There are many things I am somewhat unsure about.
I try to take my summer vacation off the peak in August and traveling in September. However, it is a long way from Japan’s Golden Week in May till September. What should I do during that time? I am not sure about it.
I have a bad habit of looking at Google Map late at night without knowing what to do. This has been a long time I have this habit as well as my insomnia. A few years ago, late at night, I found “Okhotsk Onsen Hotel Hinode Cape” in Oumu Town located between Wakkanai and Monbetsu in the northern part of Hokkaido.
As the name suggests, the onsen hotel stands on a hill overlooking the Sea of Okhotsk where you can expect beautiful sunrise. I had only kept the name in a deep pocket of my small brain.
A late at night in this spring, when I was viewing Google Map again, I found a very small sushi restaurant called “Sushi Restaurant Sudo” in a nearby fishing village of the hotel. Looking at the photo on Google Map, it appears to be a place owned by a chef who does quite fine work.
I had been to Wakkanai and Monbetsu before, but what I could expect in between? Somewhat unsure.
It was when I returned from another trip to sunny south Hokkaido, so I was in a good mood. I decided to start making arrangements immediately.
The trip planned was a weekend just before the summer vacation season, but there were frequent flyer free seats available on Japan Airlines from Tokyo to Memanbetsu for the outbound flight and on All Nippon Airways from Monbetsu to Tokyo for the return flight. The problem was to return rental car at Monbetsu Airport, which has only one scheduled flight a day, but Toyota Rent-a-Car has offices at both Memanbetsu and Monbetsu Airports, so I can drop off the car.
In Honshu Island, early July is the middle of rainy season. However, the rainy season front does not extend northward to Hokkaido.
When I left Tokyo, I found that the weather might not be good. The weather had been fine until the day before departure but cloudy or rainy was forecasted after the day of departure. I was not sure what it was, but it was probably a result of my daily life.
Nevertheless, when I arrived at Memanbetsu Airport, contrary to the forecast, it was sunny. I had to make the most of the sunshine. I quickly rented a car and headed for Oumu.
I have another bad habit to visit small fishing ports in the countryside, just as I keep looking at Google Maps without knowing what I would be looking at. I have no interest in fishing nor have no knowledge of the fishing industry. While driving along the Sea of Okhotsk, I stopped at few local fishing ports and took pictures. If locals saw me, I was probably looked like poachers or smugglers of some sort. There were signs that gave several examples of suspicious activities and urged to report law enforcement officials, which seemed to be quite applicable to me.
When I arrived the town of Oumu, the weather was still clear. Miraculously, the sky and sea were blue, and the breeze blowing through felt good. I was not sure what it was, but it was probably a result of my daily life.
I asked the hotel to cancel dinner for the first night, and I got really drunk at the sushi restaurant.
I was told that the chef had worked at a famous restaurant in Susukino in Sapporo for many years then returned to his hometown and running his own restaurant. The sushi was simply great. For me, “talkative Japanese chefs” were not favorite kind of people in the restaurant industry, but he was very good in this perspective too. Moreover, I was able to visit the restaurant at the best possible time, with freshly picked local sea urchins arriving during business hours.
The next morning, I woke up at 3:00 am. When I looked out the window, it was cloudy, but there was a break in the clouds, so I went out to watch the sunrise without really knowing what to expect. I was not able to see sunrise, but it was a fantastic sight.
After that, it was cloudy with some rain until the last day. From Memanbetsu to Monbetsu, it was like the countryside of Hokkaido. However, from Monbetsu to the north, I felt like the farthest reaches of the island. If it had been sunny, there would have been a lot of things to do, but with the weather so gloomy, what was there to do? I spent a day and a half wandering around by car, not really knowing what to do. I then flew back to Tokyo.
After returning home, I found out that Hokkaido had so-called “Ezo (an old name of Hokkaido) rainy season”. It does not seem to be a scientific weather term, and I could only find a vague explanation of it, but it is said to be a period of somewhat bad weather continued just before the summer season.
This was something I could somehow understand.
COLO’s Traveler Guide: Oumu
All times shown are the schedule based on the time of travel.
Day 1
Tokyo Haneda 0710 (JAL565) >> Memanbetsu 0855
– Visit fishing ports
Dinner: Sushi Restaurant Sudo
Overnight stay: Okhotsk Onsen Hotel Hinode Cape
Tips for Day 1
– There is a stylish observatory at Cape Hinode. I think it will be nice during the drift ice season.
Day 2
0345 Sunrise
Tips for Day 2
– The sun rises early, perhaps because of its location north and/or east of Tokyo. It was only 4:30 a.m. when I returned to the hotel after enjoying the early morning scenery.
– I ended up sleeping about three times, and I woke-up just before noon. The weather was not good, but I decided to head north toward Wakkanai. At first, we headed for Usutaibe Senjyoiwa Rocks in Esashi Town, where we encountered the “Eve of the Okhotsk Esashi Food Festival”. The rock was closed for fireworks, but we were able to buy and eat a variety of local dishes, the town seems to have the largest catch of hairy crabs in Japan.
Day 3
Monbetsu 1300 (ANA376) >> Tokyo Haneda 1450
Tips for Day 3
– The character of Monbetsu City is an old guy named “Monta”, and he is kind of nice. I mean, he is wonderful.