Meet at the tour hotel in the centre of Kushiro. Enjoy a Welcome Dinner at a local Robatayaki restaurant. Robatayaki is a style of cooking on an open hearth called an Irori and said to originate in Kushiro. Fishermen of northern Japan have cooked in this way for more than a century and the technique has now spread throughout the country. Our dinner is grilled seafood of the highest quality.

Accommodation: Hotel
Meals: Welcome Dinner

Travel this morning by private vehicle to Kushiro marshland, Japan’s largest wetland area with a diverse ecosystem and Japan's first Ramsar Site. The area is home to the red-crowned crane, a national treasure and loved by birdwatchers, as well as abundant other wildlife. Walk through the forest to the observatory overlooking the vast marshland and then continue on trails through the marsh exploring the local flora and fauna. After the walk we head onwards in our vehicle to Lake Akan, a crater lake in the Lake Akan National Park. The area is home to the largest community of indigenous Ainu people Hokkaido. We stay here for two nights in a lovely Onsen hot spring hotel in a lakeside setting.  

Walking distance: 6.8km / 4.2 miles
Elevation gain: negligible ascent and descent
Time required: 3 hours

Accommodation: Japanese-style Hot-spring Hotel
Meals: Dinner and breakfast

Today we climb Mount Meakandake, an active volcano whose peak reaches 1,499m and which has formed the landscape around Lake Akan. We hike through wonderful scenery. Ainu legend says that Mount Meakandake and Mount Oakandake were a married couple, but Oakandake was unfaithful to his wife. The volcanic activity which continues to this day symbolises the strife between them.

Gaze across the landscapes of Mount Oakandake and Lake Onneto, watching out for alpine flowers unique to Hokkaido.

Walking distance: 6.6km / 4.1 miles
Elevation gain: 788m/2585 feet ascent; 788m/2585 feet descent
Time required: 4.5 hours

Accommodation: Japanese-style Hot-spring Hotel
Meals: Dinner and breakfast

This morning we visit the Akanko Ainu Kotan Village to learn about the history and culture of Hokkaido's indigenous inhabitants, the Ainu. We watch a traditional dance performance, officially recognised as an important feature of Japan’s cultural heritage.

Afterwards we travel by our private vehicle to Kawayu Onsen and enjoy a lovely walk to Mount Iou, known as Atosa Nupuri or ‘Naked Mountain’ in the Ainu language. Today, Mount Iou is a very active volcano and we will watch as sulphur rises from the more than 1,500 fumaroles covering its slopes.

Our lodging tonight is a charming onsen ryokan or onsen hotel in the area of Lake Mashu and Lake Kussharo. The area is famous for having some of the highest-quality thermal waters in the whole of Hokkaido. Both lakes are some of the most pristine and largest calderas in the world.

Walking distance: 5.2km / 3.2 miles
Elevation gain: negligible ascent and descent
Time required: 2.5 hours

Accommodation: Onsen ryokan (hot spring inn) or onsen hotel (hot spring hotel)
Meals: Dinner and breakfast

After a short journey by private vehicle we reach Lake Mashu. Known as one of the clearest lakes in the world and one of the most beautiful in the whole of Japan, Lake Mashu is often shrouded in mist during the summer months, giving it an air of mystery.

After climbing on foot to the peak of Nishibetsudake, we descend the other side of the mountain, enjoying amazing views of the vast grass farmland unique to Hokkaido. After the hike, we continue by private vehicle to Abashiri, a modern town which relies on its fishing industry. Our accommodation tonight is a lovely Onsen Ryokan.

Walking distance: 11.4km / 7.1 miles
Elevation gain: 553m/1814 feet ascent; 763m/2503 feet descent
Time required: 5 hours

Accommodation: Onsen Ryokan (Hot-spring Travellers Inn)
Meals: Dinner and breakfast

Today we enjoy optional cycling or walking through one of the largest wildflower nature reserves in Japan beside Lake Saroma, Japan’s third-largest lake with a length of 20 kilometres. In the Wakka Nature Centre we can spot hundreds of different types of flowering plants.

Later, we visit the Museum of Northern People and learn more about the indigenous peoples inhabiting the north. The Ainu have a history stretching back over 2,000 years to the time of their arrival in Hokkaido from Siberia; the area also has mysterious traces of an even earlier culture called the Moyoro.

We make our way to Utoro Onsen, a pleasant hot-spring town and gateway to the vast Shiretoko Wilderness. This is a perfect base for our next three nights in a local hotel enjoying the Onsen baths and regional delicacies.

Optional
Cycling/Walking distance: up to 20km / 12.5 miles
Elevation gain: negligible ascent and descent
Time required: 2 hours

Accommodation: Hot-spring Hotel
Meals: Dinner and breakfast

If the weather is kind today, we enjoy a boat ride on the Sea of Okhotsk. From the sea there are stunning views of the Shiretoko Peninsula's dramatic coastline and perhaps even glimpses of Hokkaido brown bears and their cubs, as well as deer, foxes, and marine life such as dolphins and whales. If the weather is not calm enough for the boat ride, we’ll stay on land and hike a lovely waterfall path instead.

In the afternoon we travel by local bus to the famous Shiretoko Five Lakes, spending time on the picturesque nature trails there.

Walking distance:  3.4km / 2.1 miles
Elevation gain: negligible ascent and descent
Time required: 1.5 hours

Accommodation: Hot-spring Hotel
Meals: Dinner and breakfast

Today begins with a local bus journey to the start of today’s walk past picturesque lakes and onwards to Lake Rausu, recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage site and the largest lake on the Shiretoko Peninsula. Here there are stunning views of Mount Rausu, highest peak of the peninsula. This is a wonderfully remote area whose beauty is not widely known. We provide boots for the uniquely enjoyable mud trail before returning to our lodgings in Utoro Onsen.

Walking distance:  6.3km
Elevation gain: 187m/613 feet ascent; 187m/613 feet descent
Time required: 3 hours

Accommodation: Hot-spring Hotel
Meals: Farewell Dinner and breakfast 

After breakfast, our guide will arrange transfer to Memanbetsu airport for your return flight to Tokyo or Osaka airport.

 
Meals: Breakast