Everybody thinks winter is the season to go to Hokkaido. And so they’re not mistaken—until you’re not a winter individual. As a result of for lively travellers, autumn is hands-down the very best time to expertise Japan’s northern island.
Autumn in Hokkaido is a real shoulder season: fewer crowds, quieter cities, and landscapes shifting each day from deep greens to fiery reds and golds—usually with early snow already dusting the upper mountains. It’s the uncommon second when you’ll be able to hike via fall foliage within the morning and end up strolling in recent snow by afternoon.
From canoeing beneath autumn leaves to biking alongside rivers and climbing Asahidake because the season turns white, fall provides probably the most diversified and rewarding solution to discover Hokkaido—particularly in case you want shifting via nature moderately than queuing for it.
Right here’s an summary:
Why Autumn Is the Greatest Time to Go to Hokkaido
Fewer vacationers than winter and summer season
Autumn sits firmly in Hokkaido’s shoulder season, that means common areas really feel calmer and extra spacious—with out sacrificing climate or entry.
Peak autumn foliage (late September to October)
Maples and larches flip the island vivid shades of pink, orange and gold, particularly round Asahikawa, Maruyama Park and Lake Shikotsu.
Early snow at increased elevations like Asahidake
Whereas valleys glow with fall color, mountains reminiscent of Asahidake can already be dusted with snow, providing a uncommon mixture of autumn climbing and early winter surroundings.
Very best temperatures for climbing, biking and paddling
Cool, crisp days make lengthy hikes, bike rides and canoe journeys comfy and gratifying—with out the warmth of summer season or the extremes of mid-winter.
Associated learn: The Pleasure of Driving in Hokkaido, Japan
Issues to do in Hokkaido in Autumn: Mountaineering, Biking and Ramen
As with most journeys to Japan, we begin in Tokyo, although lower than two hours later, we land in Asahikawa – for me, one in every of Hokkaido’s nicest cities, because it combines the conveniences of a metropolis with fast entry to nature. We’re picked up by our Guides for this journey – Yuko and Kazu – each fantastic individuals who made our time in Hokkaido most memorable!
We verify into the OMO7 Lodge earlier than heading out with our guides to take pleasure in a scrumptious dinner at Yakitori skilled Gin’neko, a typical Japanese restaurant that’s particularly common with locals. On the way in which again – all the pieces is inside strolling distance – there are lovely moments captured in stills, earlier than we calm down within the Lodge’s Onsen tub and prepare for experiencing the Hokkaido autumn colors the subsequent morning.
Associated learn: Exploring Kamikawa: Adventures within the Middle of Hokkaido
When Autumn in Hokkaido Turns White: Early Snow on Asahidake
Gray clouds grasp over town as we benefit from the scrumptious, extra Western-style breakfast on the OMO7. Our Guides Yuko and Kazu convey us on the Bus, and as soon as we have now handed Higashikawa, we already begin to really feel the change. The upper the bus takes us, the whiter all the pieces turns – and on the Asahidake Ropeway Station we stand in 30 cm of recent JAPOW! The smile on my face says all of it – that is happiness for me.
Kazu arms us our tickets for the Ropeway, and Yuko makes positive we don’t lose them, as we’ll want them to get on the trip down! On the prime station, the Thermometer exhibits -6°C, and the snow retains on falling, however round me there are solely smiles. An Asahidake hike in autumn is a superb expertise – and will be snowy!
Sadly, the snow has lined the sights utterly – from the Sugatami Pond to the viewpoints. Even the Fumarole’s smoke is getting blended with the snow and clouds!
On the path, I chat with Yuko, who has been working as a “Via Information” for over 30 years. A Via Information is somebody who helps you in your Japan journey from touchdown to leaving, serving to you with translations and connecting to locations and folks. We speak about our favorite seasons (Hers is spring 🌸) and meals and climbing, and earlier than we notice we’re again on the Ropeway Station. Extra individuals have arrived and begin on the scenic hike, whereas we pack into the cable automobile and descend.
After a satisfying Ramen lunch, we proceed again down the mountain, and, slowly, the white snow is changed once more by orange, yellow, pink, and inexperienced hues. We make a cease in Higashikawa’s Michikusakan Roadside Relaxation Space, the place you should purchase native delicacies and in addition nip into the Montbell Retailer in case you want one thing to your out of doors adventures!
Again in Asahikawa, we drop our baggage and head straight out for dinner with our group. It’s a type of simple evenings the place the desk fills up with small plates and large flavours: crispy tempura, completely grilled fish, steaming bowls of miso, and simply the correct quantity of sake to maintain the dialog flowing.
We swap tales from the street, snicker quite a bit, and linger lengthy after the final dish is cleared. On the way in which again, we stroll via the quiet metropolis streets, watching the neon replicate on patches of darkish asphalt and feeling that specific sort of winter calm you solely get in northern Japan.
