ABASHIRI HOKKAIDO WHAT-TO-DO WHERE-TO-GO
  • HOME
  • WHAT’S NEW?
  • ABOUT ABASHIRI
  • REVIEWS
  • TOURS
CONTACT US
  • HOURLY GUIDE
  • SOBA-MAKING
    EXPERIENCE
  • MAKE YOUR OWN
    SUSHI
ABASHIRI HOKKAIDO WHAT-TO-DO WHERE-TO-GO
ABASHIRI HOKKAIDOWHAT-TO-DO
WHERE-TO-GO
Understanding Hokkaido's history,
culture and nature.

ABASHIRI HOKKAIDOWHAT-TO-DO
WHERE-TO-GO
Understanding Hokkaido's history,
culture and nature.

TOURS

ONE DAY TOUR IN & AROUND ABASHIRI

SCROLL

TOURS

ONE DAY TOUR IN & AROUND ABASHIRI

WHAT’S NEW?

  • News
  • Nature
  • History
  • Lifestyle
  • Others
20. May 2025

NEW – Prison Museum

25. Apr 2025

Flowers Blooming NOW

20. Jan 2024

Hokkaido Trivia – 2024 Drift Ice Information

1. Jul 2023

Hokkaido Trivia – Urban Brown Bears in Hokkaido

6. May 2023

Flowers in the Area

MORE
  • (English below) 気がついたら、花の投稿ばかり。春だから🌸上湧別のチューリップ公園に少し前に行ってきました。網走から車で1時間半。サロマ湖の少し先です。花を見たい!というお客さんが多いのです。万国共通なのね。個人的には、作られた花壇より、自然に咲いている花の方が地味でも好きなんだけれど…これはこれで、関係者の熱い思いが伝わってよかったです。時期をずらして咲かせているそうなので、5月末日まで見ることができるんじゃないかな。

Here’s another post on flowers🌷 There’s a tulip garden in a town called Kami Yubetsu, about an hour and a half drive to the northwest from Abashiri. 200 variations, 700 thousand tulips.  They grow the tulips so that they don’t bloom all at once and the flowers last long. You should be able to see them till the end of this month (hopefully). The pics are from my visit 10 days ago.  And if you do visit, don’t forget to try the soft-serve ice cream.  It’s superb❤️

#springtimeflowers #tulip #flowergarden #hokkaidoflowers #spring #japan #hokkaido #abashiri  #easternhokkaido #hokkaidolove #whyilovethisplace #countryside #ruraljapan #naturephotography #countrylife  #ju202505
  • (English below) 市内の果樹園では、花がそろそろ終わりを迎えています。黄色いのは、ハスカップ。酸味がある紫色の細長いブルーベリーのような、北海道の果実です。大きなミツバチがブンブン🐝さくらんぼの花もそろそろ終わり。さくらんぼは、異なった種類を交配させないと実がならないらしい。ミツバチがいなくなったら、自然は無くなるね。

There’s quite a number of orchards in Abashiri.  I heard that in the old days this area was the northernmost place in Hokkaido that grew apples. Today we don’t have apple farms, but we do have various berry, including haskup, farms. Haskup is a sour-ish blueberry-like berry that, in Japan, grows only in Hokkaido. Their yellow flowers are blooming now.  So are the cherry flowers.  I didn’t know that cherries need to pollinate with different kinds of cherry trees to bear fruit!  What would nature do without the hard working bumblebees🐝

#springtimeflowers #fruitsflowers #orchard #cherryflowers #haskup #hokkaidoflowers #spring #japan #hokkaido #abashiri  #easternhokkaido #hokkaidolove #whyilovethisplace #countryside #ruraljapan #naturephotography #countrylife  #ju202505
  • (English below) あまり話題に上らなくて残念だけれど、監獄博物館も北海道の花を愛でるに良い場所なんだけれどね😂エゾヤマザクラは終わったけれど、エゾムラサキツツジやエゾノリュウキンカ、(伸びてしまったフキの花も🤣)が盛りですよー❣️

Not many people realize it, but the Prison Museum is a nice place to see the flowers of Hokkaido. Mountain cherry blossoms of Hokkaido are over, as you can expect, but there’s the purple Hokkaido azaleas and the yellow Hokkaido marsh marigolds right now.  They are simple flowers with subtle beauty, but matches perfectly with the heritage prison architectures❣️

