure Island Travel! While I have been settling into my new Sapporo life and getting used to the flow here at HTIT, the snowy slush I arrived to has turned into hot temperatures and the beautiful sights of Hokkaido’s green season! Although I admit to having a preference for the snowy days of winter, there is a lot to be said for spring and summer in Hokkaido as well. With warm (but generally not too hot, especially when compared to the rest of Japan) temperatures and an abundance of incredible scenery, the fleeting days of spring and summer are not to be taken for granted.
Until recently I have lived in the northern part of Hokkaido. This means that up until I moved to Hokkaido’s largest city and capitol, making the trek from my little house in the countryside to anywhere south of Sapporo was a trip that required a fair bit of planning and a long weekend (at least). It is a good amount of driving to travel from tip to tip in Hokkaido- a drive from Wakkanai, the northernmost city in Hokkaido, to Hakodate, the southernmost city of Hokkaido, is a grand total of 8 hours and 30 minutes- in the summer! Using the highways! And not taking any breaks!
So hopefully you can see what this gap in my Hokkaido knowledge has persisted until my move to Hokkaido Treasure Island Travel. To set about fixing this enormous weak point in my Hokkaido education, I jumped at a chance to join a tailor-made spring trip my colleagues were taking to the south region of Hokkaido. We were going to try out and experience a private trip that one of my colleagues had planned, and give it a shot to see how it would turn out in the spring time.
On this spring tour we traveled from Noboribetsu, Lake Toya, Toyoura, Yakumo, and Hakodate on a several-long day private tour. During that time, we enjoyed a mix of famous Hokkaido onsens, ate some incredible food, and saw some incredible vistas with cherry blossoms! I ended the trip with a lot more knowledge than I had going in and a big desire to travel back to southern Hokkaido soon!
For this blog I’m going to introduce the best things we did on this trip tailor-made for spring. I’ll take you from the hot spring in the wild volcanic area of Noboribetsu to a peaceful time making dessert at the caldera Lake Toya. Then we will travel to Toyoura, famous for its scallops, where we will learn about them, see a genuine fish market, then eat them in an incredible barbecue. After that it is on to Yakumo to spend the day at a rice farmer’s house, where I helped make the best mochi I have ever eaten, then spent a comfortable lunchtime with the farmer and his wife. To top it off was a trip to the historical and vibrant city of Hakodate, to enjoy the time at an onsen hotel and see the cherry blossoms. Plus, at the end, there was a surprise waiting that only people traveling with Hokkaido Treasure Island Travel can experience in their trip to Japan. Let’s go!
The trip started with a quick drive to Noboribetsu, a volcanic area famous for its hot spring hotels and jigokudani– Hell Valley. The smell of sulphur is strong in the area, and all throughout the area there are multiple warnings to not leave the walkways that take you over and through these volcanic vents. Noboribetsu is not that far from Sapporo, but is not the easiest to get to without a car. As a result, I had only visited a handful of times during my time living here.
All of the pictures featured here of my colleague Johannes and his family, who were also along on the trip! He, his wife, and his daughters seemed to have as much fun as I did on our spring tour. I love these views we can see in Noboribetsu- it feels alien and is not something you can commonly see, even in the famously seismically active Japan. The local guides who work here are experts on the history of the area, and are great at explaining about the landscape you are walking through. While I was visiting, I heard that they even do night tours at some points in the year- I’m already planning my next chance to go!
It is because of this volcanic activity that Noboribetsu has such incredible hot springs. There are multiple streams and vents around the town that feed the many onsen hotels in the area, but also you can find hot springs in the surrounding area as well. One such source feeds into a river, which is the perfect place for a foot onsen along the riverside.
A local guide will lead you on a private tour through the forest along a path beside the running water, and then you can rest with your feet in the warm waters. There are multiple small waterfalls along the way, and the mineral content of the hot springs have dyed the rocks and water into interesting colors.
Depending on where you sit or stand, the temperature of the water is different. Standing closer to the source of the hot spring is obviously hotter, and if you sit downriver the temperatures are cooler and easier to stay in for a long time. The river bottom is a thick mud and sand, and it feels so nice to stand in and walk around. I enjoyed sitting and appreciating the less hot areas while watching the kids play! It is such a peaceful area, and only further cemented how much I love Noboribetsu. This was the first time I had visited outside of summer, and I loved the gentle weather that accompanied it.
