insights from frontier Japan

The municipal government of Engaru in the Eastern Hokkaido Okhotsk region placed a trailer house for use as a workation or temporary telework residence on municipally owned land situated along a national highway in Maruseppu nakamachi. The house is fully furnished with necessities including furniture and electrical appliances. The user only has to bring their own bedding. Engaru is currently accepting user reservations, "The location is convenient, and a great setting to experience countryside living. This is a perfect place for people from the city to stay."

On January 8, a nighttime tour was held to enjoy the floodlit Yamabiko Falls in Maruseppu in the town of Engaru in the Okhotsk region, where a huge icicle forms during the severe winter season. Approximately 50 people from the town and beyond enjoyed the magical view.

The 33rd Shirataki Kita-Taisetsu Cross-Country Ski Competition, officially sanctioned by the Ski Association of Japan (SAJ) and co-sponsored by the Hokkaido Ski Federation, was held on the Kitami Pass course on December 11 and 12, signaling the arrival of the ski season.

At the JR Asahikawa Operation Center on December 6, JR Hokkaido revealed the new snow clearing wedge plow train "KiYa 291" to the press. Currently, JR Hokkaido clears snow in Hokkaido with 12 wedge plow trains inherited from the now defunct government-run Japanese National Railways. However, due to train aging, JR Hokkaido has purchased its first new wedge plow train since the break up and privatization of rail services in 1987. The train is slated to operate between Asahikawa and Shirataki on the Sekihoku Line from January 2022 onward.

‘Forest Owl’, a ‘zip line’ on which participants are harnessed to a pulley that slides down a wire rope stretched across a mountain, opened at the Engaru Rock Valley Ski Resort in the town of Engaru in the Okhotsk region of eastern Hokkaido in August 14. According to Town officials, it is the steepest zip line in Japan, capable of speeds of up to 70 km/h, and affords extensive views of the Sea of Okhotsk and Yuubetsu River basin.

The Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremony on July 23 featured the "Olympic Rings" wooden sculpture crafted in ring shapes designed to represent the Olympic logo. This logo was made with wood from trees grown in the town of Engaru in the Eastern Hokkaido Okhotsk region. The wood used was forest thinning timber from trees that have grown from seeds given to Japan as a gift from countries that participated in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. The choreography for Opening Ceremony scenes, including this scene and the scene representing the feelings inside the hearts of athletes during the COVID-19 pandemic, was designed by Central Hokkaido Otaru-raised dancer and choreographer Shintaro Hirahara.

A summer slope, compatible with normal skis and snowboards, opened on June 26 at the Engaru Rock Valley Skiing Area in the town of Engaru in the Okhotsk region of Eastern Hokkaido. Visiting enthusiasts from throughout Hokkaido and beyond could be seen enjoying the mid-summer slopes dressed in T-shirts and the like.

The first ever treetop trekking facility in eastern Hokkaido opened. Visitors can enjoy walking through the courses set in tree-tops near the “Roadside Rest Area, Engaru Mori no Okhotsk” in Engaru Town.