Set your sights on a Japanese summer with Oku Japan!

With summer on the horizon, Kyoto based tour operator Oku Japan is offering an incredible itinerary to second largest island in the country, Hokkaido.

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

In the winter, it is a popular destination for skiing and snowboarding, while the summer months offer respite from intense humidity and presents the perfect conditions for hiking and exploring the island’s many national parks. 

“Hokkaido is a wonderful, largely unexplored place, and offers so much in terms of adventure, with different landscapes and even a different history from the rest of the country,” said Hiroshi Kawaguchi, Oku’s general manager.

“From the culture and traditions of the indigenous Ainu people at Lake Akan, to the free-roaming brown bears, foxes, and deer found in the Shiretoko Peninsula, Hokkaido is incredibly unique and offers visitors experiences they simply cannot get anywhere else.”

Oku’s summer offerings on the island include a nine-day, small-group guided trip through Eastern Hokkaido.

The Wild Lands of Eastern Hokkaido tour takes guests on a wonderful journey from Kushiro on Hokkaido’s eastern Pacific coast, where they will enjoy some of the best seafood in the country, followed by a visit to Hokkaido’s largest marshland area, and then on to Lake Akan, where guests will visit Ainu Kotan village, home to the largest remaining Ainu community on the island.

The trip also visits Mount Meakandake, an active volcano in Akan Mashu National Park, which offers some of the most spectacular volcanic landscapes in Hokkaido; Lake Mashu, one of the clearest lakes in the world; and finally, the Onsen town of Utoro on the Sea of Okhotsk. The tour end with a visit to Lake Rausu, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the largest lake on the Shiretoko Peninsula.

Priced from US$4,045 ($6,009 AUD) per person, currently there are various summer and early fall departures available:

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

Oku’s itineraries go beyond the classic tourism haunts, with carefully crafted itineraries and interactions that encourage guests to get up close and personal with the places they visit and people they meet along the way, putting tourist dollars to good use in remote, local communities.