kaka

freecia

Can't speak to it in September but I visited Shiretoko mid-May a few years ago and really liked it. The scenery was fantastic. I took a short guided hike at the park.

I stayed at the Shiretoko Grand and the dinner buffet had a good variety with above average quality. There were some fresh tropical fruits like dragon fruit which I did not expect to see in Shiretoko, if that gives you an idea of buffet's food budget.

kaka

how short was your short guided hike?

abmj-jr

I didn't drive out onto Shiretoko but took the train and then the bus tour. It is really beautiful. Keep your camera ready. Kushiro is a quiet little/big town with a nice bridge right at the entrance to the harbor. I don't know what canoe tour you are considering but the scenery around Kushiro is delightful. I'd try to squeeze at least another day out of your Sapporo stay and hit both places. I can't speak for the drive but the little local train up and through the mountains from Abashiri to Kushiro was worth the trip by itself.

Kushiro Harbor.

freecia

Photo of the guide board for my visit with bear/bear scat sightings.

The Shiretoko 5 Lakes small loop hiking path is 1.6 km and long loop path is 3 km. I went during bear season & a guide is mandatory to go on the trail. There's also a promenade https://www.goko.go.jp/

The view that day from one of the observatory spots

kaka

thanks. we are sapporo min-ing. probably just spend the first night there, have breakfast at the market, sunday... then head out of the city. Unless we get a special beer factory tour, otherwise we shall head back to osaka for the last night, spend the day in osaka and head home in the evening. that would give us 6.5 days outside the city.

i think i will take in whatever info i can milk out of the internet then plan. 3 days for the national parks and perhaps the prison if theres too much time. 2 days to head to the east coast with stops along the way on fruit farms and flower fields.
with 4 people i think its more sensible with a car... or so i think.

abmj-jr

Fascinating and worth a couple of hours. Just don't make the mistake of turning into the new Abashiri Prison, which is on the opposite side of the road.

Not far from the old prison is the Drift Ice Museum and theater, which is also worth a visit.

jib71

"You're gonna need a bigger boat."

Shiretoko is pretty awesome. It's probably the wildest wilderness that Japan has. Among the activities that I enjoyed were a night tour, led by a local guide, and a boat trip from Shari Utoro to the end of the peninsula, which is inaccessible by road. The boats get close to the shore, where you can often see bears fishing. Bear in mind that the summer is short. By the end of September I think you might experience daytime temperatures around 10C / 50F. I had been hoping to hike up Mt. Rausu, which is not a very high mountain (1,660m) but dropped the idea because the forecast wasn't great.

If you enjoy it, you can feast on the freshest uni and ikura known to man. (Even if you don't enjoy it, you should try a little, because it's quite a different taste than the freshest uni and ikura that you can get in Tokyo).

RichardInSF

I stayed in a large Japanese-style hotel in the little town on the eastern side of the peninsula. I forget the name but I had reserved a room with a private onsen bath which was really nice to have.

The thing that stood out was the included food. As jlb71 said, it is impossible to imagine fresher seafood anywhere. The taste was simply amazing.

As to the park and wilderness area, well, it's quite nice but this is still Japan. The entire "wilderness" would easily fit within a tiny percentage of most any wilderness area you'd find in the USA. A Japanese wilderness area could be defined as an area where every plant has been precisely placed so as to give the proper impression of wilderness. OK, it's not quite that bad. but still it all seemed very tame to me.

Others above clearly disagree but I'd still say you should go even if it was just for the amazing seafood.

kaka

no worries. ive been there, just with different mates Also been on the drift ice boat (we had the ice last time, albite on the light side)

kaka

Based in HKG its easier to go to Hokkaido than to some parts of the US especially when mates are in tow. Onsen hotel was out of the question from day 1, so maybe a day plan there instead. I was planning to live on Toyoko inns, but i shall see...
Some parts of Japan is indeed not as impressive as it sound by the name, but being a japan-franatic we shall live by the japanese culture more than the views itself so we shall be fine. the hard part is to spend the same 9 days in somewhere in the usa, deal with jetlag and come back up and working. We do more of that in Europe but it's still a pain w the Jetlag.

Sounds great. Being a part of the original Hokkai-Do!, perhaps i shall live on uni and ikura for a week. to hell with cholestrol.
We are going 2-9/sept so it would be warmer. but maybe to hike we shall play by the ear.

abmj-jr

That early in September it will virtually still be summer. Even the higher mountains will be warm for hiking. The last time I was there was in late October/early November and it was still quite comfortable being outside in the lower elevations. The mountaintop areas like Asahikawa-dake were quite nippy but no snow on the runs yet.

jib71

The lower half of the peninsula Is relatively tame, as you say, and the size of the national park is, by American standards, very small. But once you get past the road system, it isn't precisely curated in the way that other Japanese parks are. It has one of the world's densest populations of brown bears, and the few buildings that ever existed in the upper half of the peninsula are mostly decaying back into the land or the sea (with the exception of the lighthouse at the top).

svellmann

Where/how did people find guides?

jib71

I asked my hotel for recommendations.