insights from frontier Japan

‘Tokapuchi 400’, a cycle route with an excellent riding environment from which the magnificent natural landscapes of the Tokachi region of eastern Hokkaido can be enjoyed, has been selected as one of Japan’s National Cycle Routes. It is the first route in Hokkaido to be selected as such.

Wintertime in Eastern Hokkaido is packed with amazing scenery and experiences not available elsewhere in Japan, like drift ice, art made from snow and ice, and the ice horizon expanse. The "East Hokkaido Express Bus" is a seasonal bus that travels to all sorts of tourist spots in wintertime Eastern Hokkaido. It gives you easy access to famous spots difficult to reach by car. Visit Eastern Hokkaido aboard buses in search of amazing experiences only available there!

This approximately 18-meter-tall Japanese elm, thought to be about 150 years old, is known as a symbol of Toyokoro Town in east Hokkaido's Tokachi region. This massive tree towering above an expansive grass field is spellbinding, and is continuously visited by tourists and photograph enthusiasts.

Transparent lumps of ‘jewelry ice’, seasonal winter scenery in the town of Toyokoro in the Tokachi region of eastern Hokkaido, have been washed up on the Otsu coast in the town.

The ‘Gemini meteor shower’ could be observed as it lit up the sky in some regions of Hokkaido on the night of December 13.