She had spotted a moving flash of black near the trees a short distance ahead. Winding through the mountains in Hokkaido’s remote wilds in June meant we were likely to come face to face with a wild and potentially dangerous beast.
At this point, we were halfway through our three-month backpacking and couchsurfing foray across Japan from April to July 2023. Having covered remote islands off Kyushu island in the south, we were traversing Hokkaido, the country’s northern wilds.
Save for a brief stopover in Hiroshima, we had intentionally skipped Japan’s oft-visited cities to seek a taste of life in remote communities and fringe cultures – life that is vastly different from what we are accustomed to in Singapore.
Beyond Hokkaido’s cities such as Sapporo and Asahikawa, the island is home to abundant wildlife such as Sika deer, red foxes and Ezo brown bears.
While planning to camp in Shiretoko, a remote peninsula on the island’s north-eastern tip with one of the highest densities of brown bears in the world, we received plenty of advice from locals and travellers alike to carry bear spray and bear bells at all times.
Completing the bend on the mountainous road, we slowed our vehicle, and there it was – a brown bear ambling along the middle of a road, in a world of its own.
Our initial shock gave way to fear and excitement, and we inched our vehicle forward slowly, as if to assure the bear that we meant no harm and wanted only to admire it from a distance. For about 30 seconds, it kept up its steady gait before it turned and saw us, then picked up pace and vanished into the foliage. It was clear we were in the heart of bear country.
Having opted out of cruising tours to spot brown bears in the wild, this unexpected sighting left us in awe. There is a majesty in observing wild animals in their natural habitat, which no guided tour or safari can match. This turned out to be one of many breathtaking experiences we would have during our five weeks in Hokkaido.
Shiretoko is home to one of the highest densities of brown bears in the world. PHOTO: LI-ANN TAN AND JON SONG
Off the beaten track in Obihiro
Obihiro, a city in Hokkaido’s south, is famous for butadon (grilled pork rice bowl) and Hokkaido’s only remaining Banei racetrack, where draft horses pull heavy iron sleds in contests of speed and strength.
Stopping over at the city en route to Shiretoko, we found ourselves guests of Russian spine surgeon Ivan Sekiguchi, 44, who has made Japan his home for the past 27 years. He first moved to Japan for its lively anime and manga culture, before settling down with a local.
Mr Sekiguchi has been hosting couchsurfers for 17 years and has a passion for off-the-beaten-track adventures. He makes use of any time he has away from the operating theatre to drive (sometimes for hours) to hidden spots, many of them unmarked even on Google Maps.
One night, he took us to a wild onsen in an abandoned campsite in the middle of a forest. We walked in close to pitch darkness for several minutes while Mr Sekiguchi chanted “kuma yo”, which translates to hello bear, to alert any bears in the area of our presence.
A startled bear is often the most dangerous, he said, and he did not want to take chances. The darkness and fear that gripped us made the five-minute walk feel like an eternity, but what we found left us breathless.
Lit only by a waning half moon, a gurgling river sandwiched two natural onsen pools. Egged on by Mr Sekiguchi, we gingerly dipped our toes in the mineral-rich, balmy waters and felt our nerves slowly melt away as we floated in a dreamy haze of bliss.
Over the next few days, he took us on more adventures, which involved climbing over padlocked gates to access abandoned railway tracks, and sealed-off sections of waterfall trails that had been destroyed by avalanches in past winters.
The host in Obihiro showed us abandoned railway tracks and spots that we would never have found in tourist guidebooks. PHOTO: LI-ANN TAN AND JON SONG
He even let us in on one of his favourite secret spots – a Japanese pillbox along Hokkaido’s south-eastern coastline, built to fend off American landings during World War II. Standing between the abandoned fortification and the ferocious ocean, we knew this was one of those moments and special places that could not be found in any tourist guidebooks.
Shiretoko, Japan’s last frontier
Often referred to as the wildest place in Japan, Shiretoko’s name is derived from the Ainu phrase “sir etok”, which translates to “the tip of earth”.
Shiretoko protrudes from the north-eastern tip of Hokkaido, surrounded by the Sea of Okhotsk, which also surrounds Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. Its icy cold waters attract diverse wildlife such as brown bears, dolphins, whales and sea lions that travellers can spot on nature cruises along the coastline.
With the weather warming up during our stay, Shiretoko’s campsites had begun reopening to visitors and we decided to break out our camping gear too. While driving to a campsite located in Shari, the west side of Shiretoko, we took a break at the first michi-no-eki (roadside station) we came across.
Travellers who car camp can freshen up at the many michi-no-ekis, or rest stops, situated along Hokkaido’s highways and roads. PHOTO: LI-ANN TAN AND JON SONG
These rest stations are found along roads and highways in Japan, with restrooms and vending machines. Bigger rest stations sell food, drinks, fresh local produce and souvenirs, and have showers and Wi-Fi.
We found plenty of Hokkaido’s famed seafood and Shiretoko’s locally harvested kelp at the Shiretoko-Rausu roadside rest area (str.sg/JNeWZ), including live sea urchin – going at 550 yen (S$5) each – that we cracked open ourselves.
At a rest stop in Rausu, a town on the eastern coast of Shiretoko, get fresh sea urchin for 550 yen (S$5) each and cut them open on your own. PHOTO: LI-ANN TAN AND JON SONG
We arrived at the National Shiretoko Campsite just in time to catch a stunning sunset at Yuhidai Point. Paying 1,000 yen to set up our two-man tent for the night, we joined fellow campers at the edge of the camp grounds to watch the sun blaze a thousand shades of vermilion as it retired for the day.
