Japan's Far East 7 Day Wild Winter Tour - February Special

We will meet at our hotel at 6:00 pm near JR Abashiri Station in Abashiri, the largest city on Hokkaido’s eastern Sea of Okhotsk coast. Once everyone is gathered, we will spend some time getting to know each other and introducing the program for our upcoming adventure before we set off for dinner in downtown Abashiri. For those who aren’t used to walking on icy roads, we will introduce you to the penguin-walking technique!

We’ll have breakfast at the hotel before we head south for Lake Kussharo, where a flock of Whooper Swans spend the winter. Lake Kussharo, found in the Akan–Mashu National Park, is the largest caldera lake in Japan. In winter, nearly all of the lake’s surface is frozen, save for some parts of the shore where hot spring water bubbles up from underground. The swans flock to these hot water areas to have a warming soak!

We will explore the lake shore by snowshoe, hoping to spot avian visitors to the forest. Some birds commonly seen in the area are woodpeckers, tits, Eurasian Nuthatches and the Eurasian Jay. They will keep you busy with your binoculars. We’ll enjoy a picnic lunch if the weather is favourable. Otherwise, we will have lunch at a local cafe.

We will leave for Utoro in the afternoon. Utoro is the gateway town to Shiretoko National Park. The national park is also a UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site and we will stop by the World Heritage information centre before checking in at our accommodation for the night.

Ready to wake up with a dip in the icy ocean? Well, this morning is all about that! The drysuits will keep us afloat, dry and warm– so don’t worry if you are not a good swimmer.

After breakfast at our hotel, we will meet our guides, receive safety instructions and get kitted up to soak in the cold sea. We will keep our normal winter clothes on, such as fleeces and light down jackets, to act as warming layers under our drysuits.

The exact location of our walk/swim depends on the location of drift ice on the day, which has floated all the way south from northern Sakhalin to the coast of Shiretoko. The drift ice is a natural phenomenon that can be seen on the Okhotsk coast every winter, generally from February to March. However, the scale of the ice has been observably shrinking in recent years due to climate change.

After we enjoy the experience of walking on the floating ice, we will come back ashore and have lunch in Utoro. The afternoon sees us travel to the fishery town of Rausu on the other side of the Shiretoko Peninsula. In the evening, we visit an outdoor onsen hot spring, which is maintained by local volunteers passionate about hot spring bathing.

Renowned for its kombu seaweed and sea urchins, the peculiar submarine topography makes Rausu a prosperous fishing town. It’s not just humans that visit to fish though, the rich waters attract all sorts of wildlife and local fishermen offer wildlife watching cruises to share this experience with visitors. 

After having breakfast at our hotel, we set out for a 2.5-hour cruise with Shiretoko Nature Cruise. If we are lucky we will see Steller’s Sea Eagles, White-tailed Eagles, Brunnich’s Guillemots, and Steller’s Sea Lions. After the cruise, we will have lunch in downtown Rausu before travelling on to Yoroushi Onsen.

It’s not just hot spring visitors who come to Yoroushi Onsen. A few Blakiston’s Fish Owls visit from time to time to feed in the river running behind our hotel. The Blakiston’s Fish Owl is the largest owl in the world and has lived in Hokkaido’s forests for centuries. The Ainu people worship it as kotan-kor-kamuy , the protector of the village.

While it is impossible to know when the owls will turn up, the hotel has a comfortable viewing lounge where you can relax on comfortable sofas while you stay up and wait for their visit. When they arrive the large windows let you photograph them from the warm indoors. What more could you ask for!

After staying up late to wait for the appearance of the owls, wake yourself up with a soak in the hot springs. The onsen is open throughout the night into the morning at Yoroushi Onsen. Japanese visitors often take a bath before breakfast at these onsen retreats.

This morning we will depart for the Lake Mashu lookout and we will snowshoe along the outer rim of Mashu caldera. The lake is known as “Misty Mashu” for its mist and fog that frequently settle in the caldera, creating mystical landscapes.

We take in the serene views of the surrounding snow-covered landscape before transferring to Lake Akan’s onsen village.

We will have dinner at our lodging and then go out for an Ainu night concert at the Lake Akan Ainu Kotan (settlement). Like many other indigenous cultures, the Ainu did not have forms of writing; their folklore is deeply embedded in song and dance that varies from region to region. Tonight we will appreciate the traditions presented by the Akan Ainu.

Forming part of the Akan–Mashu National Park, Lake Akan is a picturesque area to explore on foot, with volcanoes and old growth forests surrounding the caldera lake. After having breakfast at our hotel, we venture into the forest, guided by a local Ainu. Our guide will teach us about Ainu history and their way of life, living in harmony with nature.

We will have lunch at a restaurant run by a local Ainu family to experience Ainu cuisine before we head south to Tsurui village.

Tsurui is famous for the successful recovery of Red-crowned Cranes. Their population has rebounded to over 1,200 birds in the area surrounding Tsurui, with a reasonably high chance to see one even from the main roads. We will visit the Ito Tancho Sanctuary to observe the cranes and learn about the community efforts which have contributed to their recovery..

Our lodging tonight has a unique moor hot spring containing plant-derived organic substances. The Tancho gallery/bar in the annex makes a perfect setting to celebrate our final night together.

For early birds and keen birders, we can get up before dawn to go out and see the cranes taking off in the early morning. They nest on the river next to our lodging, spending the night in a flock and leaving all at the same time to feed.

We will have breakfast at a more civilised hour at our lodging and then drive for about 1 hour to Kushiro City to complete the tour. We can drop you off at either Kushiro JR Station or Kushiro Airport between 10 am and 11 am.