Mashu | Blue Lapis Road

SILENT NIGHT AT LAKE AKAN (阿寒湖), Kushiro (釧路), Hokkaido (北海道), Japan, 2019.06.19

Day 5 (3/3).

About 60km southwest of Lake Mashu, we arrived at Akankohan (阿寒湖畔), our second destination in Akan Mashu National Park. Under the shadow of volcano Mount Oakan (雄阿寒岳), the onsen resort village Akankohan (阿寒湖畔) right by Lake Akan or Akanko (阿寒湖) is another great place in Eastern Hokkaido to experience the beauty of the region’s volcanic landscape. While may not be as crystal clear as Lake Mashu, Lake Akan, also a crater lake, is nonetheless also famous for its pure water. In fact, the pristine quality of the lake water has enabled the famous lake inhabitant, the marimo, to thrive in Lake Akan. Marimo, a rare ball-like algae, may grow up the size of a football if left untouched for centuries. Unlike Lake Mashu, Lake Akan has a much bigger human presence especially along the waterfront of Akankohan, where modern ryokans with all kinds of onsen baths, and shops, small museum, and cultural centre about the local Ainu people are established.

We stayed at Akankohan for a night to have a short visit of the lakeside onsen resort. We didn’t take the tourist cruise boat for a marimo museum visit on a small island in the lake; nor did we do a long hike up to one of the beautiful volcanoes around the lake or visit the Ainu cultural centre. We did however make a morning forest walk to the boiling bokke mud pool east of the resort village, enjoy a starry night standing on the lakeside boardwalk, and cleanse our bodies and souls in the mineral rich hotspring water of Akan.

At Akankohan, the waterfront is lined with resort hotels and docks for tourist cruise boats.

Located at the waterfront, our hotel Tsuruga Lake Akan Lodge Turano is a comfortable pet-friendly guesthouse with nice views to the lake.

Compared to other lakeside resort hotels, Tsuruga Lake Akan Lodge Turano is much more causal.

There was no hotspring facilities at Tsuruga Lake Akan Lodge Turano, we were invited to use one of Tsuruga’s other hotel’s facility. Recommended by the hotel staff, we went to Akan Yuku no Sato Tsuruga for its onsen facilities. During our visit, men were assigned to use the three-level bathing facilities at the lower floor while women at the 8/F outdoor infinity pool facing the lake.

It wasn’t the darkest and clearest night for stargazing, but chilling out in the cool air at Lake Akan after a hearty buffet dinner was delightful.

Clouds and fog moved quickly across the sky. Stars were still visible in between.

At Akankohan (阿寒湖畔), Mount Oakan (雄阿寒岳) has a dominant presence to the scenery.

Dusk fell upon with a soft touch of orange cast on the moving clouds.

In comparison, the artificial lights from the lakeside hotels looked overwhelmingly bright.

Various boardwalk structures extend out to the lake for small boats and tourist photos.

Last erupted in 2008, Mount Oakan is a shield volcano rises about 900m from the lake.

Swan like recreational boats looked quite out of place in the natural surrounding.

Most multi-level buildings in Akankohan are resort hotels. Behind the lakeside hotels, a shopping street lined with souvenir shops forms the main thoroughfare for the village. The entire village looks completely dependent on tourism.

Near our guesthouse Tsuruga Lake Akan Lodge Turano, the lights from the lakeside hotels looked far more overwhelming than the mighty volcano, which sat in tranquility in the background waiting for its next moment of eruption.

* * *

Introduction
HOKKAIDO ROAD TRIP, Hokkaido (北海道)

Day 1 – from Tokyo to Shiretoko Peninsula
Day 1.1 TSUKIJI OUTER MARKET (築地場外市場)
Day 1.2 ARRIVAL IN SHIRETOKO, Utoro (ウトロ)

Day 2 – Utoro
Day 2.1 SHIRETOKO FIVE LAKES (知床五湖)
Day 2.2 UTORO FISHERMAN’S WIVES CO-OPERATIVE DINER (ウトロ漁協婦人部食堂)
Day 2.3 FUREPE FALLS (フレペの滝)

Day 3 – Rausu
Day 3.1 RUSA FIELD HOUSE (ルサフィールドハウス)
Day 3.2 JUN NO BANYA (純の番屋)

Day 4 – Rausu
Day 4.1 MOUNT RAUSU (羅臼岳)
Day 4.2 FANTASTIC ORCAS, Nemuro Strait (根室海峡)