#springtimeflowers #cherryblossoms #sakura #flowergarden #azalea #museumgarden #prisonmuseum #hokkaidoflowers #spring #japan #hokkaido #abashiri  #easternhokkaido #hokkaidolove #whyilovethisplace #countryside #ruraljapan #naturephotography #countrylife  #ju202505
  • (English below) 世間では、桜が開花したの、サクラソウ祭りが始まったのと、春爛漫ですが…場所によってはまだこんなに雪が残っている網走です。

There’s still this much snow left in Abashiri (depending on the location) at the same time flowers are blooming🌸🌷🪻

#snow #springsnow #spring #japan #hokkaido #abashiri  #easternhokkaido #hokkaidolove #whyilovethisplace #countryside #ruraljapan #naturephotography #countrylife  #ju202505
  • (English below) ミズバショウとエゾエンゴサク。今日も春の花が咲いていました🤍💜🩵 網走の桜は蕾がまだまだ硬ったです。

Some more spring flowers in Abashiri before the sakura starts blooming: Skunk cabbage and Hokkaido corydalias.  What’s coming next🥰❓

#springtimeflowers #skunkcabbage #corydalis #blueflowers #bythestream #swampy #spring #japan #hokkaido #abashiri  #easternhokkaido #hokkaidolove #whyilovethisplace #countryside #ruraljapan #naturephotography #countrylife  #ju202505
  • (English below) 道東の絶景は農村風景によるところが大きいと思う🤎💚🩵 昨日は、土の掘り起こしが始まり、茶色の縦縞模様が目を引いた🚜 天気も良く、ドライブ日和の一日でした。

As I think, the blessings of “farming” is not only the “products” that we consume but also it’s “landscape ” that makes the scenic beauty, especially in eastern Hokkaido🥰…and here’s an example from my yesterday’s drive🚗They started plowing the ground🚜

#farmingisart brown #soil #agriculture #farming #bluesky #springmountain #snowcappedmountains #spring #japan #hokkaido #abashiri  #easternhokkaido #hokkaidolove #whyilovethisplace #countryside #ruraljapan #naturephotography #countrylife  #ju202504
  • (English below) 今朝のウニ漁師さん。雲と空と山と海が✨ ✨早く起きれば、必ずその努力は報われる網走〜🥰

You get rewarded when you get up early in Abashiri🥰Clouds, sky, mountains and the ocean….and a fishing boat catching sea urchins….and the morning sunlight shimmering on the waves✨ They all came together like a calligraphy painting.

#morningsky #morningphotography #oceanphotography #morningsun #bluesky #fishingboat #mountainsilhouette #spring #japan #hokkaido #abashiri  #easternhokkaido #hokkaidolove #whyilovethisplace #countryside #ruraljapan #naturephotography #countrylife  #ju202504
  • (English below) 昨日の麦畑の景色。いよいよシベリアに飛び立つ準備をしているのかな。北の方角に身を乗り出している子が多くなった(気がする)。いなくなると、やっぱり寂しくなるなあ。

Yesterday afternoon at the wheat field nearby. 🦢🦢🦢 were getting ready to fly back to Siberia (3000km away from here). They weren’t busy pecking on the wheat buds anymore.  Rather than that to me they looked more like “straightening themselves up”for the long journey🥰 I’ll miss them.

#wheatbelt #wheatfield #swan #whooperswan #spring #japan #hokkaido #abashiri  #easternhokkaido #hokkaidolove #whyilovethisplace #countryside #ruraljapan #naturephotography #countrylife  #ju202504
  • (English below) 買い物に行く時、なるべく歩くようにしている。クルマ社会への反発、さらなる老後に備えて脚力を養うため、運動を兼ねて。理由は色々。中でも、初春の網走川のカモ観察は、楽しみ!飛び立つ前のカモチェック。去年は12種見た。今年はまだ少ない。双眼鏡も住宅が立ち並ぶ中だと、なかなか配慮が必要で難しい😓

I like walking.  There’s always something in the trees or river or at the harbor that catches my eyes. “Counting ducks” at Abashiri River just before they fly off is one of my favorite early spring activity😁 Last year I found 12 kinds of ducks.  Haven’t got to that number yet.

#ducks #birdwatching #river #spring #japan #hokkaido #abashiri  #easternhokkaido #hokkaidolove #whyilovethisplace #countryside #ruraljapan #naturephotography #countrylife  #ju202504

ABOUT
ABASHIRI

Abashiri City lies in the midst of Abashiri Quasi-National Park. Thirty-five percent of the entire land is forest, among which 50% is untouched forest. It has 4 lakes, one of which is registered with the Ramsar Convention.