From Noboribetsu the trip to Lake Toya is about an hour, almost half of it along the ocean. The Lake Toya area is also known for its volcanic activity, though its less readily apparent than Hell Valley or the bubbling hot springs in Noboribetsu. Lake Toya itself is a caldera – a lake formed after a volcanic eruption, obvious from when looked at from above due to its circular shape.
As a result, the Toya area is also famous for its hot springs! But that day we weren’t there to enjoy the onsen- this time we were there for food! Sitting high on the hillside is Lake Hill Farm, a famous location for its beautiful views overlooking Lake Toya and its gelato! I had visited Lake Toya before since I enjoy camping here, but it was the first time I made the trip to Lake Hill Farm. Johannes’ children quickly got work to making the gelato while being guided by the chef from Lake Hill Farm. With the chef’s guidance, they had quickly created creamy and yummy gelato!
The milk used at Lake Hill Farm is all locally produced, so its fresh and so delicious! Making the gelato outside in the fresh air with the incredible views of Mt. Yotei in the back was so relaxing and nice, and made for a perfect spring day in Japan. When we had finished, the kids ran off to enjoy the beautiful weather and scenery that day on Lake Hill Farm. It was with great reluctance that we all piled back into the car to make the transfer to our next location.
The next stop on this trip was in Toyoura, a very short jaunt from Lake Toy and a unique fishing town set on a bay. The area is interesting because it too has been shaped by volcanic activity- the bay is known as Funkawan Bay, or Eruption Bay. As a result the ocean is rich with nutrients and life, and Toyoura is known for its scallops that grow in this bay. In Toyoura you can view the daily fish auction and market while being guided by one of the local people. This is a rare experience in Japan. The day we went the crowd was small, and our guide explained what was happening from the second-story observation deck as various seafoods were sold and bought. Without our guide’s explanation, I would have had no idea what was going on.
A short distance from the auction warehouse is the port, and after a quick transfer over there we were up close to the fishing boats as they came in for the day. There are many different methods of scallop fishing that are practiced throughout Japan, and here you can see nets being brought in from boats. After they are pulled in from the nets, the scallops are sorted by size on a conveyor belt. The belt shakes, and the different sizes of scallops separate out. They are then put into containers to keep until they are sold. I like watching the scallops move in the water. They open and close, and swim around by “flapping” their shells together and speeding around. It is a little eerie to think of them watching me with their many, many eyes from the water, but I love watching them swim. It is difficult to imagine how they move if you only eat them or just see their shells!
To finish out the tour of the Toyoura scallops, the kids participated in the World Championship Scallop Fishing Race! They competed to see who could catch the most scallops using their little rods, waiting for the scallops to clamp down on their lure before pulling them up out of the bucket and transferring the scallop to theirs. There ended up being two races, and two winners! When they finished everyone was hungry from all the excitement, so it was time for a barbecue lunch where we could finally partake in some of the yummy scallops we had been interacting with! Toyoura has some of the best scallops in Japan, so I was super excited.
Spring tours are not complete without barbecues, where you can enjoy the good weather and cherry blossoms while eating incredible Hokkaido food. The visit to Toyoura is not any different, and this tailor-made cozy barbecue at an orchard in Toyoura was incredible. Of course there were scallops, but there was also a ton of fresh vegetables, beef, and venison! The kids helped with the grilling and ate their fill before expending their after-lunch energy playing around the area. Chasing chickens, swinging on swings, bringing us more wood for the fire, and intermittently running back for another bite of delicious food filled our afternoon, and soon everyone was full and sleepy.
Our spring tour continued after a break in Yakumo, a small town in between Hakodate and Sapporo. Yakumo is famous for a variety of things- milk, fish, and – what brought us today – rice! The next stop on our private tour of southern Hokkaido brought us to a local rice farmer’s house. Chiba-san, this farmer, is so friendly and beloved by everyone here at Hokkaido Treasure Island Travel. He is warm and has a great smile, and getting to see him for this trip was so nice!
Chiba-san led us to a building behind his house that he uses when he makes mochi– rice cakes, a famous treat in Japan! Making mochi requires at least two people and a lot of hard work! First, you place rice that has been soaked in water into a mortar that is especially used for making mochi. Then, one person turns the rice while the other person pounds the mass of rice with a mallet. It tends to look like a lot of near potentially finger-crushing misses, and usually ends up being tiring for everyone involved! The mochi that is produced by this effort is well worth it though, as it is delicious, and ends up creamy and rich. This time, everyone took a turn pounding the mochi. Even the kids used little mallets, perfect for their size, to do their part in making our mochi treats.
