Wakkanai/Rishiri/Rebun Traveling around Japan’s northernmost islands: How to discover Rishiri Island and Rebun Island on foot!

Himenuma Pond is a small body of water, about one kilometer in circumference. Surrounded by forest, this quiet pond exudes a sense of mystery. When the weather is nice, the inverted reflection of Mt. Rishiri-Fuji on the surface of the pond is absolutely magnificent! If you want to photograph the reflecting mountain on the pond, we recommend you do so in the morning, when there is no backlight from the sun. Around the edge of the pond there is also a walking path, so you can enjoy some trekking while you are here.

Otatomari Pond is the largest pond on Rishiri Island. Here, as at Himenuma Pond, you can enjoy a beautiful view of Mt. Rishiri-Fuji. And the beauty of the pond is enhanced by the virgin forest of Sakhalin spruce trees surrounding the pond. On the park grounds at the pond, there are shops where you can enjoy fresh seafood and local soft-serve.

This is a new sightseeing spot, and it was created in collaboration with Ishiya Co., Ltd., the confectionery company that manufactures the well-known Shiroi Koibito cookies. Here you can enjoy a view that is almost identical to the scenery shown on Shiroi Koibito’s famous package! At this lookout point, you can see Mt. Rishiri-Fuji, Otatomari Pond, the Numaura coast, and Hokkaido itself all from a single spot. If you photograph yourself proposing marriage to someone here and take the photo to the Rishirifuji-cho Tourism Association, you can receive a “proposal certificate” officially recognized by Ishiya Co. The certificate makes a wonderful lifelong keepsake, so you might want to propose to someone while you are here.

Cape Senhoshi Park is situated on the southernmost tip of Rishiri Island. The coast here is lined with unusually shaped rocks that were formed when lava flowed into the sea. At the park, there is an area for viewing the naturally rocky shore, and a portion of this area is dedicated as a pool for seals. Here, from May through the end of September, you can have the opportunity to feed the cute spotted seals. The pool is a unique place, where you can see seals floating on their backs and poking their heads out of the water to look around.

Note: Due to COVID-19, feeding the seals might not be possible.

This is a popular juice shop located near Cape Kutsugata. The store has been selling Milpis, a homemade lactic-acid drink, for more than half a century. This rare beverage is available only on Rishiri Island. Besides Milpis, the store sells a large number of other products: in addition to an additive-free juice made from ingredients found on Rishiri Island, the store also sells Rishiri kombu kelp, persimmon vinegar, hardy kiwis, and more.

On Rebun Island, where alpine flora bloom in profusion, you might really enjoy some trekking! There are a variety of different trekking courses on the island, but the most popular course is the Momoiwa Lookout Point Course. This course starts at Kafuka Port Ferry Terminal and extends roughly seven kilometers to Shiretoko, and the trek takes about 3.0–3.5 hours. The course features quite a few scenic spots, and along the way, you can see almost every type of flower that blooms on Rebun Island. From Momoiwa Lookout Point there is a view of unusually shaped rocks as well as Nekoiwa rock, Momo-dai Neko-dai, and more. Although the route ends at Shiretoko, if you have some extra time you should consider walking on a little further to Kitano Canary Park. The park has a view of Rishiri Island that is quite beautiful, so beautiful that a movie was filmed here.

Another trekking course that we recommend on Rebun Island is the Cape Tour Course. Starting at Cape Sukoton, at the north tip of the island, the course weaves its way through Cape Gorota and Cape Sukai, and then passes through an area covered with large-flowered Rebun cypripedium before ending up at Hamanaka. The course is about 13 kilometers long, and the trek takes about five hours. At Cape Sukai you can see the clearest seawater that can be found at Rebun Island. The large-flowered Rebun cypripedium, which only blooms from late May through mid-June, is indigenous to Rebun Island, and this island is the only place in the world where you can see this rare flower.

If you visit Rebun Island, there is one thing you will not want to miss out on: a bowl of rice topped with raw Ezo-Bafun sea urchin, which is served at Takechan Sushi. Among its other claims to fame, Rebun Island is the birthplace of the sea-urchin rice bowl. Sea urchins that have grown up feeding on the Rishiri kombu kelp found around Rebun Island, the finest kombu in Japan, are exceptionally sweet. Another popular dish at Takechan Sushi is an assortment of sea-urchin sushi that lets you taste and compare three different types of raw sea urchins. The restaurant has a menu in English, so even tourists from overseas will have no trouble figuring out what to order here.

If you are looking for a place on Rebun Island to take a bit of a break, we suggest Guesthouse Nonno. The guesthouse, which is available even for long stays, has a café on the first floor, and there you can treat yourself to some strongly aromatic coffee and delicious cakes. In the relaxed, stylish café, you can enjoy some unhurried, leisurely time on the island. Wi-Fi is also available at the café.