The once small fishing village with Ainu people and just a handful of traders from the present Shiga prefecture is now a city with a population of 32,000. The flourishment of Abashiri, as well as Hokkaido on the whole, as a “modern” town owes a lot to the prison and the prisoners that were located here as labor force in the late 19th century. Without the “prisoner’s road,” which we call the military road in Hokkaido, Hokkaido might not have been what it is today.

And today, famous for the drift ice that covers the Okhotsk Sea in February every year, Abashiri stands out as one of Japan’s most popular winter tourist spots.
Day Tour In & Around Abashiri

MORE

Abashiri City lies in the midst of Abashiri Quasi-National Park. Thirty-five percent of the entire land is forest, among which 50% is untouched forest. It has 4 lakes, one of which is registered with the Ramsar Convention.

The once small fishing village with Ainu people and just a handful of traders from the present Shiga prefecture is now a city with a population of 32,000. The flourishment of Abashiri, as well as Hokkaido on the whole, as a “modern” town owes a lot to the prison and the prisoners that were located here as labor force in the late 19th century. Without the “prisoner’s road,” which we call the military road in Hokkaido, Hokkaido might not have been what it is today.

And today, famous for the drift ice that covers the Okhotsk Sea in February every year, Abashiri stands out as one of Japan’s most popular winter tourist spots.
Day Tour In & Around Abashiri

Foliage
Foliage
Sakura Cherry Blossoms
Sakura Cherry Blossoms
Ice Fishing
Ice Fishing
Fruits Picking
Fruits Picking
Fishing Industry
Fishing Industry
Salmons
Salmons
Wheat Fields
Wheat Fields
Wheat Harvest
Wheat Harvest
Moyoro Shell Mound & Museum
Moyoro Shell Mound & Museum
Prison Museum
Prison Museum
Local Museum & the Neighborhood
Local Museum & the Neighborhood
Historical Trails
Historical Trails
Chapeau Rock
Chapeau Rock
Observatory at Mt. Tento
Observatory at Mt. Tento
Museum of the Northern People
Museum of the Northern People
Glass Studio
Glass Studio
Abashiri Shrine
Abashiri Shrine
Kusarizuka
Kusarizuka
Glasswort Carpet
Glasswort Carpet
Lake Kussharo
Lake Kussharo
Alpine Flowers
Alpine Flowers
Wild Life
Wild Life
Mt. Shari
Mt. Shari
Mt. Mokoto
Mt. Mokoto
Volcanic Geography
Volcanic Geography
Notoro Area
Notoro Area
Wild Birds
Wild Birds
Drift Ice
Drift Ice
Fog Ice
Fog Ice
Foliage
Foliage
Sakura Cherry Blossoms
Sakura Cherry Blossoms
Ice Fishing
Ice Fishing
Fruits Picking
Fruits Picking
Fishing Industry
Fishing Industry
Salmons
Salmons
Wheat Fields
Wheat Fields
Wheat Harvest
Wheat Harvest
Moyoro Shell Mound & Museum
Moyoro Shell Mound & Museum
Prison Museum
Prison Museum
Local Museum & the Neighborhood
Local Museum & the Neighborhood
Historical Trails
Historical Trails
Chapeau Rock
Chapeau Rock
Observatory at Mt. Tento
Observatory at Mt. Tento
Museum of the Northern People
Museum of the Northern People
Glass Studio
Glass Studio
Abashiri Shrine
Abashiri Shrine
Kusarizuka
Kusarizuka
Glasswort Carpet
Glasswort Carpet
Lake Kussharo
Lake Kussharo
Alpine Flowers
Alpine Flowers
Wild Life
Wild Life
Mt. Shari
Mt. Shari
Mt. Mokoto
Mt. Mokoto
Volcanic Geography
Volcanic Geography
Notoro Area
Notoro Area
Wild Birds
Wild Birds
Drift Ice
Drift Ice
Fog Ice
Fog Ice
Foliage
Foliage
Sakura Cherry Blossoms
Sakura Cherry Blossoms
  • (English below) 気がついたら、花の投稿ばかり。春だから🌸上湧別のチューリップ公園に少し前に行ってきました。網走から車で1時間半。サロマ湖の少し先です。花を見たい!というお客さんが多いのです。万国共通なのね。個人的には、作られた花壇より、自然に咲いている花の方が地味でも好きなんだけれど…これはこれで、関係者の熱い思いが伝わってよかったです。時期をずらして咲かせているそうなので、5月末日まで見ることができるんじゃないかな。

