Every season in Niseko offers something special, with cherry blossoms in the spring, festivals through the summer and the emotive colours of the Autumn. Summer is of course one of the best times.

Niseko has is firmly established as an internationally acclaimed resort destination and the name now synonymous with incredible snow, mouthwatering food and an ever increasing range of fantastic accommodation.

If you have been to Niseko and stayed in Hirafu chances are pretty good you've been to the Burton Store. It is located on the ground floor of the Odin Place building located at the Hirafu Intersection. The store has been open for the last 5 years and it's patronage growing in leaps and bounds from season to season. For those who don't know The Burton Store is a snowboard shop selling Burton hard and soft goods with everything you need to outfit yourself for your time in Niseko.

Part 4 of our look at trips to the coast from Niseko looks at Bikuni, a small town on the eastern side of the Shakotan Peninsular. Via Nikki Bikuni is a 1.5 hour drive from Hirafu and is a great stop over on the way to popular destinations such as Kamui Misaki and the Shimamui Coast which we looked at in Part 3. It is also a slightly closer alternative summer destination if you don't feel like driving all the way to tip of the peninsular.

One of the most popular day trips from Niseko is Otaru, a seaside city famous for fresh seafood, its architecture, a charming canal and sea views. Otaru lies just a one hour drive east of Niseko and draws visitors winter through summer. From Niseko there are a couple of different routes, one which takes the newly formed Yoichi IC expressway or the other over Keinashi Toge passing very popular Kiroro Ski Resort.

Last month we took a look the Toyoura / Okishi area to the south of Niseko and before this Kamoenai which is a stop on the way to the tip of the stunning Shakotan Peninsular. 

If you are visiting Niseko but interested in seeing a little more of Hokkaido during the summer or the winter the Asahikawa region / city is well worth a place on your itinerary. There are plenty of things to see, do and of course eat from skiing on active volcanoe Asahi Dake and enjoying a hot bowl of ramen to summertime visits to the zoo and ice cream with the kids.

In the last look at the seaside adventures close to Niseko we headed north west to Kamoenai, this time around we head south west to the Toyoura District and the beaches around Okishi and Rebun. Here we are greeted by long sandy beaches and a sea speckled with sunshine and fishing buoys that mark the oyster and scallop farms stretching accross Uchiura Bay.

When people think of Niseko, they usually imagine incredible powder skiing, hot ramen and snowy vistas. Contrastingly few people associate Niseko with the ocean but surprisingly our snowy mountain town is just a 45 minute drive to closest coast and not much further to 7 distinctly different coastal areas including Toyoura, Shakotan, Otaru, Minato, Kamoenai, Noboribetsu and Shimamaki.

In our second part of a glance at golf we look at another 3 fantastic courses in the Niseko area, Fukui (Niseko Golf Course), Hilton and Niseko Golf & Resort. These 3 great courses are all easily accessible from Hirafu and the journey to Niseko Golf and Resort a charming scenic drive through rural Japan.