Hokkaido - visit or not to visit

Kon'nichiwa! My family of 3 will finally get to visit Japan again! Hooray! We surely miss Japan a lot during these 3 pandemic years. We would like to know if Hokkaido is worth visiting in June 2023. We have watched some videos on Youtube and have not found anything very impressive in Hokkaido in June. Kindly advise if we should go to Hokkaido or save the time to visit other places instead. Arigatōgozaimashita.

It's hard to advise, knowing nothing at all about your family and what interests you. Hokkaido in June has plenty to offer those who enjoy outdoor activities but if you're more interested in cultural things or cities etc, then there are certainly better places in Japan and if you like a bit of both, somewhere like Nagano might suit.

There is actually a lot to do in Hokkaido. In the Niseko area there is hiking, rafting, mountain biking, and horseback riding. If you rent a car, the roads are easier to drive than those on Honshu. Hokkaido offers clean air, comfortable weather (in the summer), great food, and fewer insects.

I have lived in Tokyo for many years, and my family and I love to visit Hokkaido in the summer for its climate and scenery, and in the winter for the skiing.

Hokkaido in June
Yosakoi Soran can be seen.
https://www.yosakoi-soran.jp/
Other information
https://hokkaido-labo.com/area/all/hokkaido-june
If it's the second half, you might be able to see lavender in Furano.
July is the best season for lavender, so it is recommended.

The Blue Pond is said to be the clearest and most beautiful cobalt blue from mid-May to late June.
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6832.html
In Hokkaido, the weather is fine in June with little rain. (the rainy season is short)
Conversely, it rains in other areas.
However, there are few typhoons, so it is possible to go out.
There are fewer tourists in Hokkaido in June than in summer.

Hokkaido is a unique place in Japan where the climate is very much like Europe. Locals think it's a huge treat to be in Hokkaido in June, because there is no "tsuyu" rainy season as there is in other parts of Japan. You'd be able to enjoy a pleasant European early-summer climate instead. Perhaps you are from Europe.

Yasokoi soran festival which i have seen twice in Sapporo is the most upbeat, fun event maybe in the world. So, aside from that, and a great international food festival held at Hokkaido University and I think a shrine festival, not much doing in June!?! I am even considering going again next year in June. there is nothing quite like it

Thanks to all who have replied. My family is not into outdoor sports and we don't care much about food as we are vegetarians. We prefer places with history and culture (read: Kyoto). From the videos we have watched on Youtube, we feel that there is little history and culture to see in Hokkaido. Hokkaido is the only place in Japan that we have not visited. We are not sure if will we miss out much if we don't go there. Again, thank you very much for replying. Stay safe and healthy.

Little culture or history? Hokkaido is the home of the Ainu people, who are Indigenous to Japan. Maybe your idea of history is a cliche that fits better on your instagram feed. I works have thought the nature of Hokkaido would suit animal lovers but hey, stick to the city and leave it for the rest of us.

It is shocking how RUDE you are! You can hide behind a fake identity. In case you don't realize it, this reflects badly on your upbringing and you as a person. Well, there is no point in talking to such a person.

I wouldn't assume that the OP's idea of history is a cliche, but I do have to admit that the first thing that came to my mind was the most eye-opening museum I had ever visited as a Japanese Kanto resident, and that was the tiny Ainu museum in, I think it was, Hakodate.

It's very unfortunate that we could hardly see Ainu-related exhibits unless we travel to Hokkaido. And while I understand that most tourists, foreign and local, are fascinated by the lush culture of Kyoto, a lot of the country's history is based on things such as the ancient gods of Kyushu, Okayama and Ise, the town-making of Edo and the Hokkaido pioneering. In particular, the Ainu may have been discriminated, but they are also respected for their unique craftwork, music and philosophy.

As for food, among the Japanese, Hokkaido is indeed known for its veges. Other than the potatoes and corn that the prefecture is always so popular for, June is the best season for green asparagus, Yubari melon and watermelons.

If you're into culture and less about outdoors, perhaps you'd have more fun in cities and ports such as Hakodate and Sapporo. Then, if you become interested in certain topics, you may want to do day trips to the outskirts. The following videos are just for your reference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2PTpClNs7E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEvKC9yIjbs

@Lafleaur, I'm surprised you're not interested in food at all. I'm vegetarian also and while I'm not interested in most of the food people recommend on this forum, I'm still interested in food. It's always really neat when I can find more traditional Japanese snacks that are vegetarian.

I mostly agree with @Uco. I think Hakodate does have some interesting historical sights and I am sure there are even more that I've not personally discovered during my short visit. However, at least in '09, I felt like Hakodate had very limited vegetarian options. Now that was clearly a long time ago, and in general, most places in Japan have a lot more than they did back then, but it can be a bummer. I love veggies, but if all the veggies are cooked with meat, it's hard to eat them. I've heard Hokkaido has great ice cream, cheese, and butter if you eat dairy. A place near where I live recently opened up claiming it imports its milk from Hokkaido to make ice cream.

While going a bit off topic, I would highly recommend you visit Nagano for culture and because Oyaki their traditional snack food is delicious and vegan (but not gluten-free.) We went in June 2018 (along with several other times, but I wanted to highlight that we specifically went in June) I keep regretting that we skip Togakushi jinja. Matsumoto is also adorable and when we went it had a great vegan restaurant.

