Capturing the Koyo of Autumn in Japan 2009

Oh, great start! I look forward to following along with you as I get ready to fly out on Monday.

Oct. 4

We were up early this morning to catch our flight to Asahikawa, Hokkaido via Air Hokkaido also known as Air Do. We are heading north to Hokkaido to catch the start of the Koyo season in Japan at Daisetzusan National Park amongst some other places along the way. The service on the flight although serving only juices, water, tea and coffee is so superior to any American domestic airlines it’s not even funny. We arrived in Asahikawa after our 1-½ hour flight and best of all our luggage beat us to the baggage claim area.

Right outside of baggage claim are a slew of Japanese rental car services. Toyota, Mazda, Nissan among them. Also present was Hertz who uses the Toyota rental facility as their base of operations. I had wanted to catch the bus into Asahikawa, as the airport is about 25 minutes from the city. Right after the slew of car rentals is a bus ticket machine where you can buy a bus ticket into the city. The buttons are marked in Japanese and English so that makes it easy. Cost for one person to the JR Asahikawa train station was 570 yen per person and you can buy tickets for two people at one time. Right outside the door was one bus waiting so I pointed to the bus and asked Asahikawa eki? The guy answered in English yah yah to which I smiled and he motioned to the bus driver who took our bags and stored them under the bus in the luggage compartment. The ride was 25 minutes or so and we were in front of the station after 4 stops.

Our hotel for the evening was the Asahikawa Terminal Hotel, which is connected to the main JR train station. We had a twin room for 8900 yen that included breakfast and free Internet connection in your room. The area around the station is wonderful for shopping and eating as there is a main shopping dori (street) that is closed to any car traffic for about 8 blocks. That area is full of shopping and eating options. All the streets perpendicular to the shopping dori are full of all different types of restaurants(99% Japanese) all of which looked so good. We picked a crab restaurant for Linda and had a wonderful meal for 6200 yen which included Linda’s whole Hokkaido hairy crab and my tonkatsu curry dish with one drink each. It was off to bed early as we had an early start the next morning. I want to return to Asahikawa one day and would give it two full days and nights next time.

Oct 5&6

We rented a car from the JR station rent a car desk in the morning. There was a special that JR Hokkaido was having that stated if you had a Hokkaido rail pass of any kind, which we did, the price for a compact car that can fit 4 people was 37,800 yen for 7 days which included insurance and tax. They also have English GPS systems in their car that is a first as they all were in Japanese language only till about a month ago. The rental process took about ten minutes as they checked international drivers permit along with credit card and passport and off we went. Driving on the left side of the road took about 5 minutes to get used to my surprise and all the anticipation and worry were for naught. If you know how to drive it is no problem at all really.

All my research beforehand stated that it would take 7 hours or more to make it from Asahikawa to Utoro our first destination but even with several pit stops to take pictures and other things it only took us about 5 1/2hours of an extremely scenic drive to complete the trip. We passed our ultimate destination of Daizetsusan about 1 hour out of Asahikawa. It is a very mountainous highway reminding me of a deserted and smaller I-80 heading west from Denver into the Rockies. All the surrounding hills were afire in fall colors and we stopped many times along the way to just gawk and take pictures to try and capture all we saw. The drive then shortly after turned into kilometer after kilometer of lush farm and grazing land all starting to turn colors and peeping as we descended from the mountains and were nearing sea level.

The GPS systems in Japan work in various ways but the easiest to do when all the directions and buttons are in Japanese is to have the phone number of your destination or something close to your destination and plugged that into the GPS. The system does the rest and guides you to your destination pretty flawlessly. I know if we did not have the systems there would have many a turn where I would have doubted and wasted precious time with. No problem with the NAVI systems in Japan. I now understand and appreciate why the Japanese locals will depend on them and should always have them updated. Anyway we finally made it to our destination in the tiny fishing village of Utoro. We checked into our Ryokan hotel for the night the Hotel Shiretoko in Utoro on the Shiretoko Peninsula of Hokkaido our residence for the next two nights.

