Adventure Travel
Through Lens and Line: Fly Fishing in Hokkaido
December 10, 2023
Six of Japan’s 34 national parks reside in the northernmost main island, Hokkaidō. Shiretoko, the most remote and biodiverse, is located on a peninsula protruding out of the northeast like a sword slicing the Sea of Okhotsk from the Nemuro Strait. The Ainu, an Indigenous people who have lived here since time immemorial, named it the “End of the Earth,” which accurately describes a landscape ravaged by unrelenting winds, low temperatures, and sea fog. Volcanoes form the spine of the peninsula, where drift ice and waves chip into coastal cliffs of solidified lava flow formed from eruptions hundreds of thousands of years ago.
At the Shiretoko World Heritage Conservation Center, where I searched for a cancellation stamp similar to what my parents and I had finished collecting in the United States, I read, “There are no roads or properly developed paths here. The weather and sea conditions are highly unpredictable, and brown bears can be found in large numbers. For these reasons, this area is a very dangerous place.” A smile spread across my face. It’s why fly fishing in Hokkaido made my bucket list. As my time on earth ticks by, I like to find purpose in places like this.
