Hokkaido Photography Tour

We start in the Biei and Shi­rogane areas where there is so much to see. The win­ter land­scape con­sists of field edges sur­round­ed by gen­tly rolling hills and vast open white spaces. In the after­noon, we dri­ve towards the coast and to Shosan­bet­su and the famous Torii Gate and the sea ice.

After Biei, Shi­rogane and Shosan­bet­su areas, we then move on to explore the coastal areas of Oumu with its fish­ing har­bours and fish­ing huts. We then head inland into the snowy white can­vas to explore the Teshio area with its black riv­er that cuts through open white farm­land often dot­ted with green­house frames from the sum­mers grow­ing activity.

Leav­ing Teshio we head for Abashiri dis­trict. Our local guide will ush­er you to the first loca­tion to shoot the infa­mous Kuro­sawa trees dot­ting the rolling and hilly land­scape pro­vid­ing a graph­ic con­trast against the white snowy can­vas. We head back to Cape Notoro, the loca­tion of the light­house and the fence that Michael Ken­na fre­quent­ly cap­tures. We trav­el towards Futat­sui­wa dis­trict to cap­ture the pic­turesque land­scape with Mt Shari in the background.

Con­tin­u­ing our adven­ture to Abashiri then on to Futat­su Iwa, to shoot the spiky twin out­crop ris­ing above the waters called Futat­sui Rocks. We pro­ceed south­ward along the coast­line to view drift ice with the ice-capped Mount Shari in the back­ground. From the coastal road, we head to the near­by Oshinkoshin Falls, one of Japan’s best 100 water­falls. Here we will pho­to­graph the frozen shafts of water amidst the stark trees with spindly branch­es. We head towards Utoro at sun­set for din­ner and a night’s stay.

After sun­rise, we head back to the coast of Abashiri to expe­ri­ence the breath­tak­ing drift ice break­ing and float­ing across the Sea of Okhot­sk. If you are lucky you can catch Steller’s sea eagles and spot­ted seals. We then trav­el east to Hamakoshimizu to cap­ture the stark win­ter tree line con­trast­ing against the white snow. We head south to the Lake Kussharo in Teshik­a­ga Dis­trict. We return to Kawayu Spa.

We rise ear­ly to catch the morn­ing mist cre­at­ing ghost­ly images around the win­try trees at the near­by Kawayu For­est. We con­tin­ue our explo­ration at Lake Kussharo to find whoop­er swans that return to the Lake every win­ter. In addi­tion, you may be able to catch a glimpse of oth­er wildlife like the Sika deer, Siber­ian chip­munks and white-tailed eagles. Locat­ed near­by is Mount Io, famous for its hot springs and sul­phur filled moun­tain. In win­ter, the white steam cuts the moun­tain to cre­ate a breath­tak­ing pho­to oppor­tu­ni­ty. We head south to anoth­er of Michael Ken­na’s icon­ic spot — the hill­side fence that guards the snowy hills of Teshikaga.

We ven­ture to Lake Mashu a caldera lake in Akan Nation­al Park. It has the rep­u­ta­tion to be the clear­est lake in the world and the most beau­ti­ful in Japan. You can enjoy unob­struct­ed views from two obser­va­tion decks. Pho­tog­ra­phers will have to look out for the vol­canic peak on the west­ern side of the lake and the infa­mous fog that blan­kets the lake. For more angles of the view you can enjoy the hik­ing trail that rims the lake. We trav­el west to Lake Akan resort for the night.

We spend a day at Lake Akan to absorb and cap­ture the scenic hill­top trees around the lake. In win­ter, the lake freezes over and the mist adds a bit of mys­tery to the place. We vis­it two more loca­tions made famous by Michael Ken­na, the min­i­mal­is­tic ​‘Inclined Posts’ and the ​‘Wind­blown Flags’, both of which are in the vicin­i­ty of Lake Akan. Avid wildlife shoot­ers can head south­wards to Akan Tan­cho Crane Nation­al Park to catch the red-crest­ed cranes that are the offi­cial birds of Hokkaido.

High­lights of the Tour

Biei & Shi­rogane: Min­i­mal­ist win­ter land­scapes, Blue Pond, rolling fields, lone trees and barns

Shosan­bet­su: Famous Torii Gate stand­ing sen­tinel over sea ice

Teshio & Oumu: Mono­chrome farm­land with riv­er cut­tings, fish­ing har­bours, and huts

Abashiri & Cape Notoro: Icon­ic Ken­na loca­tions, includ­ing the light­house and coastal fence lines

Futat­sui Rocks: Twin vol­canic stacks in dra­mat­ic ocean light

Sea of Okhot­sk: Drift ice pho­tog­ra­phy with a chance to see Steller’s sea eagles and seals

Lake Kussharo & Kawayu For­est: Steam­ing lakes, whoop­er swans, and win­ter wildlife

Mount Io: Sul­phur vents cut­ting steam through the snow

Lake Mashu & Lake Akan: Misty caldera lakes and min­i­mal­ist tree formations

Tan­cho Crane Park: Option­al vis­it to pho­to­graph the ele­gant, red-crowned cranes

A Photographer’s Dream in White

This jour­ney is about more than tick­ing off loca­tions. It’s about embrac­ing a pho­to­graph­ic phi­los­o­phy — slow­ing down, observ­ing light and line, and com­pos­ing with sim­plic­i­ty. The vast snows­capes, sub­tle tonal shifts, and qui­et wildlife encoun­ters make this an ide­al envi­ron­ment for expres­sive, inten­tion­al image-making.

You’ll be sup­port­ed through­out by Paul and Michael, who will pro­vide 1‑to‑1 field tuition, tech­ni­cal help, artis­tic men­tor­ing, and oppor­tu­ni­ties to review your work as the tour progresses.