Japan (Lonely Planet, 11th Edition) - Chris Rowthorn [493]
Akan Yuku-no-sato (; 67-2531; http://www.tsuruga-g.com/english/01tsuruga/01tsuru-facility.html; 4-6-10, Akan Onsen; r per person incl 2 meals from ¥12,600; ) If you’re looking for a worthwhile splurge, this stunner of a ryokan offers refined elegance in the truest Japanese sense. A variety of tatami rooms are on offer, some of which feature private soaking tubs, rocking chairs in front of picture windows and silk cushions strategically strewn about hewn-wooden floors. Banquet meals are a regal affair featuring never-ending courses of edible art, while two floors of onsen bliss run the gamut from ceramic tubs to open-air rock garden baths.
GETTING THERE & AWAY
There are up to seven buses a day in both directions between Asahikawa and Akan Kohan (¥5210, 4½ hours) via Sōunkyō Onsen (¥3260, 3½ hours) in Daisetsuzan National Park. There are also a couple of buses a day between Akan Kohan and Kushiro (¥4790, 5¼ hours).
Between May and October, a sightseeing bus service runs four times a day from Akan Kohan bus station via the main sights in the park to Kawayu Onsen (from ¥2100, 2¼ hours).
If you’re driving, Akan Kohan runs along Rte 240, which (of course!) has been renamed Marimo Kokudō ().
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KUSHIRO
0154 / pop 189,000
A large and rather unsightly port city, Kushiro fails to captivate tourists, though it does serve as the southern gateway to Akan National Park, as well as the jumping off point for Kushiro Shitsugen National Park (). Japan’s largest expanse of undeveloped wetland (269 sq km), Kushiro Shitsugen is nearly the size of Tokyo, and provides shelter for thousands of different species of wildlife.
To reach Kushiro Shitsugen, you can take trains from Kushiro to the Hosooka Observatory (; 40-4455; admission free; 9am-7pm summer, 9am-5pm winter) on the eastern side of the park, or a bus (¥660, 40 minutes) to the Kushiro Observatory (; 56-2424; admission ¥360; 8.30am-6pm summer, 9am-5pm winter) on the west. The former is atop an overlook where you can easily appreciate the grand scale of this wetland preserve.
Kushiro station also has an information booth (22-8294; www.kushiro-kankou.or.jp/english; 9am-5.30pm) and a postal ATM (9am-7pm Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm Sat & Sun).
Most Japanese visitors to Kushiro Shitsugen are keen on spotting a tanchō-zuru (red-crested white crane), the traditional symbol of both longevity and Japan. They’re also just plain cool, and several viewing areas let you watch these enormous birds in relative comfort as they land, feed, tend their young or do their mating dance. The peak crane season is winter to early spring, but even in August a few stragglers may be around if you’re lucky.
Deer are also so common in this area that the trains have a special shika-bue (deer whistle) to scare them off. Foxes also dart around the undergrowth in search of prey, so keep your eyes peeled – it’s very fortunate to spot a kitsune in the wild as they were revered as gods in ancient Japan!
Around the corner from the JR Kushiro Shitsugen station is the Kushiro Shitsugen Tōro Youth Hostel (;87-2510; www.sip.or.jp/~tohro/sub1.htm, in Japanese; dm from ¥ 3360), which offers delicious and affordable meals (breakfast/dinner costs ¥630/1050), bunk-style rooms that are big enough not to feel cramped, and a great viewing deck from which you can survey the national park.
Next to the train station in Kushiro is the Kushiro Royal Inn (;31-2121; www.royalinn.jp, in Japanese; s/d from ¥5100/7300; ), a small but efficient business hotel highlighted by an attractive dining room on the top floor.
Just to the right of Kushiro station on the corner after Lawson convenience store, the impressive Washō Market (;22-3226; www.washoichiba.com, in Japanese; 25-13 Kurokane-chō; items from ¥200; 8am-6pm Mon-Sat) features every possible seafood one can imagine, plus a food court with bentō (boxed meal) and other prepared dishes.
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Why do you love hokkaidō? Matthew D Firestone
While updating the Hokkaidō chapter for this guidebook, I spent a good deal of time talking