Hokkaido, Japan
Hi friends. I recently went to Hokkaido, and wanted to share some recommendations with you. It’s a 5-day, 4 night itinerary for Hokkaido, with an overnight stay in Niseko - but mainly with Sapporo as a home base. I went with my lovely parents. Note that I went in mid-October, so our main objective was seeing the koyo - autumn leaves viewing.
It me. Watching the autumn leaves from our private onsen at Zaborin.
BEFORE YOU GO
Getting a JR Pass: If you’re planning to take a lot of trains around the area, the Hokkaido Rail Pass is a good deal (being that you may pay 30-80 USD just for a one-way ticket, depending on where you’re going). We went for 5 days, and looked into the 3-day pass, which costs 17,400 yen (160 USD). However, in the end we decided against it because we were only taking the JR to go to-and-from the airport (about 9 USD each way) and then to Niseko (30 USD each way). It used to be that you had to get a JR Pass before you arrived in Japan (we looked into Lion Travel in Taiwan, who offers it — but needs at least 3-4 days of processing/delivery time). But now you can buy it directly in Japan, but it’s more expensive.
Hokkaido in October: We went in mid-October. Niseko was definitely colder than Sapporo. But on average, mornings could be chilly at 3 to 4°C, but 9 to 10°C when the sun was out in full force. We went a little before the autumn leaves were at their peak (it usually peaks around mid-October in areas such as Niseko) — but the autumn foliage was delayed this year due to unusually warm weather (aka, global warming).
Booking accommodation in cities: I am a fan of booking Airbnbs in the big Japanese cities. (You can read my guide to using Airbnb in Tokyo here). They’re cost effective and very utilitarian (plus, you won’t be home much anyway).
Booking a ryokan: Airbnbs in the Japanese cities are cost-effective, but the countryside of Japan is another matter. You’ll want to book a ryokan — a traditional Japanese inn, usually set in beautiful natural environs. Ryokans typically have all these elements:
• An onsen, or hot spring component. This can either be communal (open to all guests of the hotel, and even paying day guests) or private tubs directly in the rooms.
• Sleeping arrangements consist of bedding arranged on tatami (woven straw) mats placed on the floor.
• Guests are supplied with (and expected to wear) yukata, a casual kimono that can be worn around the ryokan.
• Meals are typically included in the total cost and include a multi-course kaiseki dinner as well as breakfast.
We stayed at a ryokan in Niseko called Zaborin. It cost 1800 USD a night for 3 people (although I had my own little tatami room separate from my parents). With the price of dinner and breakfast being bundled into the total cost, ryokan tend to be much more expensive than booking an Airbnb or hotel room (you will not find sub-100 USD ryokan, believe me). This is not the time to be budget conscious. You are paying for the experience.
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DAY ONE
We flew into Chitose Airport and took the JR to Niseko (Kutchan JR Station), with a stop at Otaru. It takes about 2.5 hours overall. I’m sure the trains are incredibly crowded in the winter, but they were very comfortable during October.
We arrived at Kutchan, where Zaborin had sent a car to meet us. It was about a 15 minute drive into the woods around the Hanazono golf course to reach the ryokan. We checked in, put down our bags, and then the staff drove us back into Niseko town proper to get some hot soba for lunch.
Afternoon was spent relaxing and doing nothing — the true essence of ryokan living. A soak in the private onsen looking at the autumn scenery, punctuated by sitting out in the chill air looking at autumn scenery, drinking tea while looking at the autumn scenery — you get the idea.
At night, we slipped on our yukata and enjoyed an 11-course, gut-busting kaiseki dinner. I feel asleep reading in the ryokan’s library.
DAY TWO
We began the day with breakfast and some more onsen time/scenery gazing until it was time to check out. The hotel driver took us to a trailhead that led towards Kagami-numa Marsh, a natural pond formed in the middle of a wetland marsh that juts out of the northeast face of Mount Annupuri in Niseko. The word kagami in Japanese means mirror, an apt name for the lake. If that sounds like it was taken from a guidebook, that’s because it totally was. The hike took about 2 hours, winding through serene yellow-clad birch groves. The car picked us back up and took us to Kutchan Station — and then were back on the train, on the way to Otaru.
Day trip to Otaru: We spent a few hours at Otaru. It’s an unremarkable city with a touristy canal that serves as a common day-trip destination for those staying in Sapporo. It is entirely not worth going to, and I would highly recommend skipping it altogether. Only a small stretch of the canal is suitable for strolling, and the picturesque brick warehouses lining the water have mostly been turned into uninspiring restaurants and a faux-German brewery (albeit one that makes the drinkable Otaru Beer).
Dinner near Sapporo Station: We arrived in Sapporo in the early evening and made our way to the Airbnb, which was right next to Sapporo Station. I’d highly recommend staying around the station during your time in Sapporo — not only if you’re planning on taking the JR trains frequently (the city is so small that using the metro is fairly unnecessary), but also just because unlike Tokyo, which has a number of vibrant, varied neighborhoods, much of the activity we saw in Sapporo — food, drink and shopping-wise — happened around Sapporo Station.
There are a cluster of department stores in and around the station — nearly all connected by passageways (no doubt due to the harsh weather in the winters): the main department stores are Stellar Place (the one directly inside the station), Daimaru (famous for its food hall), ESTA (popular with Chinese/Taiwanese tourists), and Tokyu. Since Sapporo is famous for soup curry, we ventured to a soup curry shop on the upper floors of ESTA called Rakkyo. It was incredibly good, and the waitresses spoke English. They also give you a bib, which is both cool and considerate. I recommend the chicken leg curry with cheese.
DAY THREE
It was raining all day, hard. If you want a list of things to do when it’s rainy in Sapporo, let me give you the rundown:
• Visit a brewery or beer museum: I wanted to visit the Asahi Brewery but you need to make a reservation in the days prior. So we went to the Sapporo Beer Museum. I was expecting some quasi-German tacky horrorshow, but the exhibits were extremely elegant, if a bit dry. It doesn’t really go into the process of beer-making — it’s basically a “path” through a bunch of signboards that take you through the history of the Sapporo brewery. I would say it takes 30 minutes, max. Afterwards, you will most definitely be wanting a beer, which you can get at the beer hall attached to the museum.
• Souvenir shopping: I mean, duh. We basically wandered around all the department stores that I mentioned above and bought souvenirs. If you’re looking for Hokkaido-specific specialities, you have to visit Rokkatei.
• Soak in an indoor onsen, or hot spring: I guess if you were really extra, you could take a bus to the hot spring town of Jozankei (we didn’t go, because we aren’t that extra, but I imagine it’s something like Wulai in Taiwan) and find an indoor hot spring to soak in.
Honestly, that’s all the things we could think of doing. We waited for literally 2.5 hours to eat at this revolving sushi bar in Stellar Place, but it wasn’t that memorable so I can’t even think of the name.
We got there right in time for sunset at Lake Shikotsu. Absolutely stunning.