happylife

Sulfur Mountain

"Iouzan" means a sulfur mountain in Japanese. There are quite a few "Iouzen" all around Japan because it is a volcano country. This "Iouzan" which I visited in this trip is one of the most popular view spots in Hokkaido. We can directly access the holes where hot sulfur gas comes out. Boiled eggs are the typical souvenir in this area; the eggshell is black because of the sulfur gas and the inside is half boiled with liquid white and solid yellow. It is true that a sulfur mountain comes with hot springs and this "Iouzan" has of course good hot springs around the mountain. Kawayu -- hot water river -- is the most famous hot spring and there are a lot of hotels there, but my favorite hot spring is located just on the foot of the mountain. I hear that there was a youth hostel out there more than twenty years ago which had already been destroyed when I visited more than a decade ago for the first time. Only a bath tub was left then and I pinched a tent by the bath tub to enjoy camping. Unfortunately, I couldn't visit the place because the entrance was closed by a fence of a construction site. I am sorry to find my favorite places are lost one by one.

The most secluded region?

Shiretoko peninsula, which is located in the north east of Hokkaido island, is sometimes called as "the most secluded region" or "the last wilderness of Japan." However, this picture shows the actual conditions of the place. There is a gorgeous observation gazebo in the midst of the swamp which is connected by a long pedestrian overpass from the parking lot. You can easily access to the area by a wheelchair. Furthermore, the overpass has power lines on both sides so that wild bears cannot attack the visitors. I think this is the typical case of Japan's way of public constructions. They build things way more than needed. They only care about how much money they can spend in each construction and they don't really consider the natural environment. I think it's just a matter of time before a moving sidewalk covered with a glass tube is built in this "wilderness."

Lost on the lake

Lake Kussharo is one of the most friendly looking lakes in Hokkaido island. We can easily access to the beach on the east side of the lake and there are even a lot of restaurants and hotels. The happiest thing is that most of the beaches have hot springs; if we dig the sand beach for a few minutes, we can easily get a natural hot bath tab. There are also some hot ponds adjacent to the lake which are perfect to take a bath in if there are no other visitors. When I visited this lake about ten years ago with my friend, we sailed on my inflatable canoe to the big island floating in the center of the lake. We heard that there are very nice natural hot springs on the beach of the island. The lake looked so familiar and easy that we sailed without having a map and compass which caused a serious problem later. The trip out to the island was very easy and comfortable, but the return trip was terrible. We lost the way back to the starting point. The view from the island was very confusing; every thing we could see was forest and we couldn't see any land mark. We just sailed to the vast forest and then we had to sail along the forest for a long time until the sun set. It was getting colder and we had no jackets. Fortunately, we could finally find out the starting point, but we almost met with a disaster. I really felt that we mustn't make light of the nature.

Ancient viewpoint

It is said that Hokkaido island was much warmer than present a few thousand years ago. A lot of ancient tombs scattered all around the island prove that ancient Japanese people were living there. Most of the tombs are not so popular for visitors because there is nothing except for howes; most of the wooden buildings would have been collapsed into soil. I visited one of them and took a short nap lying on the grass by myself. It was really pleasant because there was no artificial noise and things around me. I had a feeling just the same as ancient people would have had. The yellow flowers, green grasses and the blue sky must have been here just in the same shape and color a few thousand years ago, and when thinking about that, I felt as if I was back to the ancient world. It was such a good feeling that I couldn't leave the place for a while.

Lake Mashu

Lake Mashu is one of the most popular lakes in Hokkaido island. It has no river flowing in and out, and it used to have the world record of transparency, but it is the story more than 70 years ago. It has a nick name of "Foggy Mashu" because it is often covered with thick fog. There is a strange legend about the small island you can see in this picture. It says that the man or the woman who looked at the island cannot be married. I think this rumor merely implies how often this lake is covered with fog, but it is true at least for me; I have visited this lake more than ten times and I have never seen fog hiding the island and therefore I'm single. Anyway, this lake has become so popular that the number of the visitors has overcome its capacity and it is planned to limit the access of private vehicles. It might have been the last chance to drive to the lake. I think there are too many people in this small country and it is a good tendency that the new born children are decreasing.

The precious horizon

This is a typical image of Hokkaido island for most Japanese people; 360 degrees of horizon with no artificial building. Sure this island is spacious and full of wilderness but it's also a part of Japan which is one of the countries full of people and artificial things, therefore it's not so easy to find this kind of peaceful scenery here. The sky was blue and the cool wind was pleasant. A cow was sitting on the green grass without doing anything. She wasn't even eating nor sleeping. She must be one of the happiest creatures in the world at that moment and I was staying beside her to share the happy time. It was really relaxing and I felt my energy was re-charged a bit. I hear and feel that Hokkaido is in serious economic conditions, but I hope this peaceful place is not lost forever.

A trail through the forest towards a hot spring

This is my favorite logging road in Hokkaido. I like it so much that I visit here whenever I come to this island. A decade ago, I was addicted to riding a motorcycle on unpaved logging roads all around Japan and this trail is the best of best which is straight and bright, with bamboo leaves and white birches on both sides, and with a great mountain view. It is almost 40km long, which is rare in this small country. It is so pleasant that I used to ride on this road back and forth again and again. I was sorry I couldn't do that because I came here in a rent-a-car this time. The happiest thing is that on the end of this road, there is a hot spring. As there is a lodge by the hot spring, we can stay overnight and fully enjoy the spa. I enjoyed the midnight spa almost every two hours and found that taking a bath needs quite a little energy. I got so tired that I fell in a sleep until the late next morning. I think finding your own favorite place all around the world is a pleasure of traveling.