(1) Hokkaido Trip: 31-May to 1-June 2015 Singapore / Bangkok / Chitose / Lake Toya

Whenever we heard friends going to Hokkaido, it was always about skiing, snow, white scenery, very thick clothing. We planned to go during late Spring/ early Summer instead. This was our first family trip to Japan.

• We took Thai Airways.

• Setting off from Singapore 10pm on 31-May-2015, arriving close to midnight at Bangkok International Airport.

• Then we changed to an overnight Thai Airways direct flight to Sapporo Chitose Airport.

• We arrived in the early morning of 1-June-2015 at Chitose Airport

After passing through the immigration and customs checks, we proceeded to the airport car rental booth. A shuttle bus came to pick us up and ferried us to Toyota Car Rental office.

We collected a Toyota Isis, a spacious 7-seater MPV.

We quickly drove out of Chitose and hit the expressway heading southwest towards Lake Toya. After less than 2 hours of driving, we arrived at Lake Toya area.

Our first stop was the Showa-Shinzan.

We needed to take a cablecar to get to the top of Showa-Shinzan.

Patiently waiting to board the cablecar.

Upon reaching the cablecar station at the top, there were a few stairways to climb to the submit and crater.

Mt. Usu is a 737-meter high active volcano that was formed to the south of Lake Toya, Hokkaido, about 20,000 years ago. At the foot of the mountain, rose Showa-shinzan, a Special Natural Monument of Japan, during the period from 1943 to 1945. The two mountains are protected as part of Shikotsu-Toya National Park. The place where geological, natural and historical heritages including Jomon Era ruins have been discovered is important for academic studies as well. Mount Usu and Lake Toya joined the Global Geopark Network as “Toya Caldera and Usu Volcano Geopark,” which is one of the three Global Geoparks in Japan.

A ropeway brings you in six minutes from the foot of Showa-shinzan to the top of Mount Usu with a great panoramic view. There is a 40-minute walking trail from the observatory at the vent to the observatory at the outer rim of crater. The observatories command a bird’s eye view of Lake Toya and the Pacific. Many interesting spots that make the place attractive for tourists include a museum of Masao Mimatsu, a researcher of Showa-shinzan, and Showa-shinzan Bear Farm where you can observe brown bears and hot springs scattered from the crater to the foot of the mountain.

Landscape view of Lake Toya.

Landscape view of Uchiura Bay.

Above was the observation point of Mount Uzu volcano crater.

Below was the entrance to the crater.

Pathway leading to the crater.

After we descended from the mountain top, we were famished. And we had our lunch at a small eatery near the cablecar station.

Nice ramen.

We took some photographs of the mountain, just outside the lunch area

We drove into Toya town and checked into the ryokan.

Lake view from the rooms.

Lake Toya ("Tooya-ko" in Japanese) is a freshwater caldera lake located about 60 km southwest of Sapporo, and it is located about 40 km west-southwest of Lake Shikotsu.

It is nearly circular and is about 10 km in diameter. In the center of the lake, there are a big island (Nakajima) 3 km across and three small islands. This lake doesn't freeze in winter. Lake Toya was formed by eruption of a volcano about 100 thousand years ago. The eruption was very powerful, then the volcanic ashes are found throughout northern Japan. Now on the south side of the lake, there is a very active volcano Mount Usu (737 m).

There is Toyako hot spring resort on the southern shore, and more than a dozen hotels are located. From here, we have a beautiful view of Mount Yotei distantly over the lake.

Sightseeing ship leaves from the resort area. It is operated every 30 minutes from mid-April to early November. It takes about 50 minutes to cruise round. You can land on the central island, then you can take the next ship from the island.

As it was still rather early to dinner time, we decided to drive around the lake area.

We came upon this place "Lake-Hill Farm". It was famous for their house brand Hokkaido ice cream and cream puffs.

Beautiful landscape view as well.

We got back to the ryokan and strolled a little by the lakeside.

We got back to the ryokan, and went downstairs to the dining area for our dinner. We were served individual BBQ set. And by 8.30pm we had to quickly return back to our rooms, and view the fireworks over the lake from the balcony.

When the fireworks show was over, it was time to wind down, go downstairs for shower and soak in the indoor hot spring pools, and rest well for the night.