Day 5 – Lake Mashu & Lake Akan
Day 5.1 SUNRISE AT LAKE MASHU (摩周湖)
Day 5.2 MOUNT MASHU TRAIL (摩周岳) , Teshikaga (弟子屈)
Day 5.3 SILENT NIGHT AT LAKE AKAN (阿寒湖)

Day 6 – On the road from Lake Akan to Furano
Day 6.1 FISHERMEN BELOW MISTY OAKAN (雄阿寒岳), Lake Akan (阿寒湖)
Day 6.2 TREATS OF OBIHIRO (帯広), Tokachi (十勝)
Day 6.3 ARRIVING IN FURANO (富良野)

Day 7 Furano & Biei
Day 7.1 LAVENDER BUDS, Nakafurano (中富良野)
Day 7.2 FARM TOMITA (ファーム富田), Nakafurano (中富良野)
Day 7.3 BI.BLE, Biei (美瑛)
Day 7.4 PATCHWORK ROAD & PANORAMA ROAD, Biei (美瑛)
Day 7.5 NINGLE TERRACE (ニングルテラス)

Day 8 – from Furano to Otaru
Day 8.1 CHURCH ON THE WATER (水の教会), Hoshino Resorts Tomamu (星野リゾートトマム)
Day 8.2 HILL OF THE BUDDHA (頭大仏), Makomanai Takino Cemetery (真駒内滝野霊園)
Day 8.3 SEAFOOD, CANAL, & HISTORY, Otaru (小樽)
Day 8.4 RAINY NIGHT IN OTARU, Otaru (小樽)

Day 9 – Yochi & Sapporo
Day 9.1 NIKKA YOICHI DISTILLERY (余市蒸溜所), Yoichi (余市)
Day 9.2 SOUP CURRY NIGHT

Day 10 – Sapporo
10.1 OKKAIDO SHRINE (北海道神宮 )
10.2 MORIHICO COFFEE (森彦珈琲本店)
10.3 KITAKARO SAPPORO HONKAN (北菓楼札幌本館)
10.4 SATURDAYS CHOCOLATE
10.5 GOTSUBO OYSTER BAR(五坪)
10.6 MOUNT MOIWA (藻岩山) & RAMEN HARUKA (ラーメン悠)

Day 11 – Sapporo
11.1 FORMER HOKKAIDO GOVERNMENT OFFICE (北海道庁旧本庁舎)
11.2 RED STAR & GENGKIS KHAN, Sapporo Beer Museum (サッポロビール株式会社)

August 20, 2019 | Categories: Hokkaido, Japan, Japan: Hokkaido 2019, Lake Mashu and Akan | Tags: Akan, Akankohan, clouds, 釧路, 阿寒湖, 阿寒湖畔, Hokkaido, Japan, Japanese, Kushiro, lake, marimo, Mashu, night, ryokan, star, 北海道 | Leave a comment

MOUNT MASHU TRAIL (摩周岳) , Teshikaga (弟子屈), Hokkaido (北海道), Japan, 2019.06.19

Day 5 (2/3).

After a few hours of sleep, we returned to Lake Mashu to seek for another way to enjoy the crater lake and its surrounding landscape. This time, we took the 14.4km trail along the crater rim up to the top of Mount Mashu or Mashu-dake (857m) in a 4-6 hour walk. We read from guidebooks and online research that the scenery of Lake Mashu from the top of Mount Mashu would be very promising. At the onsen village of Mashu, we stopped by a bento takeout restaurant (ほかほか弁当) to order two rice dishes for breakfast, then headed over to Lake Mashu’s Viewpoint 1 to begin our hike.

A terrain model at the visitor centre of Viewpoint 1 gave us a rough idea of the hike, from the trailhead at the south of the crater lake to the peak of Mount Mashu east of the lake.

Soon after the trailhead, we reached the first open lookout of Lake Mashu.

The trail took us along the crater lake on one side, and open plains and distant volcanic landscape on the other.

Most of the trail ran along the rim of the crater lake with little shades.

From time to time, wooden signage indicated how far we were from our destination.

There was pretty much only one trail for most of the time. It was almost impossible to get lost.

Near the peak, we could fully appreciate the volcanic landscape of the area, including the lush green forest in a caldera next to Lake Mashu.

