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    Kita no sora- Hokkaido in Summer

    Sunflower farmMore Photos
    I declare myself officially addicted to Japan. No, I am not receiving any commissions for promoting Japan, I simply find Japan fascinating. Hana (flowers) is the theme of our trip. We have thus far avoided travelling to Japan during peak tourist season as airfares and accommodations are usually 30% higher, not to mention jostling with crowds of people at key attractions. However, summer is the best time to view fields of lavender and sunflower and this, unfortunately coincided with the Japanese school holidays. On the up-side, getting around Hokkaido is easier as there are more frequent bus and train services to match the increase tourist traffic. We chose to visit the windy city of Wakkanai and the islands of Rebun and Rishiri in the hope of viewing rare alpine flowers before heading to Furano and Biei in central Hokkaido.

    Wakkanai-Rebun-Rishiri are Hokkaido's northern towns. Together, they form the Rebun-Rishiri-Sarobetsu National park. Rebun and Rishiri are known as floating islands of flowers. Here, alpine flowers grow at sea levels and are popular among hikers during summer (no need to travel over 12hrs in search of Edelweiss, they have it in Rebun). While Rebun island is popular among hikers and flower lovers, Rishiri island is dominated by Mt Rishiri or Rishirifuji and continues to challenge many climbers hoping to scale its height. Wakkanai is Japan's most northern city and is popular with the Russians due to its proximity to Sakhalin. This town is unique in that signboards of stores are written in Russian and Japanese.

    Furano on the other hand is known as the navel of Hokkaido due to its central location. It is popular among tourists for its fields of lavender in the summer and for powder snow in winter. To the Japanese tourist, Furano is also the location of a long running drama series "Kita-no-kuni kara". Biei and Bibaushi, just 15 minutes from Furano by train is known for its expansive fields of sunflowers. It is also a popular location for shooting commercials.

    Although it was peak tourist season, the crowds were not as bad as we had thought it would be. In fact, the towns of Rebun, Rishiri and Wakkanai were almost empty even though they were preparing for the matsuri (summer festival). The busiest town by far was Furano but attractions were not overwhelmingly crowded as I have expected it to be.${QuickSuggestions} This website has a summary of useful links on Hokkaido.

    I found Hyperdia a very useful tool in planning my trip to Hokkaido. It helped me calculate the cost and time needed to travel from place to place. If you intend to travel long distances via the JR train, do not forget to purchase your JR pass. This can be done easily online. Once the reservation is done, print out the email notification and bring it to the designated collection center, payment can be made upon collection in Hokkaido. We bought the 5-day JR pass. Travelling from Sapporo to Wakkanai to Asahikawa and Furano, we saved ￥4000 in all.

    If you intend to drive, Tocoo offers competitive prices for car rentals.

    Many have asked if communication was a problem , to be honest, I speak very little Japanese other than the standard "I do not understand Japanese". Still, I have not encountered much difficulty. When in a restaurant, we usually ask for an English menu or point to the picture in the menu, if this is not available, we would bring the waitress to the window display and point to the desired item (most restaurants have almost life-like plastic food displays of their menu outside). If the restaurant sells noodles, we would inevitably order char-siew ramen (Hokkaido's classic dish of pork slices with egg noodles). Failing which, we would whip out our digital camera and show them a picture of the dish we want (we have yet to reach this stage). We also find it prudent to carry a copy of the Japanese map of the place. This comes in handy when asking for directions.

    Be sure to stop by the tourist information office at Furano and Biei and grab a copy of the English bus schedules and sightseeing recommendations. English speaking staff are at hand to assists in accommodation reservations, etc. Grab hold of a Japanese map of Biei. Scenic spots are mapped out clearly in the form of a camera symbol and these are not in the English version.

    If you plan to visit Hokkaido in the summer, do make early reservations for accommodations. The popular ones are usually fully booked three months in advance.${BestWay} To Wakkanai:
    From Sapporo, you can take the long distance Soya bus or the JR train to Wakkanai, depending on your budget and time availability. The journey takes about 4.5hrs by JR Ltd express train. From Wakkanai, the port is about a 10 minute walk from the JR train station. A quicker way is to fly to Asahikawa and take the train from there or fly direct to Wakkanai via domestic air. Please note that there are limited train and bus services per day.

    Within Wakkanai
    Most sights are within walking distance. For sights located outside of town, take the local buses.

    To Rebun and Rishiri
    Go here for the ferry schedule. The economy class costs ￥2200 one way to Kafuka (Rebun). From Kafuka (Rebun) to Oshidomari (Rishiri), the cost is ￥780 and takes about 45 minutes.

    Within Rebun and Rishiri
    Walking is the main form of transport although there are infrequent buses within the islands. Renting a car is expensive, the cheaper alternative would be to hire a bicycle. Alternatively, most minshukus and hotels offer shuttle services to the trail heads subject to prior arrangements.

    To Furano and Biei
    From Asahikawa:
    Trains operate on a hourly schedule. The Norokko or Lavender-go train operates only during the summer from Asahikawa, be sure to ask for a copy of the schedule at the JR Asahikawa station. Alternatively, you can hop onto the Lavender-go bus but it may not be cheaper than the train and is definitely slower.

    From Sapporo:
    There are essentially two routes. You need to transfer trains at Takikawa to the JR Nemuro line to Furano or take the train to Asahikawa and transfer to the JR Furano line.

    Within Furano
    There are buses that run during the summer to most attractions around Furano just outside the JR Furano station. Ask for the bus schedule at the Tourist information office.

    Within Biei and Bibaushi
    The cheapest and easiest way to tour this region is by bicycle. Renting a car would be the wiser choice as there are no public buses servicing this area. Alternatively, you can join the sightseeing tours departing from the JR Biei station. If money is no object, hiring a taxi is also possible (￥10000 per hour).
    From journal Kita no sora- Hokkaido in Summer