Here’s another post on flowers🌷 There’s a tulip garden in a town called Kami Yubetsu, about an hour and a half drive to the northwest from Abashiri. 200 variations, 700 thousand tulips.  They grow the tulips so that they don’t bloom all at once and the flowers last long. You should be able to see them till the end of this month (hopefully). The pics are from my visit 10 days ago.  And if you do visit, don’t forget to try the soft-serve ice cream.  It’s superb❤️

#springtimeflowers #tulip #flowergarden #hokkaidoflowers #spring #japan #hokkaido #abashiri  #easternhokkaido #hokkaidolove #whyilovethisplace #countryside #ruraljapan #naturephotography #countrylife  #ju202505
  • (English below) 市内の果樹園では、花がそろそろ終わりを迎えています。黄色いのは、ハスカップ。酸味がある紫色の細長いブルーベリーのような、北海道の果実です。大きなミツバチがブンブン🐝さくらんぼの花もそろそろ終わり。さくらんぼは、異なった種類を交配させないと実がならないらしい。ミツバチがいなくなったら、自然は無くなるね。

There’s quite a number of orchards in Abashiri.  I heard that in the old days this area was the northernmost place in Hokkaido that grew apples. Today we don’t have apple farms, but we do have various berry, including haskup, farms. Haskup is a sour-ish blueberry-like berry that, in Japan, grows only in Hokkaido. Their yellow flowers are blooming now.  So are the cherry flowers.  I didn’t know that cherries need to pollinate with different kinds of cherry trees to bear fruit!  What would nature do without the hard working bumblebees🐝

#springtimeflowers #fruitsflowers #orchard #cherryflowers #haskup #hokkaidoflowers #spring #japan #hokkaido #abashiri  #easternhokkaido #hokkaidolove #whyilovethisplace #countryside #ruraljapan #naturephotography #countrylife  #ju202505
  • (English below) あまり話題に上らなくて残念だけれど、監獄博物館も北海道の花を愛でるに良い場所なんだけれどね😂エゾヤマザクラは終わったけれど、エゾムラサキツツジやエゾノリュウキンカ、(伸びてしまったフキの花も🤣)が盛りですよー❣️

Not many people realize it, but the Prison Museum is a nice place to see the flowers of Hokkaido. Mountain cherry blossoms of Hokkaido are over, as you can expect, but there’s the purple Hokkaido azaleas and the yellow Hokkaido marsh marigolds right now.  They are simple flowers with subtle beauty, but matches perfectly with the heritage prison architectures❣️

#springtimeflowers #cherryblossoms #sakura #flowergarden #azalea #museumgarden #prisonmuseum #hokkaidoflowers #spring #japan #hokkaido #abashiri  #easternhokkaido #hokkaidolove #whyilovethisplace #countryside #ruraljapan #naturephotography #countrylife  #ju202505
  • (English below) 世間では、桜が開花したの、サクラソウ祭りが始まったのと、春爛漫ですが…場所によってはまだこんなに雪が残っている網走です。

There’s still this much snow left in Abashiri (depending on the location) at the same time flowers are blooming🌸🌷🪻

#snow #springsnow #spring #japan #hokkaido #abashiri  #easternhokkaido #hokkaidolove #whyilovethisplace #countryside #ruraljapan #naturephotography #countrylife  #ju202505
  • (English below) ミズバショウとエゾエンゴサク。今日も春の花が咲いていました🤍💜🩵 網走の桜は蕾がまだまだ硬ったです。

Some more spring flowers in Abashiri before the sakura starts blooming: Skunk cabbage and Hokkaido corydalias.  What’s coming next🥰❓

#springtimeflowers #skunkcabbage #corydalis #blueflowers #bythestream #swampy #spring #japan #hokkaido #abashiri  #easternhokkaido #hokkaidolove #whyilovethisplace #countryside #ruraljapan #naturephotography #countrylife  #ju202505
  • (English below) 道東の絶景は農村風景によるところが大きいと思う🤎💚🩵 昨日は、土の掘り起こしが始まり、茶色の縦縞模様が目を引いた🚜 天気も良く、ドライブ日和の一日でした。

As I think, the blessings of “farming” is not only the “products” that we consume but also it’s “landscape ” that makes the scenic beauty, especially in eastern Hokkaido🥰…and here’s an example from my yesterday’s drive🚗They started plowing the ground🚜

