Spend Japanese summer with Oku Japan! – Travel Weekly

With summer fast approaching, Kyoto-based travel agency Oku Japan offers exciting itineraries to the country’s second-largest island, Hokkaido.

Formerly known as Ezo, Hokkaido is famous for its volcanoes, natural hot springs (hot springs), beautiful wilderness, delicious seafood and fascinating indigenous culture.

In winter, it’s a popular destination for skiing and snowboarding, while summer offers a reprieve from the humidity and offers perfect conditions for hiking and exploring the island’s many national parks.

“Hokkaido is a wonderful, largely unexplored place that has a lot to offer in terms of adventure, with a different landscape and even a different history than the rest of the country,” says Hiroshi Kawaguchi, general manager of Oku explain.

“From the culture and traditions of the indigenous Ainu people of Lake Akan, to the brown bears, foxes and deer that roam freely on the Shiretoko Peninsula, Hokkaido is unique and offers visitors experiences they can’t get anywhere else.”

Oku’s summer offerings on the island include a nine-day small-group guided tour through eastern Hokkaido.

this Eastern Hokkaido Wilderness Departing from Kushiro on Hokkaido’s eastern Pacific coast, the itinerary will take guests on a fantastic journey where they will enjoy some of the best seafood in the country, followed by a visit to the largest swamp in Hokkaido before heading to Lake Akan, where guests will visit The Ainu village of Kotan, home to the largest surviving Ainu community on the island.

The tour also visits the active volcano Mekandake in Akan Mashu National Park, which has the most spectacular volcanic landscape in Hokkaido. Lake Mashu, one of the clearest lakes in the world; and finally Utoro, a hot spring town located in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. The tour ends with a visit to Lake Rausu, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the largest lake on the Shiretoko Peninsula.

Prices start from US$4,045 (A$6,009) per person, with a variety of summer and early autumn departures currently available:

• July 28 to August 5
• August 31 to September 8
• September 7-15
• September 17-25

Oku’s itineraries go beyond classic tourist destinations, with well-crafted itineraries and interactions that encourage guests to get up close and personal with the places they visit and the people they meet along the way, putting travel dollars to remote local communities.