That night, gazing up at the starlit sky against a chorus of Blakiston’s fish owls, we had to will ourselves back into our tent.
Starlit skies are a treat for those who choose to camp. PHOTO: LI-ANN TAN AND JON SONG
The next morning, passing an ashiyu (Japanese public foot bath) near the campsite, we met a young Colombian and French couple who had just arrived in Shiretoko and were resting their weary legs. We learnt that they had sold all their belongings in Switzerland and had been travelling around the world for two years on their bicycles.
“We hesitated before we sold everything we had, but once we did, we felt incredibly light,” they said.
Travelling with the couple for the rest of the day, we made one of the best food discoveries of our Japan voyage.
Tucked away in the Port of Utoro is a fishermen’s canteen run by their wives, which caters to fishing crew returning from the seas (str.sg/CBmm; the store operates only from April to November, when the weather is warmer). Locals and tourists have caught wind of its chirashi bowls and fresh seafood and since then, the shop has seen its customers multiply.
Our Singaporean foodie instincts kicked in and we queued 45 minutes for a salmon and ikura bowl at 2,200 yen and grilled hokke (cured Okhotsk Atka mackerel) at 1,500 yen that were well worth the wait.
We spent our second and last night in Shiretoko at its Rausu campsite, situated right next to Kumanoyu Onsen, which is frequented by local fishermen. Just like the locals, we took our baths in the onsen before settling back into our tent, this time pitched beneath dreamy, foggy skies.
Utoro boasts one of Japan’s largest salmon catches, and this fisherman’s canteen tucked away in its port ensured it lived up to its reputation with fresh salmon rice bowls. PHOTO: LI-ANN TAN AND JON SONG
A taste of Ainu in Asahikawa
Having lived for short periods in Indonesia with the Bajau tribe in Sulawesi and the Dani tribe in Papua, we were naturally intrigued by the Ainu culture in Hokkaido.
As luck would have it, we were travelling back to Sapporo through Asahikawa at the same time a traditional Ainu ceremony was being held.
The Ainu were the first people in Hokkaido, believed to have settled in the 12th or 13th century, and looked very different from their southerly neighbours. Ainu men sport huge, burly beards, while some women tattoo their lips black.
They are traditionally animists, believing that everything in nature possesses its own spirit. More than a century after Japan incorporated Hokkaido into its fold, indigenous Ainu have assimilated into modern Japanese culture.
Nupuri Kor Kamuynomi is a festival that takes place on Mount Asahi at the start of the hiking season as a prayer to the gods for the safety of hikers. It opens with Japan’s ancient art of taiko drumming. PHOTO: LI-ANN TAN AND JON SONG
Nupuri Kor Kamuynomi is a festival that takes place annually on Mount Asahi at the start of the hiking season, usually from mid-June to late September, as a prayer to the gods for the safety of hikers.
Descendants of the Ainu dress in traditional robes and perform folk songs and dance. We picked up torches and participated in a procession to set a giant bonfire alight, later dancing around it and chanting in a circle as part of the ritual.
A short bus ride from Asahikawa is Higashikawa, a small town becoming increasingly popular with migrants from other parts of Japan, who enjoy its flair for design, quaint cafes and supply of natural spring water from the Daisetsuzan mountains.
After a reasonably trying stint camping in tents and vehicles, we were happy to meet our couchsurfing host Mayuko Wakai, who welcomed us to her home in Higashikawa and dusted off her takoyaki (grilled octopus ball) machine for dinner. At 27, she had backpacked alone through 40 countries in a single year.
We enjoyed takoyaki parties with a couple of hosts while couchsurfing through Japan, including Ms Mayuko Wakai who welcomed us to her home in Higashikawa. PHOTO: LI-ANN TAN AND JON SONG
Returning to Singapore in July 2023, we thought our hyper-local adventure in Japan had come to an end when a message popped up on our phone a few months later.
A fellow Singaporean traveller had visited Kagoshima, in the Kyushu region, and met our host there. Connected by our one-of-a-kind experiences in Japan, we relived our memories over har cheong gai (prawn paste chicken) and Tiger beer in a kopitiam here.
Travel, for us, is about these chance meetings and discoveries, which lift a veil to people and their worlds.
Tips
Adventurous eaters can try traditional Ainu food such as bear meat and Ezo deer. Such wild game meat, also known by the French term “gibier”, used to be valuable sources of protein for the Ainu and are being revived as food options today. These animals are hunted periodically to prevent damage to forests and agriculture. We tried gibier dishes at izakaya Umizora no Haru (str.sg/cQY2) in Sapporo, which cost between 750 yen and 1,280 yen each, and found them delicious.
Shiretoko’s campsites close for about six months during winter. If you intend to camp, check online (str.sg/LGRk) for the opening dates.
Adventure buffs seeking a less commercial setting than ski hot spot Niseko should not miss the backcountry ski slopes of Asahikawa. Surrounded by the snow-capped Daisetsuzan mountain range, where snow starts thawing only in June, Asahikawa’s ski resorts remain largely untouched by mass tourism.
Li-Ann Tan and Jon Song are nomadic storytellers who spend more time abroad than in Singapore. They document their slow travels on their YouTube channel Another Life (youtube.com/@another-life), Instagram and TikTok (@anotherlife.world).
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