The whole of the Shiretoko Peninsula is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The total cost of a room for two people including tax and 150-yen Onsen fee that every Onsen in Japan charges was 57100 yen. This included dinner and breakfast for the two nights. Breakfast and dinner were buffet style in the main dining room. Now I know a lot of you out there do not like buffets but you really haven’t seen buffets like the ryokan have in Japan. The Japanese are obsessed with seafood of any kind. There were over 50 items offered that I counted. The main items were an assortment of fresh sushi (toro, ebi, tako, sakana, uni, caviar, etc.), crab, shrimp, fish, mussels, clams, huge scallops, steak, chicken, pork, squid, assortments of pickled and cooked veggies, salads, soups, and on and on and on. Breakfasts were an assortment of Japanese dishes and American favorites to many to mention. It was all very filling to say the least. You can also order wine, beer or sake for an added charge.

This ryokan hotel also has a rotenburo (out door hot spring bath), which is located on the roof of the ryokan with a view of the ocean. In the winter the sea ice rolls in and the whole bay fronting the hotel is iced over for the winter. It must be a beautiful site from the rotenburo in the winter months. They also have indoor hot spring baths on the first floor.

A funny thing happened to me on the first day in the men’s bath on the first day. I was in there taking my bath when in walked a Japanese gentleman who proceeded to take off his clothes. He walked in with a three-piece suit on and when he took off his clothes he had a full body tattoo, which was amazing to see. Also amazing was the reaction of all the Japanese men in the room. Most of them put their eyes down to the ground and some of them actually backed away from him and gave him a lot of space. He was a cool character and he kind of snickered to them to which all of them just put their eyes to the ground. I realized immediately what he was and just smiled at him when he looked at me and he just smiled back and bowed in respect, which I quickly returned. I glanced at his fingers and yes a tip of one was missing.

The body tattoo was a beautiful work of Japanese art that I had never seen before and it was from just above his knees to just below his neck and down his arms till about three inches form his wrist. There was no tattoo under his armpits but everywhere else from the above the knees to just under the neck. I would see him several times in the next two days and wondered about the no tattoo rule, but knew that no one would dare turn him in.

The next morning we drove to Shiretoko go ko (five lakes) and hiked around for about an hour. Actually the drive into the park is spectacular with wildlife all and sheer natural beauty all around and the lakes are more like large ponds and were a disappointment to me. So we left the lake area and drove over the Shiretoko Pass and down into Rausu and all the way to the end of the road in Aidomari with the two small Oceanside Onsens of Aidomari and Seseki. Both of these onsen are right on the beach and at high tide are covered by the ocean but both were visible and one was actually in use by a naked Japanese man when we arrived. We just looked at the onsen and took pictures as they are more of a novelty than a serious onsen and Seseki is really kind of a joke.

The highlight of the area was the end of the road and the Aidomari Bridge, which had salmon running up the small stream from the ocean. We could actually have just picked up the salmon from the shallow stream with our bare hands if we had wanted to as we were that close and the stream that shallow and small.

The drive over the pass was spectacular and the koyo was in full swing here at the high altitude. We stopped briefly at the top to take pictures and marvel at the view of both sides of Hokkaido Island, which are visible from this spot as were the Russian Islands that are off those sides of Hokkaido. These islands were Japanese before the war and Russia took them a few days after the treaties ending the war had been signed. The Japanese and Russians are still negotiating their return to Japan but knowing the Russian government I don’t think it will ever happen.

We stopped for a late lunch at one of the crab restaurants just outside of Utoro where they have huge crab in a large tank. I would tell you the name but it was all in Japanese. They have a huge crab tank, which were about 30 feet long and 10 feet wide full of crab. You can pick any one out you want and they will cook it for you on the spot any way you want it and serve you right there in their dining room on the other side of the tank area. A crab lunch there will put you back about 5000 yen or more depending on the size of crab you pick. Satisfied we headed back to Utoro and did a few more touristy things like view the waterfall then headed back for a long soak in the hot spring bath, which I was too easily getting very used to and loving. I was starting to turn Japanese.

It sounds so great, ht!
Good story about the やくざ in the bath.....
Are you posting photos?
Can any of this trip be done on public transit without a car, do you think?

I am enjoying your report! I had a great time at Gonpachi last summer, and I also enjoyed my stay at the Grand Hyatt.
Looking forward to the rest of your report.

Thanks all.