#farmingisart brown #soil #agriculture #farming #bluesky #springmountain #snowcappedmountains #spring #japan #hokkaido #abashiri  #easternhokkaido #hokkaidolove #whyilovethisplace #countryside #ruraljapan #naturephotography #countrylife  #ju202504
  • (English below) 今朝のウニ漁師さん。雲と空と山と海が✨ ✨早く起きれば、必ずその努力は報われる網走〜🥰

You get rewarded when you get up early in Abashiri🥰Clouds, sky, mountains and the ocean….and a fishing boat catching sea urchins….and the morning sunlight shimmering on the waves✨ They all came together like a calligraphy painting.

#morningsky #morningphotography #oceanphotography #morningsun #bluesky #fishingboat #mountainsilhouette #spring #japan #hokkaido #abashiri  #easternhokkaido #hokkaidolove #whyilovethisplace #countryside #ruraljapan #naturephotography #countrylife  #ju202504
  • (English below) 昨日の麦畑の景色。いよいよシベリアに飛び立つ準備をしているのかな。北の方角に身を乗り出している子が多くなった(気がする)。いなくなると、やっぱり寂しくなるなあ。

Yesterday afternoon at the wheat field nearby. 🦢🦢🦢 were getting ready to fly back to Siberia (3000km away from here). They weren’t busy pecking on the wheat buds anymore.  Rather than that to me they looked more like “straightening themselves up”for the long journey🥰 I’ll miss them.

#wheatbelt #wheatfield #swan #whooperswan #spring #japan #hokkaido #abashiri  #easternhokkaido #hokkaidolove #whyilovethisplace #countryside #ruraljapan #naturephotography #countrylife  #ju202504
  • (English below) 買い物に行く時、なるべく歩くようにしている。クルマ社会への反発、さらなる老後に備えて脚力を養うため、運動を兼ねて。理由は色々。中でも、初春の網走川のカモ観察は、楽しみ!飛び立つ前のカモチェック。去年は12種見た。今年はまだ少ない。双眼鏡も住宅が立ち並ぶ中だと、なかなか配慮が必要で難しい😓

I like walking.  There’s always something in the trees or river or at the harbor that catches my eyes. “Counting ducks” at Abashiri River just before they fly off is one of my favorite early spring activity😁 Last year I found 12 kinds of ducks.  Haven’t got to that number yet.

#ducks #birdwatching #river #spring #japan #hokkaido #abashiri  #easternhokkaido #hokkaidolove #whyilovethisplace #countryside #ruraljapan #naturephotography #countrylife  #ju202504
Junko

ABOUT MYSELF

Hi, I’m Junko. I own this Abashiri Hokkaido What-to-do Where-to-go site. I also give the tours. I used to work at an Embassy, a Wall Street company and also at an American licensing company in Tokyo. I came to Abashiri in 2009 to pursue my childhood dream of working at a dairy farm – which I finally did for nearly 10 years.

Brought up in New York and Singapore and with my wide range of business experiences, I hope I can be more than a “guide” to you – someone you can count on during your stay here! If you have any concerns or requests about the tours, please mail me at kuriko1429@yahoo.co.jp. I’ll try the most to answer to your requests!

  • National Government Licensed Guide Interpreter (English)
  • Master of Hokkaido Tourism (Certified by Hokkaido Chamber of Commerce)
  • Abashiri Expert Certification (Certified by Abashiri Tourist Association)
kamon

THE STORY OF “FUKI”

This kamon (Japanese crest)-like logo depicts butterbur. When I first came to Hokkaido, the wild so-called fuki in Japanese was what caught my eyes! You’ll find the sprouts in early spring and the green plant throughout summer everywhere - from the wheat fields to concrete highways. There’s an Ainu legend that a dwarf (koro-bokkuru) lives under the gigantic fuki. Fuki is not just a seasonal delicacy that the locals savor. The salted fuki is an indispensible foodstuff in winter when green vegetables are hard to get. Fuki is a culture in itself. While you’re here, I hope you get the chance to see them yourself and also have the yummy experience – tempura sprouts and the stewed or fried stalks!

ACCESS

ACCESS

ABASHIRI HOKKAIDO
WHAT-TO-DO WHERE-TO-GO

kuriko1429@yahoo.co.jp

Copyright © 2019- AHWW All Rights Reserved.

FOLLOW US

Privacy Policy