Hokkaido

Hokkaido is Japan's northernmost and second-largest island, with a character categorically different from Honshu's: less than 150 years of systematic settlement, landscapes that read as frontier rather than cultivated, and a food culture built on dairy, seafood, and produce that Tokyoites travel explicitly to eat. Sea urchin from Rishiri Island, crab from the northern coasts, dairy and beef from the eastern plains, the ingredients move south on the Shinkansen; the experience of eating them at their source does not.

Niseko, in the southwest of the island, receives some of the most reliable powder snow in the world, a consequence of cold Siberian air picking up moisture over the Sea of Japan before hitting the first mountains. Annual snowfall is measured in metres, often well over ten. The resort infrastructure is predominantly Japanese with significant Australian investment over the past two decades; the backcountry is extraordinary for those with certified mountain guides.

Furano, in the centre of the island, is blanketed in lavender from late June through July, planted originally to supply the perfume industry and now grown largely for the visitors who come to see them. The Cape Erimo lighthouse at the island's southern tip and the Shiretoko Peninsula (UNESCO-listed in 2005, with a remote tip that can only be seen by boat) complete the argument for Hokkaido as a destination in its own right rather than a footnote to Tokyo.

Hokkaido is the ancestral home of the Ainu, an indigenous people with their own language, beliefs and crafts. For much of modern history their culture was suppressed, and Japan only officially recognised the Ainu as an indigenous people in 2019. Upopoy, the National Ainu Museum and Park on the shore of Lake Poroto, opened in 2020 and offers a thoughtful introduction to Ainu history, dance and craft. The village of Akan, on the shore of Lake Akan in the east, has a small Ainu community with workshops and performances.

Sapporo, the capital, is a modern city laid out on a grid, known for its beer, its miso ramen and the Snow Festival held each February, when giant ice and snow sculptures fill the city centre. Otaru, a short train ride away, is a former herring port with a canal lined with old warehouses, glass workshops and some of the best sushi on the island. Hakodate, in the south, has a morning market, historic Western-style buildings and one of Japan's most famous night views from Mount Hakodate.

The national parks are the island's greatest assets. Daisetsuzan, in the centre, is Japan's largest national park, with volcanic peaks, alpine meadows and hot springs, and it is one of the first places in Japan where autumn colour appears, often in mid-September. Akan-Mashu, in the east, has crater lakes of striking clarity. Shiretoko is home to one of the highest densities of brown bears in the world, best seen on boat trips along the coast. In the east, red-crowned cranes gather in the Kushiro wetlands in winter, performing their courtship dances in the snow.

Hot springs are everywhere. Noboribetsu, south of Sapporo, has a volcanic valley known as Hell Valley, and dozens of inns draw on its sulphurous waters. Jozankei, an hour from Sapporo, is a convenient hot spring town in a forested gorge.

Each season has its appeal. Winter, from December to March, is for skiing, snow festivals and drift ice off the northeast coast. Summer, from June to August, is cooler and less humid than the rest of Japan, ideal for hiking and flower fields. Autumn, from September to October, brings early colour to the mountains.

New Chitose Airport, near Sapporo, has flights from across Japan and Asia, and the bullet train reaches Hakodate from Tokyo in around four hours. Distances are large, so a car is the best way to explore outside the cities. Seeing more than one region takes at least a week.