"That's the Weather's Fault, Not the Sight's": Japanese Viewers Push Back on Hokkaido's "12 Disappointing Places" List

What Japanese visitors said — picked from the top 200 of 276 comments

• The Sapporo Clock Tower is about seeing the inside, that's the real point. Also, when you think that modern Hokkaido agriculture got its start inside that small building, it hits different.

  札幌市時計台は中見るのが本番だから。あと、あの小さい建物から北海道近代農業がはじまったと考えると、色々感慨深い

  — @東とうもんMost liked112 likes

• Cape Soya is a place where what gets you isn't the view, it's the feeling of standing at Japan's northernmost point right now.

  宗谷岬は景色よりも今自分が最北端にいる事に感激する場所です。

  — @Ukyo_the_third97 likes

• In 2019 I loaded a tent, hiking gear and a road bike into my car and lived out of it around Hokkaido for about three weeks, and I had zero disappointing moments, everything was good. Though for anything tied to nature, depending on the weather you might not get to see it the way you expected. That's just nature.

  2019年に車にテントと登山道具とロードバイクを積んで、3週間ほど北海道でキャンプ生活をしていましたが、がっかりポイントは全くなく、全て良かったです。ただ自然に関わる部分は、天候によっては期待通りの物が見れない場合もあるでしょうね。それが自然ですから。

  — @國定伸圭70 likes

• I've been driving up from Shizuoka every year for 15 years now and camping out of my car around Hokkaido for about 10 days. I don't find it disappointing the way people here are saying, if anything I try to enjoy it. You can drive up to Mt Hakodate in the middle of the night. Cape Soya and Cape Erimo are good because the wind blows there, rain has its own atmosphere too, you should enjoy it more. Taushubetsu Bridge, I think it's better seen as a piece of heritage.

  私はもう15年毎年静岡から北海道で車中泊を10日ほど楽しんでます。皆さんが言われるようにがっかりするようには思わないし、むしろ楽しむようにしています。函館山は夜中に行けば車で入れます。宗谷と襟裳は風が吹くからいいのだし、雨は雨で情緒のいいものだし、もっと楽しんだらいいのに。タウシュベツ橋梁は遺産としてみてもらったほうがいいと思います。

  — @itotyan-n8l68 likes

• If you want to see Lake Mashu, go to the back (ura) side.

  摩周湖見るなら裏摩周。

  — @yone-j1l45 likes

• There's a free lookout at Lake Mashu too. Not telling you where, go and find out.

  摩周湖は無料の展望台も有る 教えないよ　行けばわかるから

  — @hagogehidebu691332 likes

• I'm from Aichi and I love Lake Mashu so much I go about twice a year. When it's too foggy to see, I just call it 'the pure white lake of fog' to myself, that's how much it's just fog sometimes. Also, autumn into early winter has less fog (though it still happens). And no, seeing it clear on your first visit does not mean you'll get married soon, that superstition means nothing. Mine was the 'pure white lake of fog' the first time I went, and I still haven't gotten married.

  私は摩周湖大好きで年に2回ぐらいは行く愛知県人です。私は濃霧で見えない摩周湖のことを「霧の真っ白湖」と勝手に言ってます。それぐらい霧しか見えません。 なお秋から冬の方が霧が少ないです(出る時もあります)。なお、初めて見た時晴れていると晩婚というのは全く当てになりません。私が最初に行った時は「霧の真っ白湖」だったのに……………未だ結婚出来ず🎉

  — @masamichifujie542931 likes

• The explanation of Hokkaido University's poplar avenue is wrong. (I'm an elderly alumna of Hokkaido University and I'll correct it below.) Over 10 trees came down in a 1959 typhoon and the area was closed off, and new saplings were planted. That's the 2nd generation, and when I was a student those 2nd-generation trees were still small and not much to look at, and the area stayed closed, though tourists would sometimes ask me on campus, 'Where's the poplar avenue?' I'd point the way but tell them it was closed off. So the trees replanted after the 2004 typhoon are actually the 3rd generation, and while the closure has apparently been lifted now, it looks a bit shabbier than before. Also, the farmland spreads to the north and west, and it's only fields there, there were never cows or sheep on that side. The farmland to the south where you can see cows and sheep is a different avenue about 500 metres north of there, planted in 2000 and called the 'Heisei Poplar Avenue,' though that one isn't a footpath, there's a road running through the middle of it.

