From the 22th to 24th of February, I went on a trip through Eastern Hokkaido with my friend Park. The landscape of eastern Hokkaido is stunningly beautiful and we were really lucky with the weather. We travelled by bus and JR Trains on a 3 day Rail Pass. In hindsight a rental car would probably have been the more sensible choice as there are only very few buses in remote areas (like three per day) and the JR Trains are not cheap at all – even on a 3 day student pass (20000jpy).
After around five hours on the train from Sapporo, we stopped at Engaru Station. There are only few dead-end stations in Japan, from what I have experienced – in contrast to Europe. However, Japanese trains are of course equipped to deal with that, so it is possible to rotate all seats on the train by 180 degrees! That is also incredibly useful when travelling in groups, as you can just turn the seats and then easily talk with four people!
At Abashiri, we changed trains and hopped onto the Ryuhyo (Japanese for drift ice) Norokko Train, a special, old train that runs along the coast so you can see the drift ice from the train.
Of course there is also a little shop on the train and surely they also sell special drift ice beer!
We got some regional pudding to go along with it..
The train stopped a few times for roughly ten minutes to allow people to get out and take some pictures!
Some train stations were really interesting, with greetings and business cards all over the place..
The little shop on the train sold out very quickly!
As you can see on the right, there also was a guide on board who told a few interesting facts about what we were seeing. We saw a few foxes as well!
Slowly, the Shiretoko Peninsula came into sight..
We arrived in Shiretoko-shari and still had some time to kill before boarding the bus, so we went to look around the (small) town.
The Ryuhyu Norokko has its special diesel engine locomotive, which attracts many train lovers all over Japan :)
The town of Shiretoko-shari is a small town between mountains..
and the see!
although the fishing boats didn’t seem to be in use during winter :p
The bus finally arrived and we headed over to Utoro, the largest town on the Shiretoko Peninsula. To view the sunset we climbed the Oronkoiwa Rock, right next to Utoro’s harbour.
It was a little bit cloudy but we had a great, dim sunset! The view from Oronkoiwa was not bad either :)
The drift ice did seem to continue on into infinity..
The view to the other side – the Shiretoko National Park – was pretty good as well!
We went back to the place at which we were going to stay for the night.
On the way back, we noticed some voices and music from the other side of the Uron Rock so we decided to check that out first.
As it turns out, there was going to be a small live concert and a huge lightshow later that night. After dinner (which was amazing in taste and size, especially for what we paid) we went back there with two Japaense guys who stayed at the same place.
There were maybe around 150 people watching and free Cacao was handed out.
After the short concert, the light show (Aurora Fantasia – オローラファンタジア) began and was quite impressive!
We finished the day at a close by Onsen!
Makan Angin says:
Damn!
This article really makes me fail to move on from my last trip to northernmost part of Japan.
Honestly I say, I became curious about Hokkaido since my last visit and somehow still keep searching for some details about remote towns there, such as: Nemuro, Yubari, and Wakkanai, etc..
Anyway, I do love your captured, especially the sixth which is the high-angle-view of the train beside the Sea of Okhotsk. I bet you got that amazing picture from the towering platform adjacent to the small station (CMIIW)
That’s Kitahama Station
I visited that station last January and surely I left my name/business card there. And thanks to your pic, I saw mine was visible and still stuck to the wall. At least until last Feb. That one’s exactly above at the right-edge of the black frame at the left with orange vintage color, says (Makan Angin).
Well, sorry I ramble of nonsense. But your story and pictures bring back my memories of amazing trip I had. If you want to know about Hokkaido, try to visit this link:
http://good-hokkaido.info/en/
That website isn’t mine, but I had a little chat with the Japanese guy behind it.
And here’s my stories in Hokkaido. If you don’t mind, please visit and read some of them in my blog:
http://makanangin-travel.blogspot.com/
https://plus.google.com/+GeorgeMartinus/posts
Thanks a lot for sharing, bro Nimar Blu!
I look forward for your next stories in Hokkaido.
“It’s not just about the destination, but the journey”
May 5, 2015 — 00:53
nb says:
Hey – thanks for your kind words! There are definitely loads of remote places in Hokkaido to explore and they all carry a unique charm with them! Going through the countryside throughout with a car and loads of time would be a fantastic experience I think!
Yeah, I took that picture form the platform right next to the station, well spotted :) Glad that your card is still there, checked a higher res version of the image and I think it is yours indeed :)!
Your blog looks really good I think, thanks for pointing me to it! The good-hokkaido.info website is amazing as well, wish I had known about it before!
It is indeed about the journey..
May 9, 2015 — 20:36
yuki says:
Hi NB, may i know which hotel that u stayed at Utoro? and is it near to the Aurora Fantasia? Thank you
October 16, 2016 — 23:58
nb says:
Hi Yuki!
we stayed in Utoro at ボンズホーム (Bon’s Home, website: http://www.bonshome.com) which was a little pricey if I recall correctly (about 5000jpy/person/night inkl food) but the food was amazing.
The host was also friendly and drove us to a nearby Onsen in the evening, though we might have just been lucky..
It was well within walking distance from the Aurora Fantasia location, maybe around 10mins by foot (could possible be 15mins but just a short walk anyway).
If you have any further questions, just ask :)
Yours,
Nimar
October 28, 2016 — 19:31