AT#877 - Travel to the Island of Hokkaido in Japan

Travel with Amateur Traveler Podcast

Chris Christensen

History, Places & Travel, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 16 December 2023

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Hear about travel to the northern island of Hokkaido in Japan as the Amateur Traveler talks to Inga from Inga's Adventures about a trip to hike in the Daisetsuzan National Park. https://amateurtraveler.com/travel-to-hokkaido-japan/ Why should someone go to Hokkaido? Inga says, "The natural beauty is the main reason to go to Hokkaido. The rugged landscapes and the feeling that you're far away from civilization is an experience. That you don't find in a lot of other places on the main island of Japan, which is Honshu. Many beautiful places to go down there, but it's a very different landscape in Hokkaido." Inga recommends this 7-day itinerary for travelers interested in exploring Hokkaido, particularly focusing on the Daisetsuzan National Park: Day 1-2: Tokyo Arrive in Tokyo and spend a day or two decompressing and adjusting to the time difference. Stay in a hotel near Tokyo Station for convenience. Day 3: Tokyo to Sapporo Exchange the JR rail pass for the Shinkansen train journey to Hokkaido. While you can fly directly to Hokkaido and save the 8-hour train journey, for Inga the journey was part of the point. You can watch the mountains rise up and the population thin out as you head north. Stay one night in Sapporo, exploring the city and visiting places like the Tokyo train station and the Sapporo Brewery. Inga and her husband also visited the Hokkaido University Botanic Garden and a museum about the Ainu, the indigenous people of Hokkaido. Day 4: Sapporo to Asahikawa Take a train to Asahikawa, a smaller town. Explore Asahikawa, staying overnight. Day 5-7: Asahikawa to Daisetsuzan National Park Take a bus to Asahidake within Daisetsuzan National Park. Stay in a traditional onsen hotel in the park, such as Daisetsuzan Shirakaba Soryokan. Explore hiking trails, including the Sugatami Loop, nature trails, and hikes to the Nakadate Onsen. Enjoy the onsen experience in the hotel. Consider exploring other hikes within the national park if time allows. Return to Tokyo: Take a bus back to Asahikawa and a train from there to Hakodate. The journey back to Tokyo can be completed in the remaining two days, either by train or by taking a flight from Hokkaido. Inga also mentions renting a car for more flexibility in exploring the national parks. If you want a Japan experience with a heavy dose of hiking, ropeways, natural hot springs, and fumaroles consider heading north to Hokkaido. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	McDonald's are making small improvements to our classic burgers, searing out 100%
0:04.6	British beef patties so they're even juicier.
0:07.6	And we're serving them hotter for meltier cheese, all in new toast of your
0:11.4	buns. The classics, now a little more Mm.
0:14.0	comparison with Prior Classic Burgers, served after 11 a.m. subject to availability.
0:18.0	Amateur Traveler, episode 877. Today the Amateur Traveler talks about bullet trains and beer,
0:27.6	fumaroles and hot springs, ropeways and hiking trails as we go to the island of Hokkaido in northern Japan.
0:36.3	This is Chris Christensen from Amateur Traveler. Let's talk about Hokkaido. I'd like to welcome the show Inga Aximate from Inga's Adventures.
0:48.9	com who's come to talk to us about the northernmost region of Japan, Hokkaido.
0:55.0	Inga, welcome to the show.
0:57.0	Thank you so much. I'm happy to be here.
0:59.0	Excellent. What's your connection with Hokkaido?
1:02.0	My interest in going to Hokkaido is because I'm a real
1:06.1	outdoorsy person and I love to hike and it seemed like with all the national parks that are located in Hokkaido that was a natural
1:14.4	destination for me and my husband Steve. Excellent. And why should someone go
1:20.3	to Hokkaido? The natural beauty is the main reason to go to Hokkaido.
1:26.2	The rugged landscapes, the feeling that you're far away from civilization is an experience that you don't find in a lot of other places in the main island of Japan which is Honshu.
1:38.0	Many beautiful places to go down there, but it's a very different landscape in Hokkaido.
1:44.0	What kind of itinerary are you going to recommend for us?
1:47.0	I'm going to recommend a seven-day itinerary, which will give the traveler a balanced experience between seeing towns on the island as well as getting out of the rugged natural landscape.
2:00.0	Excellent. Where are we going to start? I would imagine that most people will arrive in Japan in Tokyo. That's how we arrived. We were extremely jet-lagged after the long flight and I am a person who no matter how much I do this
2:17.5	I suffer from jet lag terribly so I like to allow a little bit of decompression time
	...

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