Japan Far North plus Rishiri and Rebun Islands

We live in Sapporo City, so the first step in exploring Hokkaido’s northern reaches was to get ourselves there. By train. It is a 5-hour direct trip from Sapporo City, so we packed the bikes up and bustled with the holiday crowds. Once in Wakkanai we headed straight for the Wakkanai campground to settle in – a paltry 3km from the station (but up a big hill).

We set this day aside for some Wakkanai sightseeing (and for Haidee to work on some distance learning she was doing at the time). In reality there’s not a whole lot to see in Wakkanai, but there’s:

• A sobering memorial (here) to the nine female Japanese telephone operators in Maoka town (Sakhalin Island) who committed suicide to avoid capture by invading Russian forces.
• A piece of modern 1936 civil architecture – the  Wakkanai North Breakwater Dome (here).
• Cape Noshappu (here) is apparently quite nice, although we didn’t get the chance to cycle out there.
• The whole waterfront at the port is quite nice to wander around too (around here).

To mix things up, you might consider heading to Japan’s northern-most sento (public bath), Midori-no-Yu (みどりの湯, here), which has a Riders’ House attached (1,000yen a night).

Highlights of day three included the ferry from Wakkanai to Rishiri, and stepping off onto what felt like another universe. Instantly the pace of life is slower on Rishiri. We’d not get any glimpse of Mt. Rishiri until later in the day, but we enjoyed the separated cycle path for the first 10km or so of today.

The campsite for tonight is not an official campground, but there are tables and chairs and a toilet block (and, curiously, seals in a concrete enclosure), which make it perfect for a quick overnight wildcamp.

Taking it as easily as is humanly possible, we only cycled 14km today, up the road to the nearest onsen, at Cape Kutsugata. We set up camp early, and spent the day relaxing.

Day five saw us catch a ferry from Rishiri Island to Rebun Island. Once on Rebun Island, we headed straight for the northern cape. We first set up out tent at the Lake Kushu campground, before having a soak in the only sentou (public baths) at this end of the island. UPDATE: The sento at Funadomari at the northern end of Rebun has now been demolished 🙁 If you are in need of a wash, the campground has coin showers (150yen for 10 minutes).

We took a quick bike ride to the northernmost tip of Rebun today. Then it was back to the port for the ferry back to Wakkanai.

I’m not sure I’ve heard of many people who’ve experienced blazing sunshine on the northern east coast of Hokkaido. It is a wild place. Windswept and gloriously desolate. The highlight of today ought to have been seeing Hokkaido’s northern most point, Cape Soya. But as nice as that was, it wasn’t quite as nice as sinking into a nice hot bath at the Safutsu Sento Public Baths (here) at the end of the a wet and cold day.

If you want to experience off-the-beaten-track cycle touring in Japan, this area of northern Hokkaido is the place to be. Horonobe Town is perhaps the most curious town I’ve ever experienced. An air of wealth. No, of heavy interest by industry…an unusual number of high-tech technicians around…but at the same time, very rural.

It wouldn’t be until we returned home that the riddle was solved. Horonobe Town is the unlikely location for the Japan Atomic Energy Agency’s Underground Research Center (https://www.jaea.go.jp/english/04/horonobe/index.html). Essentially, a research center to investigate the underground storage of radioactive waste.

And just to make things even more curious, the Research Center is right next to a reindeer farm (here).

Day 9 finally found us back with the rest of civilization. We were now on the main road, Route 232, from Wakkanai to Sapporo City. So we wasted no time in getting off onto one of the parallel wide roads, which was much more pleasant. The highlight of the day was the planetarium right next to the Shosanbetsu Campground. We happened to be there on an open night, so we were treated to some star-gazing at great magnification.

A short day of 40km along the coast today.

Rumoi as a city has never held my attention for very long. Beyond the free (excellent and quirky) Riders’ House (みつばちハウス, here), there’s few redeeming features as far as a cycling tourist is concerned. Beyond Rumoi, however, is the quaint town of Mashike. This town on the coast is home to Japan’s northernmost sake brewery, and has some rich history.

We stayed in the Mashike Riverside Auto Campground, but while they did have showers, for the 2000yen we paid for the site we’re not sure it was worth it. It would be much better to stay at the free (and reasonably well-appointed, as far as free campgrounds go) Shokan Seaside Camping Ground here.

Use the Ishikari River and Toyohira River stop-bank cycle paths for a completely stress-free entry right into the center of Sapporo. When getting in and out of Sapporo City towards the Rumoi coast, we never take any other route. It’s about 25km of 100% separated traffic-free riding. It’s the route marked in today’s route, here.