Mara,yes we have over 1000 photos which I will post on a site one day but have to go over all and load which takes time. Yes this trip can be done by bus and train but driving on Hokkaido is REALLY easy and opens up so many more options. I had originally planned on taking the train and bus everywhere but found out from other sites that the car at that time of year was the way to go and boy it really was as we found out. More soon!

Oct 6&7

We awoke the next morning to the Japanese TV news stations blaring all with the warnings about the incoming typhoon due to hit Okinawa in a few hours and then head up the coast towards the Osaka area for a direct hit and then up the Japan Island of Honshu and finally towards us on Hokkaido.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Things like this are not supposed to happen on your vacation right?

Well it was a little more than two days away from Hokkaido so with that dark cloud over our heads we drove to our next stop the Ryokan Hotel Akankoso on the shores of Lake Akan(Akanko) in the Akan National Park.

Again the scenery on this drive was just spectacular and the koyo in the area of Lake Akan was at its peak as we had planned and hoped beyond hope that it would be. I can say now without any doubts that Hokkaido has the most beautiful natural scenery that we have ever witnessed in all of our Japan travels.

First stop in the park was Lake Masshu. Masshu-ko is a caldera type lake that has no outlet for its water and can only be accessed by hiking down very steep and dangerous cliffs that surrounds the lake. Needless to say the view from the top of the caldera is breathtaking and because of the absence of the human element, the lake is unspoiled and natural which is the way it should be. After many pictures and some time to appreciate what we were seeing we continued our drive on towards Lake Akan through many more kilometers of just spectacular scenery as you travel between old and new volcano craters, through natural farm and national park areas, you start to forget that you are in Japan.

As we climbed the last rise with tree after tree in peak autumn colors we noticed the sign to the turnoff of the little village that is Lake Akan. We cruised through the town and parked our car at a parking lot near the other end of town and started to walk this lakeside town checking out its many shops and small restaurants. They also have an authentic Ainu Village located midtown.

We had lunch at a Japanese noodle shop located on the second floor of a building facing the lake. One of the younger waiters spoke English so ordering was easy. Linda had the shrimp tempura with a seafood ramen and I had some chicken karaage and a shoyu pork ramen. The bill with tea and soft drink was 1680 yen.

We checked into Ryokan Hotel Akankoso located on the lakefront at one end of the town and immediately hit their rotenburo and indoor hot springs baths. I should explain that all the onsens on Hokkaido are the newer versions built within the last century or so and most are close to brand new. All are gender segregated. The only mixed onsen (men & women bathing together) you will find on Hokkaido are located in undeveloped natural areas off the side of a road where nature has a natural hot spring or river and people have built sometimes elaborate or sometimes crude bathing pools on the sites.


Meals at Akankoso are buffet style again and featured as most ryokans do, food that is gathered or grown from around its location. I won’t bore you with the details of the food but just say it was pretty fantastic. Our room overlooked the lake and was a large 14 tatami mat room with full bath ensuite and a little terrace area next to the lake window with two chairs and a reading table so you can sit and enjoy the view. We would only spend one night at Akankoso as we wanted to try out the competition about 4 doors down the street to have more experiences. We rate Akankoso in the high range and would return in a heartbeat.

The next morning after breakfast we checked out and drove off towards Kushiro to see the famous marshlands and maybe catch a glimpse of the infamous Tsuru(cranes) that nest and breed in the marshland area. I had never seen a Japanese crane before but had seen, as most have, the pictures of these magnificent birds in flight. I never imagined that in person they would be large yet extremely graceful.

During our drive down south towards Kushiro we saw a car pulled over on the side of the road near a cow pasture with a tripod setup taking pictures. Being the curious person that I am I stopped our car to see what was up. Two cranes were feeding in the pasture about 50 meters from the road and I pulled out our camera and we got several nice shots. We watched and clicked away for a few minutes in silence, as it was a serene moment.

Then it happened. A taxi with 4 tourists from China screeched to a halt. Out they jumped, cameras at the ready, screaming at the birds in Chinese and actually throwing rocks at them so they could take pictures of the cranes in mid flight. The taxi driver looked at us and bowed low shaking his head.

