#remotelandscapes

GO: From the tropical south to the frozen north

Part Eight: Daisetsuzan to Tokyo

Our journey home began high in the mountains of Daisetsuzan National Park and ended back where we started, at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. Read on to follow the final leg of our journey, that in just seven days took us from tropical Okinawa to icy Hokkaido.  

Wild Hokkaido: expansive landscapes define Japan’s northern isle, where the lowest population density of all 47 prefectures puts nature at the fore.

Leaving Mount Kuradake just as the light began to fade, our drive from Daisetsuzan National Park to Asahikawa Airport took us through Hokkaido’s characteristic rural landscape. Towering rock faces and forested peaks soon give way to broad horizons, where remote towns and snow-covered farmland fill expansive valleys. In Hokkaido, nature takes centre-stage and any road-trip through the prefecture’s breath-taking scenery is endlessly rewarding.

Hokkaido soft serve: No trip to Japan’s chilly northern tip is complete without sampling the country’s finest, and freshest, ice-cream.

Our journey through Japan had been made possible only by ANA’s extensive domestic flight network, making travel between the country’s far-flung prefectures staggeringly easy. Much like catching a train, each leg of our journey had proved speedy and hitch-free, with our final flight transporting us from remote Ashaikawa in central Hokkaido, back to bustling Tokyo in under two hours.

But whilst the journey was swift, we found time before boarding for one final taste of the region – a tub of creamy Hokkaido soft-serve – made using local milk, and arguably Japan’s tastiest ice-cream.

With our flight home to London departing the following morning, our last night in Japan was spent at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, watching planes come and go from Excel Hotel Tokyu’s perfectly positioned bedroom windows. Heaven for plane-spotters, Excel Tokyu’s rooms overlooking Haneda airport’s domestic runway put guests nose-to-nose with the action, where watching Terminal Two’s busy comings and goings proves surprisingly mesmeric.

Last November, We Are Japan took a seven-day trip – exploring the country’s most remote corners to discover sand and soba, skiing and snow crab all in one week. Follow our trip over the coming weeks as we track our journey from the tropical south to the frozen north.