After the steepest section of the trail, we finally reached the summit of Mount Mashu, a small lookout that offered wonderful panoramas of the area’s volcanic scenery.

From the top, the volcanic scenery of Lake Mashu area was fantastic.

Looking west, the ridge of Mount Mashu led to the eastern edge of Lake Mashu.

Clouds were getting in with the wind but we still had blue sky for most of the day.

Looking north, we could see the eastern tip of Lake Mashu.

With a circumference of about 20km, Lake Mashu is one of the most famous lakes in Hokkaido. We stayed for 20 minutes or so at the summit all by ourselves, and began the descending journey when another couple followed our footsteps and replaced us at the peak.

Claimed as the clearest water in the world, the beautiful blue colour of Lake Mashu was simply stunning when viewed from above.

The wind was mild and the air was dry, such a perfect day for us to hike at Eastern Hokkaido.

From afar, the tiny island in the middle of Lake Mashu looked funny.

The hike would offer a different scenery if we were to visit in the autumn.

The beauty of Lake Mashu never cease to impress us, despite we were a little tired near the end of the hike.

Finally back to Viewpoint 1, the colour of Lake Mashu had changed due to the constantly moving clouds. From dawn to mid afternoon, we had fully experienced the sheer beauty of the famous caldera lake. After about 5 hours of walking, we returned to Viewpoint 1 and treated ourselves with local chocolate milk and a slide of Yubari melon (夕張メロン) , the king of Hokkaido fruit which just broke the record in May 2019 with a pair fetching 5,000,000 JPY (47,000 USD) in auction.

* * *

Introduction
HOKKAIDO ROAD TRIP, Hokkaido (北海道)

Day 1 – from Tokyo to Shiretoko Peninsula
Day 1.1 TSUKIJI OUTER MARKET (築地場外市場)
Day 1.2 ARRIVAL IN SHIRETOKO, Utoro (ウトロ)

Day 2 – Utoro
Day 2.1 SHIRETOKO FIVE LAKES (知床五湖)
Day 2.2 UTORO FISHERMAN’S WIVES CO-OPERATIVE DINER (ウトロ漁協婦人部食堂)
Day 2.3 FUREPE FALLS (フレペの滝)

Day 3 – Rausu
Day 3.1 RUSA FIELD HOUSE (ルサフィールドハウス)
Day 3.2 JUN NO BANYA (純の番屋)

Day 4 – Rausu
Day 4.1 MOUNT RAUSU (羅臼岳)
Day 4.2 FANTASTIC ORCAS, Nemuro Strait (根室海峡)

Day 5 – Lake Mashu & Lake Akan
Day 5.1 SUNRISE AT LAKE MASHU (摩周湖)
Day 5.2 MOUNT MASHU TRAIL (摩周岳) , Teshikaga (弟子屈)
Day 5.3 SILENT NIGHT AT LAKE AKAN (阿寒湖)

Day 9 – Yochi & Sapporo
Day 9.1 NIKKA YOICHI DISTILLERY (余市蒸溜所), Yoichi (余市)
Day 9.2 SOUP CURRY NIGHT

Day 11 – Sapporo
11.1 FORMER HOKKAIDO GOVERNMENT OFFICE (北海道庁旧本庁舎)
11.2 RED STAR & GENGKIS KHAN, Sapporo Beer Museum (サッポロビール株式会社)

August 17, 2019 | Categories: Hokkaido, Japan, Japan: Hokkaido 2019, Lake Mashu and Akan | Tags: blue, hike, hiking, Hokkaido, Japan, Japanese, lake, lookout, Mashu, mountains, Teshikaga, Trail, volcano, water, 弟子屈, 摩周湖 | Leave a comment

SUNRISE AT LAKE MASHU (摩周湖), Teshikaga (弟子屈), Hokkaido (北海道), Japan, 2019.06.19

Day 5 (1/3).

Leaving Shitetoko behind, we drove southwest towards another natural marvel of Eastern Hokkaido, the Akan Mashu National Park (阿寒摩周国立公園). On the lush green plains, stratovolcanoes emerged from the horizon, revealing the violent past of the local geology. Hot springs, crater lakes, and stratovolcanoes define the characteristics of the area, and have led to the creation of the national park in 1934. Just 15 minutes of drive from the Viewing Platform 1 of Lake Mashu (摩周湖), we checked in at Masyuko Youth Hostel (摩周湖ユースホステル). That night, we woke up at 2:30am and drove to the Viewing Platform 1 of Lake Mashu to watch the sunrise, a famous scenic sight in Hokkaido. In the summer, the sun rises at around 3:30am in Hokkaido, leaving us little time for sleep.

