SDGs – Focused Private Tour in Northern Hokkaido, JAPAN

ITINERARY HIGHLIGHTS

1. DAY

   01

   Asahikawa Airport - Shimokawa

   Introduction to Hokkaido’s Future City

   Welcome to northern Hokkaido! Arrive via Asahikawa Airport, then hop a train or be picked up by a private driver for your trip further north to Shimokawa. Named one of the Future Cities of Shimokawa, this rural town is attracting a myriad of newcomers from all over Hokkaido. Start this eco-conscious trip with a visit to a woodcarver who has set up shop in Shimokawa, and use waste wood from trees harvested in Shimokawa to make your own pair of personal chopsticks. Tonight dinner will be at a local repurposed pub that is run by a transplant from outside of Hokkaido, and you can experience incredible vegan fare made with the culled shiitake mushrooms produced in Shimokawa.

   

2. DAY

   02

   Shimokawa

   Get outdoors and be rejuvenated in the forest and with yoga

   After a comfortable sleep, head out to the mountain with your local guide. Today you will be walking through the forest while learning about the reforestation efforts in Shimokawa while enjoying the incredible weather and helping the town! With your guide you will help cut down small trees and branches that have sprung up, and after your time in the woods you will head into town to make aroma oil with your harvested branches. While the oil distills from your picked branches, join a relaxing yoga session on the lawn with a truly delightful yoga teacher- a woman who has moved to Hokkaido and Shimokawa looking for a place to raise her family. After you’ve stretched and finished making your unique aroma oil, dinner will be at a famous Shimokawa spot that serves local veggies and ezo venison. This restaurant is loved by the Olympian ski jumpers that Shimokawa has raised!

3. DAY

   03

   Shimokawa - Nishiokoppe

   New ways of local Life

   Today you will say goodbye to Shimokawa and head to the adjoining town of Nishiokoppe. Your base of operations will be a repurposed school that this man and has family have turned into a unique guest house. Join with deer hunters that are responsible for keeping the native deer populations in check, and go foraging and fishing for your dinner ingredients! Their experience will help you find seasonal plants, nuts, and mushrooms, and while fishing learn about their efforts to help reduce the non-native fish species that have been introduced to the river. Bring your finds back into town, where the guesthouse’s owner will use these ingredients to make a custom meal. Don’t worry if you don’t find a lot, she will prepare additional Nishiokoppe foods for you!

   While dinner is being made, learn about the deer hunters’ zero-waste ethos and make leather crafts from the hides of the deer they have culled. This is a unique experience and learning opportunity you can’t get elsewhere.

   

4. DAY

   04

   Nishiokoppe - Takinoue

   Cruelty Free Farming for the Future

   You have the option of a 4-o’clock wakeup on this day to join the deer hunters in a hunt. Whether they get a deer or not, you will learn about their lives and gain a deeper understanding of their goals for Nishiokoppe and the native wildlife populations.

   After you say goodbye, leave for Takinoue. This day you will go to a dairy farmer who is exploring alternative methods of raising cows while also he and his family promote the local town and explore methods of attracting people to this small mountain town. Have fresh milk from his cows, as well as ice cream and local vegetables.

   

5. DAY

   05

   Takinoue - Sapporo

   Say goodbye to northern Hokkaido

   After a walk through the Kinsenkyo Gorge with local guides to look for native birds and animals and a trip to the unique herb or flower gardens of Takinoue, depart for Sapporo to spend your last days in Hokkaido. Your trip to the wild northern stretches of Hokkaido will be something you will never forget.