I am Monika, a former corporate potato and a newborn writer, traveler and foodie. I love to explore the world by getting lost in it. This is mainly because of my non-directional direction sense. My way of exploring the unknown gems of the world is by talking to the locals in any language possible (sign language mostly). I am mother to a furry Shetland Sheepdog named Danny and two bipedal kids. I care about all animals big or small. My dream is to open an animal rescue center some day and also winning a million dollar lottery .
I live in Sapporo, but have lived in India and Australia for the most part of my life. This blog was started by me to share my silly adventures and travel tips in Hokkaido. Supersillytraveller.com is for all wanderlusts like you, who want to make beautiful memories by traveling and experiencing Hokkaido, Japan.
The motivation of my life is easily summed by these words from Shell Silverstein.
“Do a loony-goony dance ‘Cross the kitchen floor, Put something silly in the world that ain’t been there before.”
I hope you will enjoy reading my blogs 
Email : contact@supersillytraveller.com
This is Syd from Whirlpool- I wondered, as you are a local, what you would suggest for a four/five day tour of Hokkaido? I’m planning to be there late April, so way past snow time (I should assume). It appears that you need a driving licence to really get around, which I don’t have, so it’d need to be by train or bus.
I’m pretty much an experience person, so I’m pretty much interested in anything and everything, it’s being there that’s the joy for me. (This ticks the question, “what are you interested in?”)
You can reply by whimming me, but I don’t if that will work until your whim freeze is raised. Anyway, looking forward to what you suggest.
Widya Santoso
Hi Widya, Thanks for commenting. I just sent you an email with the answers. I hope you will enjoy your time in Hokkaido.
Hi I will be in Hokkaido for one week from the 20/5. I want to only stay in a couple of places and travel out from there. Where would you recommend as good central spots to stay. I want to see wildlife, scenery, and the flower fields, if they are worth it at this time of year.
Hello Clare,
Thanks for commenting 🙂 With only one week in hand, keeping Sapporo as one of the bases might be a good idea as for scenery you can do day trips to some awesome places such as Lake Shikotsuko-Toya National park area, Cape Kamui in the Shakotan Peninsula and Noboribetsu. For wildlife you can stay at Shiretoko National Park for Hokkaido Brown Bears, Japanese Red Fox etc and Kushiro for the largest marshland in Japan and gorgeous Japanese Cranes. You can also keep Asahikawa as a central spot to see the flower fields of Furano and Beie but I think July is a good time to see the lavender fields. By the way, how do you plan to travel in Hokkaido?
Silly
Hey Monika,
After following your blog, i’ve finally decided to set foot in Hokkaido! I’ve sent you an email with a few questions. Please respond when you get a chance!
Thanks,
Chris
Hi Chris,
I am glad that my blog inspired you to visit Hokkaido. I hope you will have a very good time here. I will reply to your email when I find some free time.
Thanks for reading my blog.
Monika
Hi Monika,
Thanks for the informative write-ups and beautiful photos in your blog. My family plan to have a drive for 3 days in the first week of December around Shikotsu-Lake Toya. We are not sure if worth going to Cape Shakotan on Day 3 during winter, and what do you think of the itinerary? Thanks so much.
Day 1: Sapporo – Lake Shikotsu – Noboribetsu
Day 2: Lake Toya – Rusutsu
Day 3: Niseko – [Cape Shakotan] – Otaru – Sapporo
Thanks,
Grace
Hi Grace,
Apologies for the late reply 🙂
I am glad to know that you enjoy reading my posts. The best time to enjoy Shakotan’s blue sea is in summer and autumn. In winter, the sea looks dull and the coast is also very cold and windy. Your itinerary looks great for an onsen and skiing trip. I hope you have a great time in Hokkaido. Do let me know on your experiences.
Monika
Hello Monika,
First of all, thank you for writing this blog. It is full of very useful and detailed trips. It’s a life saver! I’m planning a family trip this Oct (2016) withe my parents and am quite stressed out because we know next to nothing about Hokkaido.
