Hokkaido 🇯🇵 10 Things to Do in Northland Japan

Hokkaido 🇯🇵 10 Things to Do in Northland Japan

Hokkaido is Japan’s northernmost island, an absolute dream for nature lovers, winter sports fans, and foodies. Everyone is talking about Hokkaido as a hidden gem of Japan. In this video, I will show you my top 10 places to visit in Hokkaido. From buzzing cities to untouched wilderness, there’s something here for everyone. The first place in our list is the capital of Hokkaido, Sapuru. I went to Sapuru in spring and in summer. I had more fun in summer, but I still have to visit it in the winter. It’s famous for the Sapuru snow festival in February where giant snow and ice cultures take over the city. Sapuru is a great start in Hokkaido because you can experience a big city very different from Tokyo but still with all the things you love. Don’t miss the Sapurobia Museum. Try a bowl of authentic miso ramen in the famous ramen street and stroll through Odori Park. I stayed in a hotel in Suzukino. It was amazing. It is the center of the city with all the bars, either kaya and neon lights. Here you can also find the great nika sign which features a whiskey blending master called hungle bird. The second spot on our list is Nu. Nu is world famous for its perfect powder snow. I think for most people skiing is the reason for their visit in Hokkaido. And it cannot get much better than Niko. You can reach Nico in 1 hour and 40 minutes by car or in 2 and 1/2 hours by the Hakodate line from Saburu station. The ski season usually starts in late November or early December and can’t continue until early May depending on snow and weather. Even if you’re not skiing, this place is just magical in the winter. Enjoy relaxing in an onen while watching snowflakes fall. Go snow showing or just admire the snowy moon. A hot onen in the middle of a mountain in the winter is the best. I remember this one time when I went in onen near to Mount Fuji. Had snow around and could just enjoy the amazing view. Niko has an international vibe, but it still feels authentically Japanese. For number three, we have Hokkaido’s second largest city, Asai. It is best known for Asaiama Zoo, one of Japan’s most creative zoos, where you can watch penguins walk right past you. If you visit in winter, check out the Asaiava Winter Festival, which has impressive snow sculptures as well and a more relaxed atmosphere than Sapuro. I still have to experience a winter festival in Japan myself. Looks so much fun to go to these bars and use some ice cups to drink your drinks. Asawa serves as well as a great gateway to a lot of nature spots in Nokaido. We also spent a night there to go afterwards to Furanu for the lavender fields. It takes less than 2 hours to drive from Sapuru or Asai. If you want to hear more details about the place on this list, check out my other videos. Moving on, let’s take a look at Notoriet Hokkaido’s most famous hotring resort. I love hotring resorts in Japan. They just feel so cozy and beautiful. And is there anything better than a hotring in wintertime? The highlight in Nobodyu is Chikokuani or also called Hell Valley. Here you can walk among steaming vans and bubbling hot springs surrounded by volcanic landscapes. In my opinion, the reddish volcanic landscape doesn’t look like planet earth. After a long day of exploring Hell Valley, you can finally treat yourself with one of the famous ones in the town. I can recommend you the hotring Yumoto Sagirio. It looks very authentic and even has an ogre stone sculpture. Takes 90 minutes to drive from Sabro to Nubets. In Europe, hiking became extremely popular in the last years. So for our number five, we have a nature spot for all of you. Daisatsukan National Park is located in the central mountains of Hokkaido, roughly north of Oai. The national park is a 2 and 1/2 hour drive from Sapo. You can already enjoy your trip on the road because it’s filled with rivers, forests, and mountain views along the way. You can find their easy day hikes and also multi-day trekking routes. Do not feel afraid if you don’t have hiking experience. I also often go to national parks to enjoy the calm ride and some nice relaxing walks in the nature. If you are lucky, you may also see some wildlife such as deer, foxes, or many bird species. If you are unlucky, you may also see Hokkaido brown bear. I’m not a bear expert, but I still prefer to not see them. In the mountains of Japan, you can very often find small hotspring places which you can enjoy fully for yourself. A favorite for many is our next spot, Furano. You can see it in many pictures if you Google Hokkaido in the summer. You will see that Furano becomes a sea of purple thanks to its lender fields. They’re among the most iconic sites in Hokkaido. The blooming season is in July. Similar to the other spots, it takes around 2 hours to drive from Sapuro to Vuranu. If you know Japan, then you know that Japanese love seasonal flavored items. So, you may have the chance to try some lavender ice cream or some lavender flavored soft drinks. Another very famous mustsea is just 40 minutes from Furano by car. I’m talking about the Shiro Blue Pond. Its blue color comes from minerals in the water and changes slightly with sunlight and season. Inside of it, you can see many dead trees sticking out of the water. What a great scenery like from a fantasy book. Coming in at number seven is a historic port city with a European touch, Hakodate. Hakodate was often mentioned as a place worth to visit, so I had to go there as well. My favorite in the city is clearly the Mount Hakodata rogueway, which brought me up to the Mount Hakodata Observatory. The observatory is pretty big, so even though it’s crowded, there are many different views to enjoy. While walking through the city, buildings like the old public hall or some churches are giving you a very unique European presence. I enjoyed a lot the star- shaped Fort Gyukaku, which reminded me so much of my trip to Kopmah, Denmark. They also have a star- shaped fort which is called Castell. Takes you 4 hours to drive from Sapuru to Hakodat. Hakodat is also the last place you can reach from Tokyo with Shinkan which takes 3 and 1/2 hours. If you’re interested in a JRES, you can check out my description. If you’re looking for a place close to Sapuru, then Otaru is the place to go. You just need to take the rapid airport train from Sapuru station and after 36 minutes, you arrive in Otto station. Utaru is a small city, but it’s a lot of fun visiting it. You have the great bakeries, very cool music box museum, and the famous Otto Canel. I also made a video about it. Next up, we have a place for professional Japan travelers. I’m talking about the northernmost place in Japan, Wakana. Obviously, because it is a 5-hour drive from Saburo. Most people will not want to go there, but for everyone who wants to say that they saw Japan from one tip to another tip, they have to go there. I went there and I found my favorite onen. It is kind of cool to have accomplished that. And I’m also very fond of visiting less touristic places. Because I know that you guys probably love Japanese food as much as I do. I chose for my number 10 the restaurant Kani Koten. I saw that place the first time in a video of Abroad in Japan where they saw the gigantic fish and bear sculpture from the distance. I also saw it by coincidence and had to eat there. I was surprised because the food was amazing. My friend had a beautiful seafood bowl and I had a gigantic deep fried crab leg. At least I think it was crab. It costed around $20. I’m impressed you stayed until the end. Let me give you something back by making a video about your favorite spot in Japan. For the first person who writes a comment, I will make the third next video about their

