Featured image: Tour guide Chiyuki Okada at Kamui Seaside Park during a sea urchin experience on Rishiri Island, off the coast of Hokkaido, Japan | Photo by Jennifer Bain

Offbeat adventure await on Hokkaido, Rebun and Rishiri islands

by Jennifer Bain

I’ve always had a thing for islands, and lately it’s islands off of islands. But on my first trip to Japan, an island nation, I took this micro-obsession to the next level. I flew to Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost and second-largest island, looked out to sea for a Russian island and then with a wonderful female guide, ferry-hopped to two tiny islands that were blessedly rural and free of crowds.

How fun is that? I couldn’t see Russia’s Sakhalin Island, by the way. It was just 43 kilometres away from Cape Soya but obscured by rain and mist. I did get to romp around a pyramid-shaped monument (inspired by the North Star) that marks the northernmost point of Japan, and then ducked into a bright blue souvenir shop that sells certificates marking the accomplishment.

It’s evidence of just how quietly cool Hokkaido is on both the quirkiness and climate front.

Sure, the popular snow season brings skiers and snowboarders to the region from around the world for Japanese powder (“Japow”). But the less-known green season from May to October brings off-the-beaten-track adventurers like me who welcome the cooler climate. It hovered around 22C here during my August visit while Tokyo was an intolerable 31C.

Life on Japan’s northern islands

Can you really enjoy Japan with a shellfish allergy? For years, I was scared to try. But it was finally time to find out under the watchful eye of brilliant private guide Chiyuki Okada.

Getting off the plane from Tokyo to Wakkanai, I was whisked to a conveyor belt sushi spot called Hanaichimonme to devour hamburg steak sushi, inari (sushi rice in fried tofu pouches) and a salmon roe rice bowl delivered by a conveyor belt and a charming robot respectively. Okada, who is well-versed in guiding Western travellers, kept me from ingesting any hidden allergens.

I couldn’t feast on local scallops, but did stroll along the Path of White Shells, an Instagrammable country road paved with crushed scallop shells. My favourite photos from this part of the trip, though, were of Russian words written with the Cyrillic alphabet on multilingual road signs.

A ferry ride to flower-filled Rebun Island

Ferries force you to slow down.

Landing on Rebun Island after a two-hour ferry ride from Wakkanai, I posed for photos with Atsumon and embraced the peaceful vibe. He’s the island’s fairy mascot and he resembles the endangered Rebun’s lady slipper orchid that only grows here.

Flower trekking is a big deal on what’s nicknamed the Floating Island of Flowers and is part of Rishiri-Rebun-Sarobetsu National Park. The high altitude and cool climate help some 300 species bloom along the coast and other accessible, low-lying spots.

Seven hiking routes criss-cross this laid-back island, and I meandered along the Momoiwa Observatory Trail that sunny afternoon and caught the tail end of this season’s alpine plant bonanza while admiring views of Rishiri Island’s locally celebrated Mt. Rishiri. July and early August are the best times for flowers.

On the food front, there was grilled local mackerel, which I nibbled on, and canned Steller sea lion, which I didn’t feel compelled to try.

Most people visit shrines and temples in Japan, but here I was taken on a pilgrimage to see Kitano no Canary, a preserved film set school house from the award-winning 2012 melodrama Kitano Kanariyatachi (A Chorus of Angels) about a teacher who takes charge of six students on a remote island and endured an extreme winter and a tragic accident. Studying snowy production shots made this Canadian yearn to return for a Hokkaido winter.

Before leaving Rebun, I spotted Pacific swifts dancing in the summer sky showing off what eBird describes as their “origami-like angularity.” The secretary-general of the Rebun Island Tourism Association saw the swifts as an omen. “There is a saying that when you see that bird, rain is coming,” Takeru Kawamura told me.

He was right. The weather turned just before I hopped a one-hour ferry south to Rishiri Island. Good thing I’d already seen the volcanic island’s signature mountain — nicknamed Rishiri-Fuji because it resembles Japan’s most beloved peak — from afar, because it would now be shrouded in clouds.

A ferry ride to the volcanic Rishiri Island

What a delight to wear onsen loungewear to meals.

My hotels on Rebun and Rishiri were both onsen ryokans where we got to bathe in geothermally heated water, nude and in segregated spaces with tattoos covered by Band-Aids, of course. My rooms came with comfortable loungewear to wear between buffet meals and onsen visits — a yukata (kimono-style robe secured with a belt) in Rebun and a sumae (a cotton jacket-and-pant set that originated with Buddhist monks) in Rishiri.