Can I bother you with my itinerary? It would be great to get an opinion from someone who knows the area so well, because, to be honest, after reading everything there is on the internet, I don’t know what to think any more. I’ll email you my first attempt.
Thank you again.
Arwee
Hi Monica,
you have a fantastic blog, exactly the kind of information I was looking for. I am planning to be in Sapporo/Hokkaido on April 10-13, 2017. From among the various places you described, I am most interested in doing day trips to Shikotsuko, Noboribetsu, and Shakotan/Otaru, as well as spend a day skiing, and a day in Sapporo. (I am also interested in going further out towards the more remote areas, but suspect I don’t really have time for it.) For the time of the year, any recommendations you could provide on these places – which ones are good and not good to go to in mid-April?
I really appreciate it!
Hello Aleks,
I am really sorry for replying so late. I am on the move since 22nd Dec and I didn’t get chance to write earlier.
With just four days in Hokkaido, I think you already have a good plan and not much time to spare. As you are arriving in mid April the cherry blossoms are still a couple of weeks away, so you may not get great scenery. Go south (towards Hakodate) if you want to see cherry blossom and keep an eye on the cherry blossom calendar. If you want to free some time from your plan, I would advice to give Shakotan a miss. Check with the ski resorts about conditions a week before you arrive. They start to close around the end of April.
That’s all I can think at the moment. Enjoy your trip.
Monika
Hi Monika! Thanks for writing such wonderful blogs – it really makes me feel excited to see Hokkaido.
My hubby and I are visiting Hokkaido in late January 2017, just wondering if you would advise driving in the snow? Is it dangerous especially at night? We are from the sunshine state in Australia – zero experience in driving in snow. 😛
Thanks Monika!
Cheers,
Annie
Hi Annie,
Thanks for the kind words, much appreciated.
I am really sorry for replying so late. I am traveling at the moment.
About driving in snow. I would not recommend it all, especially because you have no experience of it. We are slowly getting the hang of it after spending three winters here. It is even more dangerous at night and on highways. If the car breaks down or you get stuck in snow you will have to spend the night out in the cold until rescue arrives. Not to mention the traffic moves very slow in winter. My advice is to stick to public transport.
I miss the sunshine state. Frazer island is still my favorite holiday destination in the world. Hopefully I will be back soon to enjoy the sun and the sand.
Enjoy your trip to Hokkaido.
Cheers
Monika
Hi,
I will be traveling with my wife & kids in mid June to Japan. I will be in Sapporo for three days and based on your blog I have planned my trip thus:-
Day 1: Land at Sapporo airport and pick up rented car to drive to a secluded ryokan in Hanzono woods.
Day 2: Check out next day and drive up North to Shakotan & Otaru as per your itinerary and return to Sapporo to stay in hotel.
Day 3: Next day drive out to Lake Shikotsu and Noboribetsu as per your itinerary. Return by evening and drop off car at rental agency near hotel in Central Sapporo.
Day 4: Fly out from Sapporo.
Please suggest/advise if you can. Regards & thanks.
Hi Pankaj,
Apologies for the delay in getting back to you. Your plan sounds good to me. I hope you and your family enjoys your stay in Sapporo.
Cheers,
Monika
Hi Monika,
Thanks for writing this blog! It seems to me that travel info for Hokkaido is not as easily found as for Tokyo or Kyoto and Osaka. 🙂 I have several questions for you if you have time. No rush.
I plan to go to Hokkaido in early December 2017 with my husband and our 9-year-old. We will be in Niseko the first two nights, and then we want to visit Lake Toya to see the illumination tunnel, noboribetsu for the onsen, Otaru for the Canal, Hakodate, and of course, Sapporo. Will there be easy public transport access to and from each of the area? For example, if I want to go from Niseko to Lake Toya without going back to Sapporo, is there something we can take? Google Maps didn’t give me any result for public transport. I’ve considered driving myself, but I think it could be a problem if there were to be a snow storm on those days. I’m also not sure if it would be easy to find parking spots. Would you recommend going back to Sapporo after Niseko and do day trips from there instead?
Thanks so much!
