Trip Itinerary
Hokkaido + Aomori, Japan | May 17 - 26, 2025
WE CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU! Below you’ll find a day by day plan for the trip. This should serve as a rough guideline for what we’ll be doing. You Ace Camps Travel Host will provide daily details including specific times and locations through the WhatsApp group chat and in person.
Keep in mind, this is a prospective itinerary. It is subject to modest modifications, depending on local weather, circumstances + opportunities.
Day 1 - SATURDAY MAY 17
Welcome to Hokkaido!
Our journey begins in the Northern city of Sapporo. Famous for its specialty miso ramen, Sapporo, is a vibrant and dynamic city on the northern island of Hokkaido, Japan. It is not only the region’s capital and largest city but also a unique blend of modern urban life and natural beauty.
Make your own way to our hotel in central Sapporo. Check in time is 3:00pm. If you arrive before this, you may leave luggage with the front desk.
Settle into your room and we’ll meet early evening for a casual welcome dinner with Rika. Your Ace Camps Travel Tour Host, will confirm your welcome meeting time and location (at the hotel) closer to May 17 in your WhatsApp group chat.
Overnight: Sapporo
Meals included: Dinner
Day 2 - SUNDAY MAY 18
Breakfast at the hotel
This morning we travel by local train to the historical canal city of Otaru located about 45 minutes from Sapporo. Our first stop will be a visit to a building known as the Herring Mansion which pays homage to Otaru’s prosperous herring fisheries. After this, time permitting, we will have a brief stroll along Otaru’s main street.
For lunch we enjoy local sushi. You’ll taste a variety of local specialty dishes featuring the chef’s choice of fresh seafood.
After lunch we visit Tanaka Sake Brewery situated in a restored Showa era building. The water for the sake is drawn from a water source about 70m underground, formed by years of melting snow from Mt. Tengu. The abundant natural resources surrounding Otaru is the secret to the high quality of this brewery’s sake. Here you’ll enjoy a tasting of some of their specialty sakes.
We return to Sapporo later this afternoon by train and the rest of the evening is free for you to explore the flavours of Sapporo on your own or with others from the group.
Overnight: Sapporo
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
Day 3 - MONDAY MAY 19
Breakfast at the hotel
We begin our morning with a visit to Fukuyama, a 135 year old soy factory known for their incredibly smooth soy sauce. Founded in the Meiji period of the late 19th century, this brewery uses specially selected soybeans and wheat grown in Hokkaido along with Hidaka Kelp to produce a variety of sauces, broths, pastes and puddings.
For lunch today we will visit Moerenuma Park for a casual picnic. Sculptor Isamu Noguchi created the basic design for this park based on the concept of “the whole park being a single sculpture.”
This afternoon we have the special opportunity for a hands-on workshop with Misato Shinada, a local washi paper folding artist who is well known for her intricately folded lantern sculptures. In this workshop, you’ll discover Hokkaido’s unique handmade paper, Fukigami, meticulously crafted by pounding the outer layer of butterbur stems. You’ll try your hand at various folding techniques using this delicate medium.
This evening is free for you to explore the flavours of Sapporo on your own or with others from the group.
Overnight: Sapporo
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
Day 4 - TUESDAY MAY 20
Breakfast at the hotel
This morning we check out of our Sapporo hotel and begin our journey towards Lake Toya. Travelling about 90 minutes through Hokkaido’s interior we leave Sapporo and head south through the hills until we meet the pacific ocean.
Today we will visit the Upopoy Museum. This National Ainu Museum seeks to promote respect for the Ainu as an indigenous people in Japan, to establish proper recognition and understanding of Ainu history and culture both nationally and internationally, and to contribute to the creation and development of new Ainu culture.
We will begin with a short film introduction followed by free time to explore and deepen your learning of the Ainu culture of the indigenous people of Hokkaido as you discover their traditional tools, food, lifestyle and crafts.
Lunch today is on your own, there is a casual cafe and restaurant on site to choose from. After lunch, we will reconvene for a simple Ainu style embroidery workshop followed by a musical demonstration.
Later this afternoon we will make a brief visit to walk the pathways of Noboribetsu Jigokudani which generate some 10,000 tons of hot water a day. Also known as Hell Valley Nature Walk, here you can observe colourful intermittently erupting geysers.
Our final stop of the day takes us to our hotel that overlooks beautiful Lake Toya, a volcanic caldera lake in Shikotsu-Toya National Park. Dinner this evening will be served by Nonokaze hotel.
Overnight: Lake Toya
Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner
Day 5 - WEDNESDAY MAY 21
Breakfast at the hotel
This morning we check out of our Lake Toya hotel and begin our journey towards Hakodate.
Prepare your tastebuds for a culinary experience as we visit the kitchen and homestead of chef Ian Fong. Set high on a serene hill surrounded by fertile farmland overlooking the nutrient-rich Uchiura Bay and Mt. Usu, this unique location has allowed chef Ian to source very high-quality foods from both the land and the sea. Using seasonal ingredients from local producers, we will prepare and enjoy a Hokkaido focused lunch together.
Mid afternoon we set off towards the city of Hakodate. This drive will take approximately 2.5 - 3 hours. Time + weather permitting, we’ll briefly visit the top of Mt. Hakodate to take in the spectacular view of the city and mountains before we check into our city hotel. This evening is free for you to explore the flavours of Hakodate on your own or with others from the group. If you are still hungry, we recommend Hakodate ramen, known for its light, clear broth.
