Koyo in Daisetuzan

There are two seasons in Japan that are of such natural splendour that the national meteorological service carefully calculates their timing each year and people plan holidays and and cities schedule festivals to co-incide with them. The most commonly known of those two is the sakura or cherry blossom season (which we were lucky enough to see in both Kyoto, Sapporo and Hakodate earlier this year). Lesser known, but just as beautiful, is koyo or changing leaves season. The map above is the "leaf change front" published recently by the National Meteoroligcal Association.


The koyo starts in the highest alpine regions of Hokkaido, and this year it was a bit later than previous years. We wanted to see the first of the koyo in Japan so we drove to the Daisetsuzan National park (the map above shows the National Parks in Hokkaido - Daisetsuzan is the most central one and in this map it is called Taisetsu - yes, both spellings are correct). Daisetsuzan is a large park and is home to the tallest peak in Hokkaido, numerous onsen and active volcanos so it provides plenty to see and do on a weekend there.

The waterfall at Tenninkyo.

Our first stop was Tenninkyo where we took a short walk to a waterfall. The autumn air was definately cooler there than what we had been used to in Sapporo. Along the road between Tenninkyo and Asahidake we got our first up-close encounter with the famed Hokkaido Fox (kitsune is Japanese for fox). There were a couple of clever devils whose game was to dodge across the road in front of cars and when the car slowed down they came to the door and waited patiently for snacks. Shame this game must often work because they were definately expecting us to give them something and looked shocked when we took photos then rolled up the window and drove away.

Our friend Moochie.

We enjoyed a nice BBQ at dusk and checked into our cabin in the Daisetsusan Shirakaba-so Youth Hostel (here is their website). The hostel was a perfect place to crash for the night before climbing Asahi-dake the next day and the small onsen and ryokan there was a great end to our first day in the park. We stayed in the cabin side of the hostel that had plenty of space for all 4 of us in our room (two friends joined us Friday night) and had a comfortable rustic mountain feel.

The hostel.

We woke up to clear blue skies and left early for the summit of Asahi-dake, at 2290 m it is the tallest peak in Hokkaido. There is a ropeway (here is a link to the ropeway) that takes you part of the way up the hike, you can either take the ride (10 minutes) or walk the 2 hours to the alpine. In the interest of spending more time in the autumn coloured alpine, we took the ropeway up. We walked around the base of the peak and then climbed to the top. It is an active volcano (you can see the smoking vents in this photo) and like many of the hikes we have done here, was steep.

Asahidake.

This time of year is popular among Japanese people hoping to see koyo and this being one of the few clear days, the mountain was packed with people. Being from BC, we are not used to sharing a trail with so many other people, but the experience was still a good one and the scenery was incredible. Here is us at the peak settling in for some lunch. The peak was really crowded and we had to wait a while for a seat along the edge to open up where we could sit.

Asahidake peak.

Volcanic rocks on the peak and koyo below.

After the hike, we drove around the north end of the park to the east side to another onsen town called Sounkyo. We stayed in a small hotel in the center of town and (of course) took onsen at the local public bath. We ate combini bento (food from the convenience store) for dinner and enjoyed a nice sleep. Sunday started early with another trip up a different ropeway to the startpoint for hiking Kurodake. This side of the park had more colourful leaves and this hike was also busy.

Kurodake.

Bamboo and koyo on Kurodake.

Despite the crowds, we met some wildlife along the trail. The chimpunks rattled around in the bamboo along the trail the entire way up, busily preparing for hibernation. This side of the park uses a cute cartoon pika as their mascot, and we did hear some pikas chirping away on the top of the mountain, but we didn't see any.

Kurodake chipmunk.

At the top of Kurodake (1984 m), the wind was howling and ice cold so we huddled into the cabin at the top and had lunch. The cabin was built in the '30's, but a recent and notable addition is a high tech compostable toilet. After you "do your thing" there, you use a stationary bike to mix the "things" and help break it down.

Ridin' the toilet.

The koyo on this side was much more vibrant than it had been on Asahidake but the wind was cold so we didn't spend as much time wandering around.

On top of Kurodake.

We returned to Sounkyo and had onsen at the Grand Hotel. It was a nice onsen and after being in the cold wind at the top of the mountain, it was a welcome treat. After onsen, we enjoyed massive bowls of Asahikawa-style ramen (Asahikawa is a large city close to Daisetsuzan park). Asahikawa ramen is reputed to be some of the finest ramen in the country - it was hot, tasty, and a great way to end a weekend of hiking!