Shiretoko, Abashiri, Kitami Travel Guides

The Shiretoko, Abashiri and Kitami areas are rich in nature. In Shiretoko, drift ice can be seen from winter to early spring. In addition to the natural beauty of the area, there are many other attractions such as the Abashiri Prison and the Kitami Hakka Memorial Museum.

Recommended sightseeing information for Shiretoko, Abashiri, and Kitami. Shiretoko Peninsula is located in the eastern part of Hokkaido, facing the Sea of Okhotsk, and is a rich natural tourist destination where drift ice from the Arctic Circle arrives in winter. Shiretoko, which means "the end of the earth" in the Ainu language, is also called Japan's last unexplored region, and the sheer cliffs that it is named for are truly breathtaking. The Shiretoko Volcanic Formation runs through the center of the peninsula, and mountains over 1,000 meters high rise above the peninsula. The virgin forests that stretch inland are home to wild foxes, brown bears, Ezo squirrels, Ezo sika deer, and other animals.

Shiretoko, with its pristine nature, was designated as Japan's 22nd national park in 1964, and was later inscribed as a World Heritage site at the 29th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in 2005. Many tourists visit Shiretoko to see the unexplored nature. If this is your first visit to Shiretoko, we recommend that you take the Shiretoko Sightseeing Boat, which operates from Utoro between May and October.

Utoro, the sightseeing base, is also home to Utoro Hot Springs, but it is also famous for Iwaobetsu Hot Springs and Kamuiwakka Hot Spring Falls, where the entire waterfall is a hot spring. At the Shiretoko Five Lakes, one of the most popular sightseeing spots in Shiretoko, visitors are encouraged to take a nature guided tour and enjoy the great outdoors.

Located on the west side of the Shiretoko Peninsula is Abashiri City, famous for Abashiri Prison. Because of its location facing the Sea of Okhotsk, Abashiri City is known for its relatively mild climate for the East Hokkaido region, due in part to its oceanic climate. The city has an abundance of tourist attractions, with the Okhotsk Drift Ice Museum and the icebreaker Garinko the centerpiece of the city's sightseeing. The Okhotsk Drift Ice Museum has a drift ice experience room where visitors can experience minus 18 degrees Celsius, allowing them to see and touch drift ice even in summer. Visitors can also get up close and personal with clione, the "angels of drift ice," and fushen fish. The Museum Abashiri Prison, which is an old Abashiri Prison building turned into a tourist facility, is another classic sightseeing spot in Abashiri City. Okhotsk Chipmunk Park is suited for tourists who like animals. The small zoo is home to Ezo chipmunks, and some of the squirrels are so accustomed to people that they even climb into tourists' shirts.

Kitami City is the third largest core city in eastern Hokkaido. Because of the abundance of nature in the city, many foxes live in the surrounding area, often appearing in residential areas. The city is also home to the "North Fox Farm," which is a tourist attraction. Before World War II, approximately 70% of the world's marijuana was produced in Kitami, making the city famous for its marijuana. The city has the Kitami Hakka Memorial Museum, which tells the story of the history of Hakka, and is a sightseeing spot. Near the Kitami Hakka Memorial Museum is the Usukashi Distillery, and many tourists visit the ruins of a private residence called the Hakka Palace. There is also the vast Kitami Flower Paradise, which boasts an area equivalent to six times the size of the Tokyo Dome, with 30,000 seasonal flowers of 85 varieties blooming in all four seasons.