That quest for simple rural pleasures continued on Rishiri as I slipped out at sunrise one day on a rental bike, filled my reusable water bottle at one of the roadside springs, and took a guided walk around Otatomari Swamp, where clouds sadly obscured the reflection of Mt. Rishiri on the water.

There wasn’t much rain but there were plenty of overcast skies. From one popular viewpoint, I could only read how this was the very spot that inspired the packaging of Hokkaido’s famous Shiroi Koibito white chocolate and langue de chat (cat’s tongue) biscuits. The iconic cookies, by the way, are delicious.

There was a ferry terminal ramen with a hair-like tangle of finely shaved dried local seaweed softened in vinegar, and a memorable soft-serve cone that combined rosehip and bamboo grass ice cream. At a rather random dairy farm called the Milpis Shoten, there was an unusual lactic acid dairy drink called mirupisu that tasted like a slightly sweet, slightly tangy, thinned-out milk. My tiny glass is now a treasured vase.

I’m not much of a drinker these days but I couldn’t resist seeing Japan’s most northern and most remote craft distillery and hearing how the salty sea winds help with the aging process. On a tour of Kamui Whisky K.K. with a French guide, I met the Chilean distiller and learned how the American owner, who has lived in Japan for decades, fell hard for this quirky island.

Steps away at Kamui Kaigan Park, I harvested a sea urchin (technically from a tank since it was too rough to step out on the boat moored at the dock), learned how to crack and clean it, and passed the creamy, briny local delicacy called uni on to Okada to eat.

My sundae came without the urchin, of course, and Hirakwa sweetly sent me off to catch a flight to Sapporo with a packet of her homemade kelp salt.

An urban ending in Sapporo, Hokkaido

With two million people, the city of Sapporo was a shock to the senses after Wakkanai (population 40,000), Rebun (2,200) and Rishiri (5,000). It felt like there were more than 47,200 people on Tanukikoji Shopping Street alone.

It was there at Hokkaido’s most famous shopping arcade that I couldn’t find my way out of “Donki,” the multi-level Japanese discount store MEGA Don Quijote. When I finally stumbled outside, I was captivated by gacaphon (capsule toy) machines where I scored plastic cats spitting out milk and what looked like coffee for my kids, and FamilyMart, where I nabbed trendy striped “Convenience Wear” socks for myself.

Before I ducked out of town for a day trip to Shikotsu-Toya National Park, there was a raucous DIY “Genghis Khan” barbecue night with Sapporo beer at an open-air restaurant under the Sapporo TV Tower. You get 100 minutes to grill as much lamb, chicken, pork, bean sprouts, onions and green bell peppers as humanly possible at your table.

Speaking of coffee, Japan’s best version comes in cans. I saved my Yen to buy a UCC Black Rich and Georgia Coffee Less Sugar from a Tokyo airport post-security ending machine for my husband, but forgot about my Detroit layover on route to Toronto.

“Japanese coffee is really good,” the officer who screened my carry-on bags commiserated as I reluctantly surrendered my cans for being more than 100 millilitres each, hoping against hope that he might secretly enjoy them instead of destroying them. Well, at least the kelp salt made it home, and I sprinkle it on rice as a reminder of all the unusual eats and peaceful adventures I had island-hopping around Hokkaido.

How to get to Japan’s Hokkaido region 

How to get there

Many airlines fly non-stop to Tokyo from major hubs around the world (I was supposed to be on Air Canada but had to switch to Delta due to a strike). From Tokyo, fly north on Air Nippon Airways to Sapporo (90 minutes) or Wakkanai (110 minutes). Heart Land Ferry travels from Wakkanai to Rebun Island or Rishiri Island. Air Nippon Airways flies between Rishiri and Sapporo. Check for flights here.

How to get around

My group enjoyed having a private driver, but some people rent cars (expect to drive on the left and have the steering wheel on the right). Public transit and taxis are the best city options. Bike rental and Soya Bus sightseeing tours are the best island options, but there is also limited bus service.

Where to stay

The convenient Royal Park Hotel Tokyo Haneda in Terminal 3 of Tokyo Haneda Airport had robots deliver amenities like bottled water and towels. My city hotels included the Surfeel Hotel Wakkanai and the Sapporo Hotel by Granbell. My island hotels — the Rebun Hotel Saryo and Island Inn Rishiri — both had onsens, and I stayed in Western-style rooms.

Disclosure: Jennifer Bain travelled as a guest of the Hokkaido Tourism Organization, who did not review or approve this story before publication.

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