insights from frontier Japan

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, cycling tourism has been growing in popularity as a leisure activity that does not incorporate "crowded, closed spaces". And in the Northern Hokkaido city of Wakkanai as well, tourism organizations and community associations are expanding into tourism services that utilize bicycles. Travel packages that combine cycling at the "northernmost tip of Japan" and the grand, scenic panoramas of Mt. Rishiri with promotions for using the Soya railway line are being offered in an attempt to expand usage.

New campsites keep popping up around Hokkaido. The cause is a rapid increase in the popularity of outdoor activities to avoid contact in closed spaces amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. This year saw at least ten facilities open up, mainly in the Central Hokkaido area.

This spring, Japan’s longest hands-on driving course (5.7 km) was created at the ‘Furusato Ginga Line Rikubetsu Railway’, a popular attraction among railway enthusiasts, in the town of Rikubetsu in the Tokachi region of eastern Hokkaido. The operating condition in which the 6-carriage diesel railcar and tracks have been preserved is one of the best in Japan.

‘Marineping’ in which the appeal of the sea can be experienced while camping, began on Kamome Island – a tourist spot in the town of Esashi in southern Hokkaido – on August 21. In the ‘Marine Adventure’ event that took place on the first day, ‘water balloons’ – an activity that is hoped will be subsequently introduced – were presented.

‘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.

Niseko Gravel, a ‘gravel bike’ event using road-racing bikes with fatter tires that can be used on unpaved trails was held in the three central Hokkaido towns of Kutchan, Niseko and Rankoshi for the first time on August 1.

Test operation of a ‘Tomamu-Furano Bus’ service – a free, round-trip service that departs from JR Furano Station, stops at stations near tourist spots in the town of Minamifurano in central Hokkaido, before heading to Tomamu Station in the village of Shimukappu to the south of Minamifurano – began on July 31.

"Ohasai Tsurui" (Good Morning Cycle Tsurui), a free Sunday morning tour around Tsurui Village on bicycles, is garnering praise. An Eastern Hokkaido Tsurui Village cycling tour guide leads participants on a course with great views of nature and dairy farming scenery in the Kushiro Marshland area. Free electric bicycle rental is available in the village for guests staying at a lodging facility.

It’s the height of the cherry harvest season in the southern Hokkaido town of Nanae, which is famous for the cultivation of fruit trees. The trees in the orchards are adorned with red cherries, which producers harvest carefully by hand.