Snowshoe Trek and Onsen Soak in Shikotsu-Toya National Park in Sapporo

Hokkaido gets an enormous amount of snow, and snowshoes are the traditional answer to the question of how you move through it. On this six-hour guided outing you learn to do exactly that, starting from Makomanai on Sapporo's southern edge and driving half an hour into Shikotsu-Toya National Park. After a safety briefing your guide fits you out and teaches you the technique, which takes very little time to pick up and immediately opens up terrain that would be impossible to cross on foot. The hike itself runs for around four and a half hours through the winter forest, and the appeal of it is the quiet: away from the road there is essentially no sound, the trees carry a load of snow, and animal tracks are often the only sign anyone or anything has passed. Lunch is taken out on the trail, which is part of the pleasure of a winter day like this. Your guide sets the pace and reads the conditions, and no previous snowshoeing experience is needed, only a reasonable level of fitness and a willingness to be outdoors in the cold. The day ends the way a Japanese winter day should, with a visit to one of the many onsen in the area, so you come off the snow and straight into hot water. Transport by van from Sapporo and back is part of the trip, so all you need to do is dress for the weather and turn up.