An Sapporo Autumn Day Journey
The subsequent morning, it’s time to maneuver on. We hop on a prepare to Sapporo, watching the colorful Hokkaido panorama slide by outdoors the window. The second we step out of the station we really feel the shift: Asahikawa out of the blue appears small and quaint compared.
Sapporo is massive, busy, and buzzing – a correct metropolis with power in each path, however nonetheless with that laid-back Hokkaido vibe beneath. Along with Jody and Eamonn, we make a beeline for the well-known Ramen Alley. Quickly we’re hunched over steaming bowls of Hokkaido ramen, wealthy broth and springy noodles hitting that excellent post-travel starvation. Fingers down among the greatest ramen you may get in Japan.
Properly fed and warmed from the within out, we head to Maruyama Park, the place a energetic crew of out of doors guides is ready for us. We hike via forested trails to a viewpoint over Sapporo, town unfold out under in a patchwork of buildings and rooftops.
On the way in which, I pull a small sensible joke and by accident startle our lead information, who actually hadn’t seen me within the shrubbery. We snicker it off, I apologise, and the temper stays mild as we descend via the timber. By late afternoon, we’re again on the Royal Park Canvas, drained in the easiest way and prepared for no matter Sapporo has in retailer subsequent.
We head over to the SappoLodge, which Naru-San owns – one in every of our Guides from the afternoon. It’s a wonderful hostel made for skiers, hikers and climbers. The meals is tasty, the native Beer is flowing, and we’re engulfed in conversations, planning the subsequent adventures collectively right here on Hokkaido, the place the chances are limitless.
Biking and Canoeing at Lake Shikotsu in Autumn
Our remaining day – time flies by when you’ve gotten enjoyable – begins with a go to to Chitose Shrine, the place we get the blessing of the top priest for our day of biking and paddling. The climate is smiling on us this morning – blue sky and a golden solar make us smile of the solar day forward!
And we gained’t be disenchanted: biking underneath pink and yellow Japanese maple timber within the sunshine, subsequent to a burbling river, is nearly as good because it will get. We observe a easy asphalt cycle path to Lake Shikotsu, and even when it begins to rain towards the tip of our 25 km trip, we’re nonetheless having a blast.
Our information, Yugo, and tail information Katy each was skilled street cyclists – although the most important shock is Yugo telling me he performed for years in a Finnish metallic band and nonetheless has many Finnish pals within the music enterprise. It’s a small world certainly, and too quickly we arrive on the lake.
After the chilly rain, we’re completely satisfied to heat up at Kotobuki Restaurant, the place a tasty native meal offers us extra power for the paddling that may quickly observe! You can’t management our little group turns into evident once we resolve to seize a gentle serve ice cream on the way in which to Canoa, the canoe rental store we’ll be paddling with on Lake Shikotsu!
As soon as we’re on the water in our canoes, we benefit from the silence of gliding throughout the silent water. We paddle a wee bit up the river, surrounded by lovely autumn foliage on the shore – till I spot two deer by the water’s edge! They stand nonetheless, and we peer eye to eye, till they resolve to vanish into the forest.
A lovely second, and each Yuzuki and I smile whereas we paddle out onto the lake. That is the deepest lake on Hokkaido, and it does not likely freeze over in winter. Three volcanoes encompass it, and the solar illuminates the lake superbly. We paddle, chat and {photograph}, delighted in regards to the magnificence that surrounds us.
When Natsumi tells us we gained’t go far to our lodge, we don’t realise we’ll actually stroll just some hundred metres to Shikotsuko Tsuruga Resort Spa Mizu no Uta – the very best lodge alongside Lake Shikotsu. We take off our sneakers as we enter and are led to reception to verify in.
After a fast take a look at our spacious rooms, we resolve to go to the onsen and soak in its heat earlier than dinner. Along with Eamonn and Mark, we sit within the out of doors pool as darkness falls and fall in love with the place. Mark shares anecdotes from his travels throughout Japan, and time goes by too quick – out of the blue it’s already meal time.
Ultimately, this brief shoulder-season escape to Hokkaido felt like a spotlight reel of all the pieces I like about Japan’s north: snow crunching underneath my sneakers on Asahidake in October, pink and golden maple leaves above quiet biking paths, the deep calm of paddling throughout Lake Shikotsu, steam rising from out of doors onsen whereas tales and laughter drift into the night time.
Autumn on Hokkaido will not be loud or showy; it’s refined, beneficiant, and stuffed with small surprises – from ramen at crowded counters to connections with guides who shortly really feel like pals. As we slip into our yukata one final time and wander all the way down to the onsen earlier than mattress, I can’t assist however assume that is Hokkaido at its greatest: unhurried, uncrowded, completely genuine.
Winter may get all the celebrity, however in case you commerce raise traces for larch forests and powder for maple leaves, Hokkaido’s autumn will quietly steal your coronary heart.
If you wish to profit from your journey to Hokkaido, ensure to take a look at the Hokkaido Journey Journey Information web page so yow will discover the right information to your journey to this lovely island within the North of Japan!