I spent multiple weeks in Hokkaido and want to tell you about the 10 best things to do. It is a top list of my favorite places and things. You can use it as your travel guide.

🗺️Sapporo: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Y5zd24HuXogqWK6s9
🗺️Niseko: https://maps.app.goo.gl/4t5K4DVWpwdKt4cL6
🗺️Asahikawa & Asahiyama Zoo: https://maps.app.goo.gl/o97mVV3Mk1RxEPG99 & https://maps.app.goo.gl/hY1S3rGMY398MP2eA
🗺️Noboribetsu: https://maps.app.goo.gl/fMh4SMY1nmzLet487
🗺️Daisetsuzan National Park: https://maps.app.goo.gl/YKA2c6mjKaj7CFfb8
🗺️Furano & Blue Pond: https://maps.app.goo.gl/yuTYcGd86zzraczb6 & https://maps.app.goo.gl/LEYv9N5cSuKtbq8H6
🗺️Hakodate: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Cn74PB5kQKCQdqhw8
🗺️Otaru: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Gf8ZagcefQvu3k7F6
🗺️Wakkanai: https://maps.app.goo.gl/dtMhm44KeiCYhkxZA
🗺️Kani Goten Restaurant: https://maps.app.goo.gl/5HNUWATf1kfmRmi7A

