Category: 旅のしおり / COLO’s Traveler Guide

One of the readers of this blog was a resident of Zao and recommended to visit there. Zao is known as a town of hot springs and skiing, but it is most famous for its ice monster. If I go to Zao, I should see the ice monster.

The best time to see the ice monster is in February, in the middle of winter. As a second option, I asked whether I should go in January or March. I was told that January would be better.

I decided going to Zao on compensatory leave for the New Year holidays. The plan was that I would stay at an onsen inn in Zao for the first night and then go to Hijiori Onsen on the second day.

Famous photographs of Zao are ice monster trees that covered with snow against the clear blue sky. The weather in the mountains is changeable, I was not sure if things really work that well.

I took the Shinkansen which allowed flexible itineraries. I had reserved the first train in the morning on the first day and the last train on the third day to maximize my stay at Zao area in Yamagata Prefecture. Shinkansen reservations were able to be changed according to the weather. Since I had no other plans, I was able to have three chances to see the ice monster, even taking travel times into account.

If I have three days, I should be able to make it at least once. Maybe.

However, weekly forecast was not looking good. I had planned to be extremely flexible during the three days, but the dates could not be changed. As of the day before the departure, it was forecasted that only a few hours of sunshine in the evening of the first day. The rests were forecasted completely cloudy. If the weather was not good throughout the trip, there was no point having flexible train itineraries.

Would it really work?

On the first day, I did not get up early to catch the first train but boarded Yamagata Shinkansen left Tokyo before noon. My Shinkansen was delayed because of the time required for snow removal. It was not a good start.

After leaving Kanto region with clear sky, Fukushima Prefecture was overcast. It got worse as the Shinkansen entered Yamagata Prefecture with snow flurried in some places.

Nevertheless, by the time train reached to Yamagata Station, the sun was visible behind the wind-driven clouds.

It was a bright sign, I thought.

From Yamagata Station, I took a bus to Zao. As the bus entered the mountainous area and climbed up, visibility became poor again. I knew it was not going to be a good day. I decided to hang around in the onsen resort area and take a nap at the inn.

However, when I looked up at the sky around 4:00 p.m., to my surprise, the sky had suddenly begun to clear up. After all, mountain weather was changeable.

I rushed to the ropeway station. I ran through the snow-covered road and boarded the ropeway just in time. I made the quickest transfer to gondola on the way to the top and managed to reach the summit before sunset.

The white snow monster, the blue sky, and the bright red sunset. It was a spectacular view that seemed unreal. The time around sunset and sunset were often called magic hours, but it was beyond the magic. It was mystical. It was just wonderful, but it was also very cold. The extreme cold also felt like mystical, but it was real.

I finished photo shooting when it became completely dark and ran back to the inn before the dinner time.

It was a perfect two-hour that I celebrated at the inn. I ordered local sake called Sumiyoshi. It was dry with a hint of oak and delicious. I recalled that I ordered some more local sake, but I did not remember what they were because I got drunk.

The purpose of the trip was accomplished on the first day, and all remained on this trip was to enjoy onsen.

On the last day, the weather in Yamagata City was not so bad. However, I could not imagine getting off the Shinkansen, riding a bus to Zao, taking out my warm clothes from my backpack, and getting on the ropeway again.

The weather in the mountains is changeable. There was no guarantee that it would be sunny when I got to Zao, and there was no guarantee that the fine weather at noon would last until the evening. Therefore, I thought it was unlikely that I would encounter a more spectacular view than on the first day. The memory of a spectacular view woven by nature should remain as spectacular.

Well, that was just an excuse for myself.

I was already fully satisfied. I felt too cold in the evening of the first day and too tired from many hours spend in onsen. Besides, I needed to change Shinkansen ticket again. In the end, I did not have the energy going up the mountain in the extreme cold anymore.

COLO’s Traveler Guide: Zao

The schedule and service are based on the timetable at the time of visit.

Day 1

Tokyo 1000 (Tsubasa 135) >> Yamagata 1344
Yamagata Station 1420 (bus) >> Zao Onsen Bus Terminal 1457

– Ropeway for Ice Monster

Overnight stay: Takamiya Miyamaso

Tips for Day 1
– I stayed at the inn in the old hot spring resort area, farthest away from the ropeway station. It was a 15-minute walk, but there were ups and downs on icy walkway that were hard for me.
– The uphill ropeway got crowded with groups at around 6:00 p.m. as they came to see ice monster lighting up. When the lights were lit up after the sunset, it can be enjoyable regardless of the weather.

