Shiretoko
UNESCO World Heritage Site: Shiretoko (2005); Within Shiretoko National Park · Shari, Hokkaido
A long, mountainous peninsula at the north-eastern tip of Hokkaido, reaching into the Sea of Okhotsk, listed by UNESCO in 2005 for the way sea and land feed each other: drift ice brings rich plankton, fish and salmon swim upriver, and bears, foxes, deer and eagles live off them. Its name comes from the Ainu for the end of the earth. The tip has no road at all; visitors stay around Utoro on the west coast and Rausu on the east, linked by the Shiretoko Pass road over the mountains, which is closed in winter. Shiretoko has one of the densest brown bear populations in the world, and the rules exist because of them. The Shiretoko Five Lakes can be seen from a free elevated boardwalk, while the forest loop to all five has seasonal rules, including guided walks only when bears are most active. Boats from Utoro run along cliffs where waterfalls drop into the sea and bears walk the shore, and Rausu has whale and bear boats. In February and March the coast freezes with drift ice for ice walks, and Steller's sea eagles gather off Rausu. You need a car.
Utoro Higashi, Shari-cho, Shari, Hokkaido, 099-4354, Japan
NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The typical pattern: the peninsula has no gates, but the Shiretoko Pass road is closed from about early November to late April and in bad weather. The Five Lakes Field House and boardwalk are open roughly late April to late November during daylight, with the ground loop's rules and hours changing by season and closing when bears are active. Boats run roughly late April to October from Utoro and some all year from Rausu, and are cancelled in rough seas. Drift ice walks run February to March. Visitor centres close some days in winter. Confirm current times before relying on them.