Hi Natasha,
I don’t think there is any public transport connectivity between Niseko and Lake Toya. You might need to come back to Sapporo to cover both the places if you are not driving. However, between Sapporo, Otaru, Hakodate, and Noboribetsu the public transport access is quite good. Yes, driving during a snow storm is challenging but we don’t get too many snow storms in December. About parking, most of the sightseeing places usually have parking available and there are plenty of paid parking spots around as well. I hope this helps. Good luck!
Thanks so much for your reply! I will take another look at the options. If snowstorms are rare I think I should consider driving then 😀 I will browse your blog for food options. So exciting! Thanks again, and take care!
Hi Monika,
Have been reading your reviews and are most informative. It is a pity that I found your blog only today. Anyway, it is better late that never.
I will be travelling to Hokkaido (New Chitose Airport ) on 05th.Aug ( 8.30am). From there, together with my wife and two friends will be driving to Hokuryu ( to view Sunflower) via Takikawa ( to view Canola ). After that, will go to Asahikawa ( arrive about 3pm ) to visit either the famous Asahiyama Zoo ( if time permit ) or Snow Crystal Museum. Evening will have dinner Ramen Village. That will wind up the day.
The next day will travel to Zeburu Hill and Ueno Farm/ Shichiku Garden ( Biel ).Will continue to Blue Pond, Furnao ( Tomita Farm ). After, all the viewing and the taste of sweet melon, will drive to Otaru to spend a night there.
Sound fairly tight but booked hotels and cannot cancel as it is too late. Otherwise, would have stay two nights in Asahikawa.
Base on the above itinerary, can you recommend and changes to be made?
Most appreciated and look forward to have your inputs .
Cheers,
Kim ( Siow )
Hi Monika,
You may have been busy as I wrote to you about 4 days ago about my itinerary and seek your inputs but have yet to get a reply from you.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Kim ( Siow)
Hi Kim,
Sorry for the delay in response. I am currently on a maternity break and it is hard to find time to sit on the computer with two little ones around 🙂 Your plan sounds good, and yes, as you have already said it will be a busy one. About Asahiyama zoo, it is best to spare at least 4-5 hours to enjoy the zoo thoroughly. Asahikawa doesn’t have much to see, so spending two nights will not be a good utilisation of your time. Also, August is a busy season to travel in Hokkaido because of the Obon holidays. Have you thought about going to Sounkyo?
Monika
Konnichiwa …We in Sapporo from 22 October to 27 October 2023.
Had booked a private car with driver .
We like to visit 01 fruits farm at least …from web …We had choose
SAPPORO FRUIT GARDEN or OHASHI CHERRY FARM ( Ashibetsu area )….we want apples , prunes and plums …
which Farm shall we go to ?
Thank You. Have a nice day !!
Hello Ming,
Thank you for your comment.
From what I know Ohashi cherry farm grows only Cherry and the cherry picking season is over now. Also, Ashibetsu is bit of a drive from Sapporo. For Apples, Sapporo Fruit garden is a good choice.
Did you look up Jozankei Farm https://jozankei-farm.com/ or Nitori farm https://www.fruits-nitori.jp/calendar.html in Yoichi? I suppose you will be able to pick all the fruits of your choice there.
Wishing you an awesome trip to Sapporo!
Cheers,
Saw your article. Thanks, Sadly, there’s nothing remotely organic about Yamamoto Sightseeing Orchard now. They must have been bought out by Nitori, who seem to be rabid sprayers and ridiculed the thought of organics.
However, Ecofarm, which is just down the road and run by Mr. Makino, IS organic. He also runs the Hokkaido Farmer’s Orchestra (Farmers’ Philharmonic Orchestra of Hokkaido). The grapes we bought yesterday were excellent. 1178 Noboricho, Yoichi, Hokkaido http://wwu.phoenix-c.or.jp/~m-ecofar/info-1.html
Richard
Hi Richard,
Thank you for the comment. I didn’t know that Yamamoto farm isn’t into organic farming now. Also, appreciate the information on Ecofarm. I will update the post.
Cheers,