Some of you who know me can possibly imagine what I wanted to do to these idiots. Off the birds flew in the opposite direction. Laughing, the four Chinese businessmen started laughing and joking with each other and slapping each other on their backs as they jumped back into the taxi and off they went, oblivious to the trouble they had caused. I stared at the older Japanese gentleman who was the first one on the scene and apologized profusely in Japanese for spoiling his find but he just said in broken English “life is but a fleeting moment and I am satisfied with what I just saw”.(paraphrasing here) What a nice man and what a bunch of a** holes the others were. Some people just don’t get it I guess.

We would see 9 more pairs of cranes at various spots on the road towards and from Kushiro that day. The Crane Observation center is to be given a miss imho. We needed a rest stop and used their facilities after paying the 400-yen admission so we set out to explore what they had. The big attraction is the museum area where they have stuffed cranes in all stages of life and an explanation mostly in Japanese (they had an English brochure with not much info on it) about the stages of a cranes life. It also has an observatory deck on the fifth floor that overlooks the marsh area but we never saw any live cranes there either. The only cranes we saw in that area was off the side of the road and at the Crane Park located north of Kushiro close to the aforementioned Crane Observation Ctr.

Kushiro is a big little city on the East coast of Hokkaido. It is one of the entry points to East Hokkaido area. It has and airport and JR rail station so it is connected with the transport system of Japan. Seafood is famous and king here and there is of course, another huge fish market. Downtown Kushiro next to the JR Station area and surrounding blocks offer a variety of the best luxury shopping, eating and lodging opportunities in the Kushiro area. We enjoyed lunch here at a large sushi bar downtown near the station area. All names and menus were in Japanese. Linda enjoyed the sushi platter special for 2900 yen. I had a non-descript meal of the non-fishy items available, which were few and far between. The 2900-yen plate would be comparable of the 3900-yen plates in Tokyo sushi bars and wouldn’t include the Hokkaido crab they throw on the plate just for looks.


After a day of sightseeing we went back to Akanko and to our next ryokan the New Akan Ryokan Hotel. Much bigger and newer than Akankoso this ryokan was nice but too crowded due to the tour groups that covet this hotel. Also we found the buffet meals were sub par to what we were used to though their rooms were superior to the ones at Akankoso. The baths here are fantastic though. The indoor pools are huge and with a terrific view of the lake and surrounding mountains.

I am glad to have experienced this ryokan but would not return here again if I were paying for it. BTW parking was free at both places if any of you plan to drive a , which I would fully recommend. In fact I will now always rent a car on Hokkaido without hesitation even in Sapporo. Just make sure you get a GPS system in your car, preferably with English (if that is your native tongue) as some of the routes although signed in Japanese and English can be very confusing when you are traveling at 70 kph.

On one of our drives the route took us through a 5-kilometer stretch of graveled road, which I would have definitely not gone on if not for the GPS and its directions. English speaking GPS systems are new to Japan rental cars and just installed in September 2009 to JR rentals in Asahikawa. A have read on the other forums that a Japanese GPS is easy to use and understand and after using the English one can understand why. The island Hokkaido was only populated by the Japanese about 120 years or so ago so all the cities and towns streets have names and addresses and are in the modern grid patterns typical of streets in the U.S.

I am loving your report Peter. And your description of the meals is making me very, very hungry.

Wonderful report, Peter. Your story about the Chinese businessmen throwing rocks was too much. I loved the photographer's very zen response!

Thanks for your reply, ht - problem is that I usually travel on my own and haven't driven for years - good to know a lot of it can be down on public transportation.

What fools they were - to throw rocks at the cranes. Oy!

Thanks, continuing....

Oct 8-10

We were off in the morning to our next stop The Sounkyo Grand Ryokan Hotel in the spectacular Daisetsuzan National Park. We had learned from the morning news that the typhoon had turned more than expected so this part of Hokkaido was only supposed to get an all rain event starting about 16:00.
Needless to say the scenery along the drive from Lake Akan to Daisetsuzan National Park was drop dead gorgeous. We passed through two mountain passes and on the last one we spotted a group of deer grazing just off the side of the road oblivious of the traffic (not much) and having a good time. The drive through the last pass before the park was at high altitude and there was a cresting of snow on the peaks overhead.

