Spent 2 nights in Kushiro (Super Hotel). My main goal was to see wildlife.
Day 1
- Flew into Kushiro Airport at 9:15 a.m. on the Air Do (Hokkaido's low-cost carrier) flight from Haneda. Rented a car with Nippon Rent-A-Car. All cars come with winter tires equipped.
- Lake Akan: Not much to see as the lake is completely frozen. People were out on snowmobiles. The "Ainu village" was a small street with shops selling souvenirs.
- Kyodo Ryori (Local Cuisine) Nabekyu: Homey place offering set meals and soba. I got the rainbow trout sashimi, my friend got smelt (wakasagi) tempura. The special kokanee salmon (himemasu) requires a reservation in the winter months.
- Lake Mashu (Observatory No. 1): Breathtaking view, well worth a visit. Local souvenirs and some snacks available inside the visitor center, including packaged ice cream from Cream Dowa, a highly rated shop to the north that we didn't have time to visit.
- Lake Shirarutoro: On the way to Kushiro, there was one spot next to this parking lot where the water was not frozen and a few birds gathered: a Steller's sea eagle, swans, ducks, and herons. When I went back another day, it was just the swans and ducks. Not a destination itself but worth a stop if you're driving by.
- Dinner at Tempura Sakura: Excellent food but slow service. Took a whole three and a half hours. Make sure you have someone to chat with and sit at the counter so you can watch the chef work. Three courses on offer, we got the middle tier which includes sea urchin. Some other diners seemed to be on the highest tier and got a couple extra pieces using luxury ingredients such as kinki (broadbanded thornyhead, apparently). Reserved through Tabelog.
Day 2
- Tsurumidai (Crane Observatory): A spot just off the road where they feed the cranes. When I arrived at 7:45 a.m., there were two other people and four cranes. Over the next hour, a small crowd formed, and around 100 cranes flew in. The feeding started around 8:40, but this varies by day. There were still parking spots when I left just before 9:00. They also feed them in the early afternoon, so the cranes hang out basically all day. Not much advantage to going early as crowd size wasn't a problem, but you get to watch the cranes fly in I guess. Didn't get to see the mating dance.
- Shunkunitai: Arrived around noon after a 100 km drive in a straight line. Nature Center has useful information on what you can see and also rents out binoculars, boots, etc., for free. The trail entrance has its own parking lot, accessed by a narrow road next to the Nature Center parking lot. Very unique landscape. Felt like an apocalyptic wasteland, in a good way. Main thing we saw was a bunch of swans. Incredibly windy, so dress warm. We didn't venture very far, as the snow covering the trails was pretty thick.
- Onnemoto Bird-Watching Hut: Tiny hut with windows looking out onto the ocean. When we arrived at 2:30, it was high tide with thick fog, so barely anything was visible, but we managed to spot four seals poking their heads out of the water. Originally drove over because the staff at the Shunkunitai Nature Center recommended it as a good spot for otters (their other recommendation was Cape Kiritappu). Make sure to use this parking lot. Don't plug the hut itself into Maps or it'll lead you onto private property.
- Onneto Fishing Port: On the way back, spotted a few Steller's sea eagles and white-tailed eagles chilling in a frozen port right next to this roadside parking lot.
- Dinner at Izumiya: Birthplace of "spaghetti katsu" (supakatsu), a Kushiro specialty. Actually pretty good. The portion sizes are massive. Went around 5:30 and got a seat, but it was quite busy.
Day 3
- Hosooka Observatory: Impressive view of Kushiro Marsh. If you look through binoculars you can just make out hordes of deer. Also saw deer and cranes hanging out by the river on the road there, which was narrow, unpaved, and partly covered in snow. I parked in the lot by the Visitors Lounge. The road beyond there was uphill and looked iced over.
- Brunch at Washou Market: Famous for the "kattedon," where you buy seafood a la carte to make your own bowl. Looked like there were mainly two shops offering it. You first have to buy rice from another vendor in the back. I just picked all the things produced locally in Kushiro, which were marked with a blue tag in one shop and a green leaf in the other. Price adds up quickly, but it's the thing to do in Kushiro, and everything tasted good, so I'd say it's worth trying.
- Onnenai Visitor Center: Trailhead for a boardwalk which extends into the marsh, one of the only places where you can actually enter Kushiro Marsh, I believe. Easy and short walk. Boardwalk was covered in snow, but it was packed tightly so didn't present a problem. Saw a lot of tracks in the snow but not many actual animals, besides a pair of cranes way in the distance. Nice scenery, though.
- Kushiro Marsh Observatory: Nice view of the marsh, with the mountains Meakan and Oakan also visible in the other direction. You have to pay to get in, which is probably why the rating is so low. The view of the marsh itself was better at Hosooka.
Misc.
- People drive very fast in between cities, where there is no speed limit. You will be passed frequently unless you go around 100 km/hr. Need to watch out for deer and foxes randomly crossing the road.
by HarukaExpress