Hokkaido in Winter

Going to a zoo may not be up at the top of the list of things to see and do for some, but going to Asahiyama Zoo is absolutely worth it, especially in winter. From around the middle of December until the snow goes in mid March the zoo hosts its daily penguin walks, in which a group of king and gentoo penguins are walked along a cleared path through the snow covered grounds by keepers, waddling past visitors who can stand within arm's reach of the animals. The 2025 to 2026 season ran from 18 December to mid March, with a walk at 11am and a second at 2:30pm until the end of February and the morning walk alone from March. The walks happen because the penguins need exercise through the winter months giving you a chance to see one these up so close that otherwise wouldn't be possible normally. But if you that isn't enough to convince you maybe the polar bears, Hokkaido brown bears, and other cold weather animals might, as they're also at their most active through the winter months and the enclosures at Asahiyama are designed to allow close and unobstructed viewing of the animals in a way that many larger and more famous zoos do not manage.

摩周湖 (Lake Mashu) is a caldera lake in Akan-Mashu National Park, about 7.5 km across, formed by a large eruption around 7,000 years ago. It has no river flowing in or out, and in 1931 its water was measured clear to a depth of 41.6 metres, then a world record. The 第一展望台 (First Observatory) stands about 300 metres above the water and is the only observatory on the lake that stays open through winter, because the road beyond it to the Third Observatory and Kawayu Onsen is closed from early November to late April. On cold, still mornings the birch and larch along the caldera rim are coated in 樹氷 (rime ice), and the view takes in the deep blue water, the small island of カムイシュ島 (Kamuishu), the top of a lava dome rising about 211 metres from the lake floor, and the peak of カムイヌプリ (Kamuinupuri), the god's mountain, on the far shore. The lake can be paired in a day with Lake Kussharo, where whooper swans spend the winter on water kept open by hot springs, and the steaming vents of Mount Io near Kawayu Onsen.

Niseko is one of the finest ski destinations in Asia due to the powdered snow that falls here through December, January, and February which is among the driest and lightest in the world. And how this come to be is because of the cold air masses that travel across Siberia and pick up moisture over the Sea of Japan before depositing it as extraordinarily fine powder snow on the ranges of southwestern Hokkaido. Now, that we got that little fun fact out of the way, let's go back to talking more about the area. The Niseko United area brings together four interconnected resorts, Hanazono, Grand Hirafu, Niseko Village, and Annupuri, across the slopes of Mount Niseko Annupuri, and the international community that has built up around the resort over the past two decades has produced a food and accommodation scene that is more sophisticated than most ski towns anywhere in the world manage. On a clear day from the upper slopes the view of Mount Yotei, a dormant volcano of almost perfect conical symmetry that sits across the valley, is one of the finer things winter in Hokkaido puts in front of you.

Cod is what Hokkaido eats in winter when it is not eating crab. The fish moves inshore as the water cools and goes into 三平汁 (Sanpei Jiru), a salted fish and root vegetable soup that is one of the island's oldest home dishes, as well as into hot pots and simple grills. The part worth going after is the milt, which Hokkaido calls たち (tachi) rather than the mainland's 白子 (shirako). It appears for a few weeks at the peak of the season, is poached briefly and eaten with ponzu or dropped into miso soup, and the texture is closer to custard than to fish. Fish markets in Hakodate and Sapporo sell it by the tray while it lasts. This is not the ingredient people book flights for, but it is the one that turns up on local tables most often through the cold months.

Snow crab is the most delicately flavoured of Hokkaido's winter crabs. The legs are long and thin and the meat inside is sweet and clean rather than rich, which is the opposite of kegani, and it is best boiled and pulled straight out of the shell with nothing on it. What Hokkaido has that other crab regions do not is the full set of ズワイガニ (zuwai), タラバガニ (taraba), 毛ガニ (kegani) and 花咲ガニ (hanasaki), the last found almost only around Nemuro, so a crab restaurant here puts four different animals in front of you rather than variations on one. The San'in coast on the Chugoku page sells the same zuwai under the 松葉ガニ brand with a tag and a grading system attached. Hokkaido sells it by the kilo at the morning markets, which is a different way of buying the same crab.

King crab is the one most people picture when they picture eating crab in Hokkaido. It is not in fact a true crab but a stone crab, which is why it has six visible walking legs rather than eight and why the body is built the way it is. The legs are thick and heavy and the meat is rich and firm rather than delicate, so it takes heat better than snow crab does, whether boiled and pulled from the shell or split and grilled over charcoal until the flesh pulls away from the shell in one piece. Most of what is sold in Japan is imported from Russian and Alaskan waters rather than caught locally, and the honest version of the Hokkaido claim is handling and freshness rather than origin. The morning markets in Hakodate, Sapporo and Wakkanai sell it live out of tanks and will cook it while you wait.