The drive into the park was truly one that I had been dreaming of for the last eighteen months of planning this trip. The fall colors were in peak conditions on this day and when we exited a tunnel into our valley I almost cried. The colors were beautiful and hardly and evergreen in sight. Bright yellows, mixed with blazing oranges and deep reds this was the best mixture of colors we had seen yet. We were a little early for check in time at our Ryokan, which we know is strictly enforced, so we drove around the park-taking picture after picture after picture then stopped by a Lawson’s to pick up a bottle of French wine for the evening. Let me mention here that the Japanese have a penchant for good Italian and French food along with their accompanying wines. I find that I can pick up a descent French white Bordeaux or a red for cheap at a Lawson’s, Seicomart or a 7-11…. check it out next time your there!

We checked into the ryokan where only one out of the five people at the check in desk spoke manageable English. Check in was a breeze though as we had reservations for this Ryokan made for us by the Japanese Guest Houses site. The bathing facilities were more than adequate at this Ryokan and we had a wonderful time here. The Ryokan uses Pola cosmetics in the bathing areas and is extremely clean. They men’s rotenburo along with the women’s one is located on the second floor annex area. The men’s has a beautiful large open-air rotenburo along with one about ¾ the size on the lower level. The women only have one very large rotenburo area. Both of the views from the rotenburo are of the spectacular mountain scenery reminiscent of our time in Thun and Wengen(sans the hot tubs) only this time the forests seemed on fire with the spectacular fall foliage. The only problem was that around 16:00 as the weatherman had forecasted the rain started and did not let up until about 14:00 the next day. Thus the rangers canceled the cable car to the top of the mountain that morning so we could not get up there to see the other valley over the mountain, which was a major disappointment to me. Other than that the room was great and the food was fantastic and the sights were spectacular.

On our second night the Ryokan made us a special dinner entrée that included King crab for Linda and Miyazaki Beef for me. We were the only ones who had that entree but we were probably the only ones who stayed more than one night as the typical Japanese only stay one night in a Ryokan. I would highly recommend this park and ryokan to you all if you ever get a chance.

I would be remiss without mentioning the view from our room, which was breathtaking, was of the sheer cliffs across the street complete with waterfall and river just below our windowsill and the prerequisite red and yellow trees in abundance. The mountains all around outside were in peak color and just a beautiful way to start your day. As I mentioned the rain was a little downer but that first morning we woke up to see snow on the tops of the mountains across the street from our window view. There is not much to do but sightsee, hike and eat in Sounkyo so that is exactly what we did in.

Daisetsuzan National Park and the Shiretoko Peninsula areas were recommended to me by and older Japanese gentleman we that met on a train ride through Shikoku in April of 2008 while we were there seeking the sakura. I asked him that if he had the chance where would he go to see the most beauty in all of Japan and he mentioned these two places as the most beautiful he had ever seen and his advice turned out to be spot on.
Arigato goizaimasu Matayoshi san!

Oct 10-13

With a heavy heart we left Daisetsuzan in the morning to return our car in Asahikawa and then a quick train ride to Shin Sapporo to our hotel for the next 3 nights the Sheraton Shin Sapporo Hotel. I had reserved this hotel using Starwood points.

The rental return was very easy, took maybe five minutes. When you rent the car the agency gives you a map of gas stations close by where they want you to fill the tank up with gas and you must show them the receipt upon return.

The 1-½ hour train ride from Asahikawa to Shin Sapporo was without incident and we were there in a flash. Easy finding the Sheraton Shin Sapporo as it is right across the street from the station and there are signs in the station that tell what exit to take to get to the hotel. We are upgraded to an “enhanced” room because of my status but the rooms are small and although well appointed. When checking in I find out that they have no executive level in this hotel, which I should have checked when I made my reservation. Oh well live and learn. Had I known this I would have stayed at the Hotel Nikko in downtown Sapporo that was my first choice. That’s what I get for trying to emulate Rhkkmk,lol.

After check in we immediately take the train back to Sapporo (8 minute ride) and do a little shopping, eating and basically looking around to get our bearings for the city. We also stop by the Hotel Nikko to see what we missed out on and should not have done that as I am now more depressed, oh well next time.

There is a big covered shopping dori (street) about 150 meters south of the train station just after Odori Park that is worth your while if visiting Sapporo. As I mentioned earlier cities in Hokkaido are much easier to navigate than any others in Japan because of the way they are laid out in the grid pattern, they just drive on the wrong side of the road, lol.