Day 2

Zao Onsen Bus Terminal 1020 (bus) >> Yamagata Station 1105
Yamagata 1246 (Tsubasa 133) >> Shinjo 1331

Overnight stay: Hijiori Onsen Maruya

Tips for the 2nd day
– The inn offered a free transportation from/to Shinjyo Station, but there was also public bus from Shinjo Station to Hijiori Onsen.

Day 3

Shinjo 1117 (Tsubasa 140) >> Omiya 1423
Omiya >> Yokohama

Times listed are the timetable at the time of visit.

Day 1

Tokyo Haneda (ANA375) 1035 >> Monbetsu 1220
Monbetsu Airport (free shuttle bus) 1235 >> Okhotsk Garinko Tower 1243

– 1330 Garinko (daytime cruise)
– 1615 Garinko (sunset cruise)

Okhotsk Garinko Tower 1800 (bus) >> Monbetsu Bus Terminal 1815

Overnight stay: Hotel Okhotsk Palace

Dinner: Seafood Restaurant Rin

Tips for Day 1
– There was a bus service available between Monbetsu City and Okhotsk Garinko Tower, conveniently operated according to the schedule of the Garinko.
– I initially thought it was too much but I took the Garinko three times during this trip. However, I saw a person who boarded the ship four times in 2 days.
– Since it was not crowded, I was able to join the seal feeding. When I gave Okhotsk Atka mackerel to the seals, they swallowed it down right away. I slowly ate Okhotsk Atka mackerel using chopsticks for dinner, I had a beer with me. Good to be a human.

Day 2

Monbetsu Bus Terminal 0515 (bus) >> Okhotsk Garinko Tower 0530

– 0600 Garinko Sunrise

0720 Okhotsk Garinko Tower (bus) >> Monbetsu Bus Terminal 0735

Breakfast: Dezuka Suisan

Okhotsk Palace Hotel 0950 (East Hokkaido Express Bus) >> Abashiri Aurora Terminal 1245

– 1230 Aurora

– Ryuhyo Glass Museum

Dinner: Naka Sushi

Abashiri Bus Terminal (Airport Bus) >> Memanbetsu Airport
Memanbetsu 1905 (ANA 4780/AirDo) >> Haneda 2100

Tips for Day 2

– I ate freshly fried fish paste at Dezuka Suisan at Monbetsu Port for breakfast. I was able to resist the urge to have a beer in the morning. Great.
– The bus arrived at Abashiri early, so I changed the Aurora booking at the port, one voyage earlier than original reservation.
– From the Aurora, I was able to see white-tailed eagles. The sound of the ship made them flew away, but I managed to take photograph.
– I had some extra time, I visited Ryuhyo Glass Museum, where I found while onboard the icebreaker. They sold nice glass crafts and had a nice cafe facing the port.
– Using my All Nippon Airways frequent flyer miles, I boarded an AirDo operated flight for the first time.

Memories of Icebreaker

There were icebreakers in Monbetsu and Abashiri to see drift ice, it was hard to decide which one would be better. This time, I decided to visit Monbetsu mainly.

Geographically, Monbetsu is closer to Amur River as it is located in the northern part of Hokkaido, which seems to have a higher chance of encountering drift ice. On the other hand, Abashiri extends further to the east in Hokkaido. Since there are factors such as wind direction, it is indeed difficult to say which is better. According to data I saw somewhere, Abashiri has more drift ice observations from land (?)

There were not much differences in terms of experience onboard the ships. Two ships offer about one-hour voyage and take 15 to 20 minutes each way between port and drift ice area. Hence, it has a little more than 20 minutes to cruise around the drift ice.

Monbetsu has fewer tourists and has smaller ships. It also has both sunrise and sunset cruses. As the town is located on the ease coast of Hokkaido, sunrise cruse is impressive. On the other hand, Abashiri cruse overlooks Shiretoko mountains on a clear day as 1st photo of this page.

So… very hard to say which one is better.