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.

Tucked just below Niseko Vilage on the Higashiyama side of the tracks is a couple of hidden local gems, Milk Kobo and Prativo Restaurant.

Across the world the Niseko area has become famous for it's incredible snow and fantastic resorts but there is more to Niseko than just amazing skiing. In the summer time golf is a pastime enjoyed by locals and tourists a like and for good reason. Niseko is home to a great number of fantastic courses and spring through autumn the opportunities to play a wide variety of courses abound. 

Sakura is the Japanese word for cherry blossom. You may heard this in the media recently because the people of Tokyo have not been able to attend the annual cherry blossom or Hanami celebrations due to Covid-19. Here in Hokkaido cherry blossom viewing and revelry comes later, this year it is forecast for April 20th but from around mid February there is another sought after sakura in Hokkaido too, the Sakura Masu or Cherry Salmon.

Have you ever seen the sun rise across Mt Yotei, Niseko's very own volcano? If you've visited the area the 1,898m snow covered peak is a pretty hard to miss! That said with the snow we get in Niseko it is not unusual for it to be in the clouds for weeks on end. Any avid skiers or boarders upon seeing Yotei for the first time can't help but wonder what it would be like to ski down it.

After a short fuel stop in town I continued on around the south side of Lake Toya, stopping only to take photos of active volcanic vents steaming from the top of Showa-Shinzan and other views of Lake Toya. The Eastern side of Toya has one of my favourite campsites in Hokkaido. The Nakatoya campground is a wonderful place to relax by the lakeside with a very convenient onsen located on site, and well stocked camp store.