On our way to Akan Mashu National Park , we could see stratovolcanoes rose from the horizon in a distance.

Masyuko Youth Hostel offered us a comfortable place for a short rest before venturing out again to watch the sunrise.

Arriving at Viewing Platform 1 of Lake Mashu, we were stunned to see a sea of clouds blanketed over the area of Kawayu Onsen (川湯温泉).

Looking down from Viewing Platform 1, the water of Lake Mashu appeared like a crystal clear mirror.

Claimed as the clearest lake in the world (with transparency measured at 41.6m back in 1931), Lake Mashu is a beautiful crater lake where visitors can enjoy the scenery from two viewing platforms along the crater rim. The clarity might have slightly declined in recent decades, but Lake Mashu is still nevertheless an extremely beautiful water body.

Occasionally sea of clouds would appear over Lake Mashu, but not during our visit.

Soon the sun emerged behind the distant mountains to the east.

We enjoyed moments of tranquility at the viewing platform.

Several tourists and photographers stood among us at the viewing platform to watch the sunrise.

While the sun gradually rose over the crater lake, the moon still lingered in the sky behind us.

When the sun was up, the blue water and lush green surroundings changed the ambience of Lake Mashu into a different picture.

The deep blue Mashu Lake looked mysterious and surreal, almost too beautiful to be true.

The rim of the crater lake is now covered by dense vegetation.

On the other side, clouds and fog continued to cover the foot of Mount Iō (アトサヌプリ) and the Kawayu Onsen (川湯温泉) area.

The entire Kawayu Onsen (川湯温泉) area was blanked in thick fog.

Over to the southwest we could see the stratovolcanoes near what could be the Lake Akan area.

Down in Lake Mashu, the small island stood like a feature sculpture at the centre.

The sea of clouds at Mount Iō (アトサヌプリ) and Kawayu Onsen (川湯温泉) subsided a little as the sun rose further up.

Moisture and thin mist emerged over the water of Lake Mashu. The mist moved rapidly over the water as if dancing. At one point thicker mist gathered over the small island like a cotton shield.

The mist over the island soon dispersed into thin air. As the sun reached high in the sky, we returned to the hostel for another few hours of sleep before coming back to Lake Mashu for hiking later in the day.

* * *

Introduction
HOKKAIDO ROAD TRIP, Hokkaido (北海道)

Day 1 – from Tokyo to Shiretoko Peninsula
Day 1.1 TSUKIJI OUTER MARKET (築地場外市場)
Day 1.2 ARRIVAL IN SHIRETOKO, Utoro (ウトロ)

Day 2 – Utoro
Day 2.1 SHIRETOKO FIVE LAKES (知床五湖)
Day 2.2 UTORO FISHERMAN’S WIVES CO-OPERATIVE DINER (ウトロ漁協婦人部食堂)
Day 2.3 FUREPE FALLS (フレペの滝)

Day 3 – Rausu
Day 3.1 RUSA FIELD HOUSE (ルサフィールドハウス)
Day 3.2 JUN NO BANYA (純の番屋)

Day 4 – Rausu
Day 4.1 MOUNT RAUSU (羅臼岳)
Day 4.2 FANTASTIC ORCAS, Nemuro Strait (根室海峡)

Day 5 – Lake Mashu & Lake Akan
Day 5.1 SUNRISE AT LAKE MASHU (摩周湖)
Day 5.2 MOUNT MASHU TRAIL (摩周岳) , Teshikaga (弟子屈)
Day 5.3 SILENT NIGHT AT LAKE AKAN (阿寒湖)

Day 9 – Yochi & Sapporo
Day 9.1 NIKKA YOICHI DISTILLERY (余市蒸溜所), Yoichi (余市)
Day 9.2 SOUP CURRY NIGHT

Day 11 – Sapporo
11.1 FORMER HOKKAIDO GOVERNMENT OFFICE (北海道庁旧本庁舎)
11.2 RED STAR & GENGKIS KHAN, Sapporo Beer Museum (サッポロビール株式会社)