We ducked into a Japanese restaurant that was very busy with no English menus and no one there spoke a word of English but we got by just fine. Using the translator on my iphone and with a little point and nod we got a delicious meal for just under 20.00 US, which included one drink each and dessert. It would be called a complete seto meal in the Japanese lingo.

Later that evening we had Italian at the 31st floor of the Sheraton with a fantastic view of the city but the food was mediocre and the service out of the kitchen very spotty. In fact Linda finished her meal before my meal was delivered. Something that we did not understand was happening with the kitchen as the food was coming out very sporadically to the obvious disappointment of the waiters and ourselves. In America no tip would have been given with this type of service (I can hear our friends from down under already), which is the only recourse we have. You have no recourse for a bad dinner and service where no tipping is the rule you just have to live with it. You can complain but big deal and what does that do for you. Nothing really, your still stuck with the bad service and the bill, lol. Anyway there is no recommendation given here for the La Scala Restaurant from HT.

A strange thing did happen though as we were into our second cocktail. We experienced a mild earthquake that freaked me out along with the only other table in the place at the time. It was a very short rolling temblor for those of you familiar with quakes. I felt the building swaying back and forth slightly and was just about to scream hysterically and run for the stairs when it stopped,lol

. I looked at the other table and saw the Japanese gentleman and his family with worried looks on their faces. When I looked at Linda she said, “What is wrong with you”. I said “didn’t you feel that earthquake”. She said no and started laughing at me. The waiter came over and started to try and fix our table as he thought it was shaking from being unbalanced. We both started laughing hysterically, me more than she, as I immediately ordered another drink, lol. Being on the top floor of a large building right by a window is one of the last places I want to be in an earthquake. Thank God it was only a mild one.

The next morning it was off on a day trip to Otaru so Linda could have some fresh sushi and crab while I watched.

We woke early and went outside through the neighborhood looking for that small yet unique place for breakfast one always yearns to discover. This is fun for us to do in the urban Japanese setting because of the overall nature of the people. You sometimes end up with a gem but most times end up passing perfectly nice places in search of that certain gem. We found not a gem but a crowded little ramen house that was just what we needed that morning. I think they only had about ten different dishes that you purchased a ticket out of a machine but luckily one of them was the shoyu ramen, which is what I had wanted, and got. Breakfast cost for two was 640 yen.

We had a 9:02 train reservation, which had us in Otaru at 9:58. The train makes one stop in Sapporo and another close to Otaru. The weather was cool but sunny that morning and it was a very scenic ride down to the little fishing village on the west coast of Hokkaido on the Sea of Japan.

The main reasons to go to Otaru are the fresh sushi and the blown glassworks that the town is popular for. Fortunately there are many sushi restaurants and glass factories nestled together along with the requisite souvenir shops just a few minutes walk from the JR station.

We got off the train and walked straight across the street and proceeded downhill towards the water and dock area. One block before you hit the docks you will cross over the famous canal area bridge. One block before the canal and bridge you will cross two blocks of sushi restaurants and souvenir shops. They are in an area two blocks wide by a few blocks long. We just cruised the blocks till we saw restaurant with the most people waiting to eat and got in a short line and waited to be seated. The restaurant’s name was all in Japanese writing but they had an English/Japanese menu available inside.

As I mentioned it was a cool morning so to warm up I ordered a shrimp ramen while Linda had a sushi platter that consisted of eight different sushi that she picked out of the menu and a King Crab ramen, which was the special of the day at 1990 yen. Linda rates the sushi some of the best she has eaten and the crab ramen the absolute best ever. There was so much crab in the bowl that it was sticking out all over the bowl when the waitress brought it to our table. After lunch we walked up to the shopping section of town with two covered shopping doris but the recession has hit this town pretty hard it seems and half of the stores were shuttered closed while the other half looked like they were on their way to closing. There were just not many people around shopping except for the locals.

Tired and full we wandered back to the train station and took the next express back to Sapporo for more exploring. We walked back to Odori Park and visited the clock tower and shopped the surrounding blocks which are a shoppers paradise with blocks of covered shopping areas that sells all that Hokkaido has to offer and with the adjacent live fish market where you can get just about anything live, smoked, canned or whatever to bring home or eat on the spot. It was dark by the time we took the short train ride back to our hotel and passed out pretty quickly. It had been a long day.