Overnight: Hakodate
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
Day 6 - THURSDAY MAY 22
Breakfast at the hotel
This morning we check out of our Hakodate hotel and begin our journey towards Hirosaki. Leaving the island of Hokkaido behind, we travel by undersea bullet train to the northern prefecture of Honshu, known as Aomori, where we will spend the next four days exploring.
Upon reaching Aomori, our first stop is the Aomori Museum of Art which exhibits works by master printmaker Shiko Munakata, pop artist Yoshitomo Nara, Toru Narita, and other artists associated with Aomori Prefecture. The distinctive building of the museum was designed with inspiration from the adjacent World Heritage Site of Sannai-Maruyama, and the building itself is highly regarded as a work of art. Once we reach the museum, you will have free time to explore this museum at your own pace. Lunch today is on your own, there is a cafe on site to dine at your leisure.
Later this afternoon we visit Sannai-Maruyama Historical Site which is one of Japan’s largest historical sites consisting of the remains of human settlement from approximately 5500 to 4000 years ago. An archeological excavation in 1992 unearthed stilt-houses and also uncovered various earthenware and stoneware artifacts, as well as those composed of jade and skillfully created lacquer.
This evening we check into our traditional Japanese inn and enjoy a regional tasting-course dinner.
Overnight: Hirosaki
Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner
Day 7 - FRIDAY MAY 23
Breakfast at the hotel
Today will focus our learning on the crafts of Aomori with two distinctly different hands-on workshops.
Our morning begins at The Kogin Institute which is housed in one of the oldest modernist buildings in Japan. The Hirosaki Kogin Institute is an organization dedicated to carefully preserving the traditional craft of Kogin-zashi. During the Edo period, farmers in this region were only allowed to wear linen kimonos. In order to get through Tsugaru's harsh and long winters in as much comfort as possible, sashiko began to be applied to linen cloth with cotton thread for warmth and reinforcement, and eventually `Tsugaru Kogin-zashi' was created.
From here we will visit the Fujita Memorial Garden. The garden was designed and built in 1919 in the style of a traditional Japanese landscape garden. The spacious garden is separated into two main parts, an upper section and a lower section. We’ll have a casual lunch near the garden.
This afternoon we visit Bunaco, a specialty woodworking workshop. Located in the Nishimeya Village, the gateway to the world's largest virgin beech forest. Here we will learn about their very unique technique where the beech is cut into thin tape-like strips and wound in spirals, rolled like baumkuchen into a flat board-like state, and is gradually molded into a three-dimensional shapes.
Dinner this evening at our hotel in Hirosaki will feature a chargrill course.
Overnight: Hirosaki
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 8 - SATURDAY MAY 24
Breakfast at the hotel
This morning we check out of our Hirosaki hotel and begin our journey towards Lake Towada. We begin our day with a visit to the Tsugaru Clan Neputa Village which showcases a variety of local craft projects. The centerpiece of the village is dedicated to the Hirosaki Neputa Festival. Neputa are elaborate 10-meter-tall illuminated floats decorated with intricate hand-painted designs.
For lunch today, we have been invited to a very special experience with Tsugaru Akatsuki no Kai, a group of local woman who are working to preserve and share traditional local flavours with younger generations. They use simple locally sourced fresh vegetables and other ingredients as a base, as well as preserved foods such as salted and dried vegetables, to create set meals that incorporate seasonal flavours.
From here we continue towards Lake Towada, roughly a 90 - 120 minutes drive. On our way to our hotel we will travel through the scenic mountainous Towada-Hachimantai National Park which offers stunning natural scenery, where delicate green leaves and moss overhang the Oirase Gorge, and alpine flowers carpet the slopes of Mount Akita-Komagatake. Dinner this evening will be served at Lake Towada hotel.
Overnight: Lake Towada
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 9 - SUNDAY MAY 25
Breakfast at the hotel
Covered by a deep natural forest, this morning we venture into Oirase Gorge for a gentle (easy) morning hike. Here the landscape is full of dynamism created by the flow of water, and the power of earth. A promenade with large treetops covers the sky in layers and a green tunnel.
This afternoon we visit the curious Towada Art Center. Featuring a permanent collection of artworks by the likes of Ron Mueck, Choi Jeonghwa, and Yoko Ono, the Towada Art Center is at the heart of Towada City’s artistic initiative. The center was designed by Japanese architect Ryue Nishizawa and consists of 16 distinct geometric structures, inviting visitors to navigate their own journey through the artwork.
Lunch today is on your own, there is a cafe on site to dine at your leisure.
We return to our Lake Towada hotel late afternoon for a group dinner this evening to celebrate our journey together.
Overnight: Lake Towada
Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner
Day 10 - MONDAY MAY 26
Breakfast at the hotel
This morning we pack our bags and say our goodbyes. We’ll have a private transfer to Hachinohe station (approximately 2 hours drive from Towada Hotel) - here you can take the shinkansen train direct to Tokyo. Thank you for joining us on this incredible and often unexpected journey around Northern Japan!
Meals included: Breakfast
-
N.B. Your Ace Camps Travel Host will provide you with daily reminders about important timing each day via WhatsApp. This is a prospective schedule of excursions and workshops. It is subject to modest modifications, dependent on local weather, circumstances, and the desires of the group.