Hokkaido: the unusual face of Japan

Kushiro rises on the eastern coast of Hokkaido, facing the Pacific Ocean, and is the gateway to one of Japan's most pristine natural areas. The city is famous for the vast marshes of Kushiro Shitsugen National Park, the country's largest wetland, where the rare red-crowned cranes ('tancho') — a symbol of longevity and fortune in Japanese culture — can be spotted year-round. Its lively harbour is home to the picturesque Washo market, where you compose your own 'katte-don', a bowl of rice topped with fresh fish chosen stall by stall. Nearby lie the volcanic lakes of Akan and Mashu, with some of the clearest waters in the world. Kushiro is the ideal base for exploring the wild nature and wide-open spaces of Japan's far north.

Sapporo spreads across a plain at the foot of Hokkaidō's mountains, Japan's great northern island, and is famed worldwide for its beer and its snow festival. A young, orderly city laid out on a regular grid unusual for Japan, it centres on the green of Ōdōri Park, which each February fills with the spectacular ice sculptures of the Yuki Matsuri. The Clock Tower and the Hokkaidō Shrine recall the island's pioneering history, while the nearby ski resorts of Niseko and Furano offer some of the finest powder snow on the planet. Its gastronomy is an irresistible draw: miso ramen, the freshest seafood from the market and the celebrated grilled-lamb Genghis Khan. A gateway to Hokkaidō's wild nature, Sapporo combines urban energy and open spaces with an authentically northern character.

Hakodate rises at the southern tip of Hokkaido island, a port city among the first opened to trade with the West and therefore rich in cosmopolitan architecture. Its emblem is Mount Hakodate, from whose summit, reached by cable car, you can enjoy one of Japan's most celebrated night views, with the city lights tracing an isthmus between two bays. The Motomachi district preserves churches, red-brick warehouses and European-style residences along sloping streets overlooking the sea. Not to be missed is the morning market, where you can savour crab, sea urchin and steaming bowls of freshly caught fish. With the hot springs of Yunokawa and the retro charm of its trams, Hakodate blends flavours of the sea, panoramas and old-world allure.