  北大のポプラ並木の説明は間違っています。（後期高齢者で北大卒業生の私が下記に訂正します。） 1959年の台風によって10本以上の倒木があって立ち入り禁止になり、新たな苗木が植えられました。 それが2代目で、私が学生の頃にはその2代目はまだ大きくはなっていなくて見栄えも悪く、更に立ち入り禁止のままでしたが、構内を歩いていると時々観光客から「ポプラ並木はどこですか？」と聞かれたりしました。　一応場所は教えましたが、立ち入り禁止になっていることも伝えました。 ですから2004年の台風の後で再び若木が植えられたのは3代目ということになり、現在は立ち入り禁止は解かれているそうですが、以前よりちょっとみすぼらしい感じです。 また、農場が広がっているのは北側と西側ですし、畑があるだけで以前は牛や羊はいません。 そして南側に農場が広がり牛や羊を見ることが出来るのはそこから500m程の北側に新たに2000年に植樹された「平成ポプラ並木」と称される並木です。　ただ、そこは遊歩道ではなく真ん中が車道になっています。

  — @Fミレーヌ34 likes

• Hokkaido, I feel like most of its sights are less about the sight itself and more that just getting there is hard.

  北海道は、そこに行くまでが大変な観光地がほとんどな気が

  — @homarejumo213423 likes

• I live in Hokkaido, and which places are worth seeing changes with the season 😂

  北海道住んでるけど季節によって観る所変わる😂

  — @京藤タダシ38 likes

• It's a bit galling to get dissed for not researching enough, but credit where it's due, the video did correctly describe Japan's northernmost point.

  リサーチ不足を棚に上げてディスられるのも心外だが、 日本最北端について正しく言及していたのは高評価。

  — @aeg_ok449231 likes

• I live in eastern Hokkaido, and I've never once seen Lake Mashu covered in fog, so I actually want to see it that way. But then, you don't deliberately go all the way out there on a day with bad weather. The ultimate contradiction.

  道東に住んでるんだけど、摩周湖に霧がかかってるのを見たことないから見たいのよね。 でも、わざわざ天気悪いときにそんなとこまで行かないという究極の矛盾。

  — @findertomo39611 likes

• SaveSapporo Clock Tower↗札幌市時計台Chuo-ku, Sapporo

  The fix for "it's just a small building": go inside for the agricultural-history exhibits, which is the actual point (112 likes).

• SaveCape Soya↗宗谷岬Wakkanai, Hokkaido

  Japan's northernmost point by road. Commenters say what you're there for is the feeling of standing at that point, not a dramatic view (97 likes).

• SaveLake Mashu↗摩周湖Teshikaga, Hokkaido

  Famous for frequent fog. Commenters point to a free lookout on the lake's "back" (ura) side as the fix for a socked-in main viewpoint (45 and 32 likes).

• SaveMt Hakodate↗函館山Hakodate, Hokkaido

  Known for its night view. A 15-year regular visitor says you can drive up late at night when the ropeway isn't running, and rain has its own atmosphere rather than ruining the view (68 likes).

• SaveTaushubetsu River Bridge↗タウシュベツ川橋梁Kamishihoro, Hokkaido

  A submerging, resurfacing railway ruin best treated as a heritage site rather than a guaranteed photo, since its look changes with the water level (68 likes).

• SaveHokkaido University Poplar Avenue↗北海道大学 ポプラ並木Kita-ku, Sapporo

  A Hokkaido University alumna corrects the record in the comments: today's trees are a 3rd generation planted after storm damage, and the separate "Heisei Poplar Avenue" about 500 metres north is where the farm animals actually are.

Named in the source comments. Where a note gives a price, opening status or rule, we checked it against the linked source on the date shown — everything else is what the comments said. All of it can change; check the map listing before you go.

Is the Sapporo Clock Tower worth visiting?

Japanese commenters say the building looking small from outside is missing the point. The fix, repeated across the thread: pay to go inside, where the exhibits on early Hokkaido agriculture are the actual draw (112 likes), and remember the building sits on the original Sapporo Agricultural College grounds. One commenter who worked across the street says tourists regularly ask her where the 'real' clock tower is while standing in front of it.

Why is Lake Mashu so often covered in fog?

Frequent fog is normal for Lake Mashu, not bad luck. Commenters say autumn into early winter has the clearest odds, though fog can still roll in, and one who visits twice a year jokingly calls the foggy version 'the pure white lake of fog.' If the main overlook is socked in, 32 likes point to a free second lookout on the lake's 'back' (ura) side that most visitors never find.

What is Taushubetsu Bridge, and is it worth the trip?

Taushubetsu is a disused concrete railway bridge in Kamishihoro, Hokkaido, that partly submerges and resurfaces in Lake Nukabira depending on the water level, so its appearance changes by season. A 15-year regular visitor says it is better approached as a heritage site than a guaranteed photo, since conditions vary trip to trip (68 likes).

Why do so many Hokkaido sights get called overrated?

Japanese commenters mostly reject the premise, but the one complaint they concede is real: distance. Hokkaido is large and its famous sights are spread far apart, so a single bad-weather day, a long drive, or an unplanned visit is more likely to produce a letdown than the sight itself deserves (23 likes). Their advice: build weather-dependent backup plans and don't expect to see everything in one pass.