August 11, 2019 | Categories: Hokkaido, Japan, Japan: Hokkaido 2019, Lake Mashu and Akan | Tags: Akan Mashu, アトサヌプリ, dawn, 阿寒摩周国立公園, Hokkaido, Japan, Japanese, Kawayu Onsen, lake, Mashu, Masyuko Youth Hostel, Mount Iō, mountain, Stratovolcano, sunrise, Teshikaga, volcano, water, 北海道, 川湯温泉, 弟子屈, 摩周湖 | Leave a comment

HOKKAIDO ROAD TRIP, Hokkaido (北海道), Japan, June 15-25, 2019

Tsuyu (梅雨), the rain season, begins to hit Okinawa in May and gradually makes its way north to the rest of Japan until the end of June. During the wet season, rainy and cloudy weather affects the entire country except Hokkaido, Japan’s second largest island north of the main Honshu Island. The seismic active island is 3.6% smaller than Ireland, with a climate significantly cooler than the rest of Japan. Seeking for a pleasant getaway from Hong Kong’s humid and hot summer, we picked Hokkaido as the destination for our 11-day vacation from 15th to 25th of June. Traveling in the remote national parks and rural countryside of Hokkaido, hiring a car was a necessity. The Hokkaido journey was our first road trip in Japan.

Known as Japan’s last true wilderness, Shiretoko National Park (知床国立公園) is the natural haven where Brown Bears and Blakiston Fish Owls ruled the primeval forests and Orcas, Minke and Sperm Whales roamed the waters of Nemuro Strait. With fantastic natural scenery, wildlife and seafood to offer, this easternmost part of Hokkaido topped our priority list in the travel itinerary. Next in the journey took us to the spectacular volcanoes of Akan Mashu National Park (阿寒摩周国立公園), where we came close to Japan’s clearest water at caldera Lake Mashu (摩周湖) and the fantastic onsen and fly fishing hot spot of Lake Akan (阿寒湖). While the lavender fields of Furano (富良野) and Biei (美瑛) had yet reached the peak bloom moment, the ultra fertile soil below the Tokachi Volcanic Group (十勝火山群) treated us with some of the best bread, corn, potatoes, asparagus, melons and milk that we ever had in our lives. Despite far away from Tokyo and Osaka, the architectural magic of Tadao Ando (安藤忠雄) in Hokkaido satisfied our thirst of contemporary design and aesthetics. Back in Obihiro (帯広), Otaru (小樽) and Sapporo (札幌), historic traces of early pioneers and contemporary dessert shops and local eateries brought us back to delightful charm of urban Japan. What’s more? Day after day of mouthwatering seafood, fresh produces, good coffee, and lovely patisseries reminded us how wonderful our world could be, when the water is clean, soil is rich, forests are healthy and people are friendly. Thank you Hokkaido. You have truly touched our hearts.

Located north of Honshu Island, Hokkaido is the second largest island in Japan.

Flying in from Tokyo Haneda, our Hokkaido journey began from Memanbetsu (女満別空港) near the Shiretoko Peninsula. After more than 1,181km of driving, we arrived at Otaru and Sapporo at the western side of the island.

This black hatchback hybrid Toyota Prius c (Toyota Aqua in Japan) provided us the means of transport from east to west across Hokkaido.

After 2 days of rain and wind, we finally had a glimpse of the active volcano of Mount Rausu (羅臼岳), the tallest peak in Shiretoko Peninsula.

The greatest experience we took away from Shiretoko was the close encounter with a pod of orcas in the Nemuro Strait.

The Mashu Lake (摩周湖) offered us a peaceful sunrise at 3:30am.

Under the shadow of Mount Oakan (雄阿寒岳), dozens of fly fishermen stepped into the crystal water of Lake Akan (阿寒湖) to test their luck.

Farms and greenhouses were washed with heavy rain as we entered into Furano (富良野).

Still at least half a month to go before the peak season of lavender blossom, visitors were enjoying themselves at a relatively less crowded Farm Tomita in Nakafurano.

Compared with rainbow flower fields, we loved the wheat fields at Biei the most.

Tadao Ando’s Chapel on the Water has been famous in the designer’s world since the 1980s.

The Hill of Buddha is the latest addition in Hokkaido by Tadao Ando.

At Yoichi Distillery (余市蒸溜所), whiskey has been produced since 1934.

Saturdays Chocolate in Sapporo is one of the many excellent local eateries and cafes that we visited in the journey.

Last but not least, Hokkaido offered us the best seafood and dessert that we ever had as far as we could remember. Let’s begin to tell the story of our journey!