Journey to the East are proud to announce the latest in our popular series of food tours, the 2020 Food Tour of Hokkaido. The island of Hokkaido is the northernmost of Japan’s four main islands and is home to a wide range of agriculture and seafood. The 2020 Food Tour of Hokkaido takes full advantage of all that Hokkaido has to offer. Culinary delights include everything from street food and Sapporo’s famous ramen, right through to Michelin starred restaurants and traditional kaiseki multi-course cuisine.
Journey to the East takes you right to the producers so you can fully appreciate the source of some of the amazing food Japan has to offer. The tour visits a small fishing village renowned for scallops where we cook with the fishermen’s wives, and we take a small boat ride to see konbu (kelp) used to make dashi soup stock, the base for many Japanese dishes. The tour also visits a dairy farm and we sample some amazing ice cream and also a tofu restaurant to see how this essential Japanese food is made.
A food tour would not be complete without sampling some local beverages! The tour includes a visit to a Nikka Whisky Distillery, a local organic winery, and we learn about the traditional Japanese drink, sake, from a local expert.
Explore Hokkaido
Hokkaido has so much to offer and the 2020 Food Tour of Hokaido is about more than just savouring the food and drink. Experience a stay at a traditional Japanese ryokan with onsen in Noboribetsu and explore the Jigokudani (Hell Valley) Nature Walk. Enjoy the picturesque Onuma Park and the historic port city of Hakodate. Take a gentle walk through a beech forest in the small town of Kuromatsunai and visit the picturesque canal town of Otaru.
Although Hokkaido is known for its abundant snow, great skiing, and freezing winters, our food tour travels during the pleasant summer month of June. On average, the temperatures range from approximately 12°C (54°F) overnight to a maximum of approximately 25°C (77°F) during the day.
The Journey to the East team has spent many months and countless hours researching, exploring, and preparing this amazing itinerary. If you are a gourmet traveller, a foodie, a gastronome, or you are looking to explore Hokkaido in a unique way via your taste buds then the 2020 Food Tour of Hokkaido is one not to be missed!
Please feel free to explore this tour in more detail on the Food Tour of Hokkaido page. If you wish to explore Japanese cuisine in depth while you travel please read about our other popular Food Tours of Japan.