Everybody thinks winter is the season to go to Hokkaido. And so they’re not incorrect—except you’re not a winter particular person. As a result of for energetic travellers, autumn is hands-down one of the best time to expertise Japan’s northern island.
Autumn in Hokkaido is a real shoulder season: fewer crowds, quieter cities, and landscapes shifting day by day from deep greens to fiery reds and golds—typically with early snow already dusting the upper mountains. It’s the uncommon second when you’ll be able to hike by fall foliage within the morning and end up strolling in recent snow by afternoon.
From canoeing beneath autumn leaves to biking alongside rivers and mountain climbing Asahidake because the season turns white, fall affords essentially the most diversified and rewarding approach to discover Hokkaido—particularly should you favor transferring by nature reasonably than queuing for it.
Right here’s an outline:
Why Autumn Is the Finest 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 crimson, orange and gold, particularly round Asahikawa, Maruyama Park and Lake Shikotsu.
Early snow at larger elevations like Asahidake
Whereas valleys glow with fall color, mountains resembling Asahidake can already be dusted with snow, providing a uncommon mixture of autumn mountain climbing and early winter surroundings.
Ultimate temperatures for mountain 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: Mountain climbing, 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 great individuals who made our time in Hokkaido most memorable!
We verify into the OMO7 Lodge earlier than heading out with our guides to get pleasure from a scrumptious dinner at Yakitori skilled Gin’neko, a typical Japanese restaurant that’s particularly common with locals. On the best way again – every part is inside strolling distance – there are stunning moments captured in stills, earlier than we loosen up within the Lodge’s Onsen bathtub and prepare for experiencing the Hokkaido autumn colors the following 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 carry us on the Bus, and as soon as we’ve got handed Higashikawa, we already begin to really feel the change. The upper the bus takes us, the whiter every part 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 fingers us our tickets for the Ropeway, and Yuko makes certain we don’t lose them, as we’ll want them to get on the journey down! On the high 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 could 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 “By Information” for over 30 years. A By 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 discuss our favorite seasons (Hers is spring 🌸) and meals and mountain climbing, and earlier than we understand we’re again on the Ropeway Station. Extra folks 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, crimson, and inexperienced hues. We make a cease in Higashikawa’s Michikusakan Roadside Relaxation Space, the place you should purchase native delicacies and likewise nip into the Montbell Retailer should you want one thing on your out of doors adventures!
Again in Asahikawa, we drop our baggage and head straight out for dinner with our group. It’s a kind of simple evenings the place the desk fills up with small plates and massive flavours: crispy tempura, completely grilled fish, steaming bowls of miso, and simply the correct amount of sake to maintain the dialog flowing.
We swap tales from the highway, snigger so much, and linger lengthy after the final dish is cleared. On the best way again, we stroll by the quiet metropolis streets, watching the neon mirror on patches of darkish asphalt and feeling that specific form 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 practice to Sapporo, watching the colorful Hokkaido panorama slide by exterior the window. The second we step out of the station we really feel the shift: Asahikawa all of a sudden appears small and quaint as compared.
Sapporo is massive, busy, and buzzing – a correct metropolis with power in each course, 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 good post-travel starvation. Arms down among the greatest ramen you will get in Japan.
Properly fed and warmed from the within out, we head to Maruyama Park, the place a full of life crew of outside guides is ready for us. We hike by forested trails to a viewpoint over Sapporo, town unfold out under in a patchwork of buildings and rooftops.
On the best way, I pull a small sensible joke and by accident startle our lead information, who actually hadn’t seen me within the shrubbery. We snigger it off, I apologise, and the temper stays mild as we descend by 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 superb hostel made for skiers, hikers and climbers. The meals is tasty, the native Beer is flowing, and we’re engulfed in conversations, planning the following adventures collectively right here on Hokkaido, the place the chances are limitless.
Biking and Canoeing at Lake Shikotsu in Autumn
Our closing day – time flies by when you’ve got enjoyable – begins with a go to to Chitose Shrine, the place we get the blessing of the pinnacle 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 beneath crimson and yellow Japanese maple timber within the sunshine, subsequent to a burbling river, is nearly as good because it will get. We comply with a easy asphalt cycle path to Lake Shikotsu, and even when it begins to rain towards the tip of our 25 km journey, we’re nonetheless having a blast.
Our information, Yugo, and tail information Katy each was once skilled highway cyclists – although the largest shock is Yugo telling me he performed for years in a Finnish metallic band and nonetheless has many Finnish associates within the music enterprise. It’s a small world certainly, and too quickly we arrive on the lake.
After the chilly rain, we’re joyful to heat up at Kotobuki Restaurant, the place a tasty native meal provides us extra power for the paddling that may quickly comply with! That you could’t management our little group turns into evident after we resolve to seize a tender serve ice cream on the best way 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 stunning 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.
An exquisite second, and each Yuzuki and I smile whereas we paddle out onto the lake. That is the deepest lake on Hokkaido, and it does probably not freeze over in winter. Three volcanoes encompass it, and the solar illuminates the lake fantastically. We paddle, chat and {photograph}, delighted concerning the magnificence that surrounds us.
When Natsumi tells us we gained’t go far to our resort, we don’t realise we’ll actually stroll only a few hundred metres to Shikotsuko Tsuruga Resort Spa Mizu no Uta – one of the best resort alongside Lake Shikotsu. We take off our footwear as we enter and are led to reception to verify in.
After a fast have 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 – all of a sudden it’s already meal time.
Ultimately, this brief shoulder-season escape to Hokkaido felt like a spotlight reel of every part I really like about Japan’s north: snow crunching beneath my footwear on Asahidake in October, crimson 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 shouldn’t be loud or showy; it’s delicate, beneficiant, and filled with small surprises – from ramen at crowded counters to connections with guides who rapidly really feel like associates. As we slip into our yukata one final time and wander right down to the onsen earlier than mattress, I can’t assist however suppose that is Hokkaido at its greatest: unhurried, uncrowded, completely genuine.
Winter would possibly get all the celebrity, however should you commerce carry traces for larch forests and powder for maple leaves, Hokkaido’s autumn will quietly steal your coronary heart.
If you wish to benefit from your journey to Hokkaido, make certain to take a look at the Hokkaido Journey Journey Information web page so you’ll find the right information on your journey to this stunning island within the North of Japan!