Once the mochi had solidified into the dough, Chiba-san brought us to a work table so we could roll it into balls and add fillings. Today he supplied us with anko (red bean paste) and strawberries to put in them. The strawberry-mochi we made was perfect and just the right amount of sweet and chewy. I admit to being weak to mochi in particular, but the treats we make at Chiba-san’s house are exceptionally good. Even thinking about it right now as I write this has made me hungry and wanting to go back! This experience and the mini homestay with Chiba-san is not exclusive to a spring tour either- he welcomes visitors throughout the year!
When we finished our mochi-making and gotten partially full by snacking, we headed back to Chiba-san’s house to relax and chat with him and his family. Visiting Chiba Farm is like a tailor-made mini homestay, with time to join his household and relax before heading off to the next destination you have planned. This time we relaxed in his living room around the hori-gotatsu, a type of Japanese seating arrangement with a table over a cavity in the floor, so guests can relax their legs while they are seated. His wife had prepared a few dishes of seasonal mountain vegetables to snack on, and some more sweets that the children happily dug into!
After spending some time talking and giving the kids an opportunity to explore Chiba-san’s farm (and a spontaneous wheelbarrow ride for the little ones!) we set off, everyone carrying a container full of mochi that I personally would enjoy in my hotel room later that night. We were off to spend a night in Hakodate!
The cherry blossoms were blooming in this part of Japan, the weather was warm, and this spring tour was going to wind down in the famous port city of Hakodate. After we arrived, the first thing to do was check into our hotel. This night was lucky for our tailor-made trip, with a stay at an onsen hotel that had a rotenburo– an outdoor bath- directly in the room, exactly suited for this private tour! These types of rooms are perfect for families who want to spend a relaxing night together, especially if you have young children like my coworker does! The rooms were cozy and comfortable, with traditional Japanese futons for sleeping and a variety of yukata available to wear around the hotel. The kids had a fun time choosing out what they were going to wear that night!
But there was no time to sleep yet! Hakodate is famous for its seafood, and we were not going to leave without sampling at least some of that. My coworkers and I headed to eat sushi at one of Hakodate’s famous restaurants. The warm night for this spring tour made walking easy, and we enjoyed spending the evening exploring Hakodate’s nightlife.
Finally, the next day it was time for our tailor-made private tour to come to an end, so we all jumped back into our car and prepared to head back to Sapporo. There was one more special stop on this spring tour, however. While heading back into the city, we stopped at a cherry-tree grove for a final barbecue under the cherry blossoms.
Nestled in the mountains close to Sapporo, this park is beautiful and attracts many visitors during the spring period who come for cherry blossom viewing. However, only visitors who join via Hokkaido Treasure Island Tour can join this sakura barbecue, as the number of people who are allowed to have barbecues here are very limited. Too many, and it could harm the trees! As a result, the owners and caretakers of the park have decided to only allow HTIT customers who join via a private tour.
On this private tour, you don’t need to bring anything. The entire experience is tailor-made for travelers who don’t have barbecue sets or tableware, and the food is all provided as well! The weather was brilliant and beautiful this day, so we all spent a lot of time relaxing around the grill and laid out on the picnic blanket. There was a lot of space for the kids to run and play until they were wrangled by their parents to have a bit to eat around the table. With fresh vegetables, a lot of Hokkaido meat, and refreshing drinks on this sunny day, spending this time in the shade of the cherry blossom trees was a perfect way for us all to end our trip before heading back into the hustle and bustle of our city lives.
Although we didn’t get to experience it on this trip, I also learned on the way back that you can do a similar tailor-made barbecue at Goryoukaku in Hakodate, a famous historical fort. Goryoukaku is famous for its spring cherry blossoms, and I can only imagine how beautiful and fun a special private tour of on outdoor barbecue would be there as well!
If all or just parts of the spring tour I experienced are appealing to you, please reach out to us. If you want to spend time with Chiba-san making mochi and chatting or are eager to hit up all of the famous cherry blossom locations in Hokkaido, we can create a special and private tour for you and whoever you may be traveling with. We are waiting to make your perfect private tour to Hokkaido, tailor-made to your specifications and wishes for your trip. We are looking forward to hearing from you soon!