Credits:
✅JAPAN WALK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6bfCyjxiAA
✅Video Street View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KORocAGDrCM
✅HOKKAIDO LIFE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVLFKPbiUUg
✅HOKKAIDO LIFE :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CP10-y691XQ
✅1001nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSPy5bdcnOs
✅Jimmy Visits World: https://youtu.be/sT4zJCetfes?si=D-jwycB5I8eJvuQr&t=125
✅HOKKAIDO LIFE: https://youtu.be/HLrHHayhgnw?si=Qe8RYNy-ebioBCza&t=549
✅Abroad in Japan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2guZrrVMGfI
✅Dooly Travels: https://youtu.be/uYasfy5zlIM?si=y2rHT9BTx7x_-Vj8&t=248
✅Vin In Japan: https://youtu.be/oHL00fLsFHU?si=ySSLbhOdS1y3rny-&t=47
✅Board Archive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u234pDY8Z18
✅It’s Time to Travel🇯🇵: https://youtu.be/2bJDWcx1nQ0?si=0GNlhwyQIJ9-CaW5&t=5833
✅AI Beauty Paradise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajGAnOPQ7TM
✅1001nights: https://youtu.be/GArw72rnn6E?si=4Ali6-QaGR2uqXrT&t=1020
✅いろいろ travel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU5nhpWdk7Q
✅Traveller Passport: https://youtu.be/p-XuARA57o4?si=N5yordT2cP64aaLg&t=50
✅Anna Dulaar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwOHV6QFHJk
✅TokyoStreetView: https://youtu.be/mymVlIU5jg4?si=tgqHHP6ADC1f5-hx&t=7
✅TokyoStreetView: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbTPyyu6nD4
✅Riri Travels https://youtu.be/mW3Ie02_M6w?si=7UGA6E_rzDsTr5qO&t=1967
✅Soliloquy from Hokkaido: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1V1Lc-3KHCo
✅4k Walking Travel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ENaEO2qRSo
✅Liam Brown: https://youtu.be/4ObrgYJs9Sc?si=xKQtYs_KwW0lAZPn&t=425
✅Adventure Travel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuU6u08XE5g
✅HOKKAIDO LIFE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1u6xRzeE4_E
✅Hokkaido Vlog634 Japan: https://youtu.be/F_5YN-d9Cd0?si=PEKYqqdevx6V2gxC&t=380
✅ch+81 Trip in JAPAN: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAP9WhgyYu8
✅Kevin Siyuan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rpc7uYr6tjQ
✅Mikity Tour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlmBNrkeGCI
✅Sam&Clau Adventures https://youtu.be/eHDjPjrP91Y?si=loF4ozsz4uOFHy7-&t=4
✅Trip TREE Park: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFkhnIDcfgo
✅JAPAN WALK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0uDinmWnl8
✅Video Street View: https://youtu.be/wv-r_psXgXY?si=XzKTHNXHSR0XqHS6&t=456
✅Video Street View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_IYHK7ImiE&t=37s
✅Discover Nippon: https://youtu.be/saeSc5M0gK4?si=h-0J7WXdTsD4Dtya&t=46
✅Andy G: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0RI_UQtpCg&t=357s
✅Explorer Hippo: https://youtu.be/C_lMG8_kk0E?si=CyKCG5q1egGkmC3K&t=8
✅HOKKAIDO LIFE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1ZCMEchHRI
✅WabiSabi- Beautiful Japan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUJb7wkJEeQ
✅makoto syouji: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKV6s6hdve4
✅LADmob: https://youtu.be/-m0NhvApMvA?si=4luiQMiz-GpBLn1Z&t=199

Disclaimer:
These are video excerpts from other content creators and myself.

#hokkaido #sapporo #niseko #asahikawa #asahiyamazoo