Good luck!

having gone to Hokkaido 21 straight years, living in the United States, I have surveyed many Japanese Nationals, most of whom admit they have never been to Hokkaido. we must respect all those who post and ask questions. we should never assume that what is good for us personally should apply to others. if someone is taking only one trip to Japan and that will be it, Hokkaido is only considered because of weather (too hot in summer or skiing, hiking, etc. ). it is a relatively young, barren island that offers the nature atmosphere.

we feel that there is little history and culture to see in Hokkaido
If that is your approach, then you obviously have not done much real research (and YouTube wouldn't be a good source.) On that basis, you could say Japan doesn't have much history and culture, which is just painfully wrong.
I am in Sapporo right now and my day will be filled with showing my guests some of the rich history in the nearby areas today and tomorrow, followed up by further important history for our visit to Hakodate. Due to limited time, we only have a week here, but could easily spend more time just on history and culture without including out-door activities.

We had formed much the same view, from afar, that Hokkaido was more of a winter destination than a summer one. And to others, yes the Edo period is more interesting than Ainu just as people travelling to Europe focus more on Roman or Greek than Visigoth. And fields of Lavender are fine, but not so unique. For those of us with ready access to countryside, that aspect would not be a strong drawcard for travel.

We were considering flying to Sapporo on a later trip, outside of winter, then deciding how quickly to travel overland back toward Tokyo. We don’t prebook except the ‘next’ night.

I wonder how Sapporo and Hakodate compare with Fukuoka and Nagasaki?

@Lafleaur: As repeat visitors, what 'other' places had you considered would be on your itinerary as alternatives?

@JapanCustomTours: Perhaps you could expand, rather than generalise, and we may come to see things differently.

Here is an update of restaurants in Hokkaido that could suit vegetarians and vegans.
https://www.google.com/search?q=vegetarian+in+hokkaido&rlz=1C1SQJL_jaJ...

I should also add that Hokkaido cuisine was always about enjoying the material as is. Japanese tourists most often prefer to eat Hokkaido goods without too much stewing or sauces. Instead, they would look for places such as izakaya where food would be grilled on a pan or a stick. This would make it easier to request only vegetables.

Also, as someone who has hosted Indian vegans, I can say that you could often have vegetarian / vegan / allergen-free dishes prepared by making reservations and requesting the chef ahead of time.

@Uco, sure, sometimes restaurants/ryokans are willing to work with you if you have someone fluent who can call up and discuss dietary restrictions ahead of time. Sometimes you can even get positive results emailing a ryokan ahead of time.

But these involve either having someone completely fluent to help you out which most tourists do not have or wanting to stay in a ryokan enough to hope they will accommodate you. (And sometimes they just won't, it really varies.)

Using Google search results sometimes works... Google uses an algorithm to find things which doesn't actually understand the typed words so you can get inaccurate results pretty easily. Just last night I was trying to see how long it would take to get from Tokyo Station to Ononiimachi Station (in Fukushima) but Google kept insisting I wanted to go to Onomichi Station (in Hiroshima.) I did eventually use Jourdan to get the correct information. Using the Google search results you gave, one was a tour company that hasn't opened yet and talks about fruit picking like it is a meal option. I know Japanese fruit picking is different than in the US and I certainly think Japanese fruit is delicious and fruit picking can be fun. But all you can eat pick your own strawberries for 30 minutes is... not really a great meal. (substitute grapes, cherries, melon, peaches, apples, mikan, etc.) It's definitely a healthy snack or light lunch, if you ate a huge breakfast and plan to eat a huge dinner, but it's not a full meal. And while peaches and apples are great, once you eat 2 or 3, you're just done eating them until later. I always imagined you are paying for the experience, not the value of the fruit you are picking because even with Japanese prices that is an awful lot of fruit you need to eat!

Izakayas can be smoky.

I've used Happy Cow on and off. It doesn't list everywhere and places it does list can look unfavorably on you if you are traveling with children. The place I found in Matsumoto was just lovely and child friendly to the max, Ain Soph Journey in Kyoto made me feel completely unwelcome even though my kid just sat at the table and read all during our meal. OP didn't say their family group ages, just that they are a family of 3. It is quite possible they are 2 adults and a child.

My personal hope is if tourism can continue to grow, more places will be willing to work with vegetarians, even those of us who don't have someone fluent to ask for consideration.

わたしは北海道に2回しか行ったことがないが、特に知床が大好きです。
6月から、知床のシーズンが始まる。
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6850.html
最初に行った時は、函館-札幌-層雲峡-摩周湖-阿寒湖（アイヌコタンがある）-知床-釧路に行った。大沼公園は電車で通った。
わたしは8月に行ったが、北海道の自然はどことも比較できないダイナミックさ（九州と四国を足したくらいの大きさ）がある。
2回目は、札幌と小樽に行った。
歴史という点では、昨年、北海道で世界遺産に選ばれた縄文遺跡群もある。行ったことがないので、面白いかわからないが。
青森の三内丸山遺跡は、わたしは興味を持った。
https://jomon-japan.jp/en/
札幌だと、ここも行ったことがないが、北海道開拓の村に興味がある。
https://www.kaitaku.or.jp/en/
函館の五稜郭は、新選組の土方歳三が戦った場所として知られている。
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinsengumi
函館山の裏側には、昔の要塞跡が残されているそうだ。
https://www.hakobura.jp/deep/2009/11/post-22.html
札幌の羊が丘は、「ボーイズビーアンビシャス」と言ったクラーク博士の像があることで知られている。
https://www.hitsujigaoka.jp/clark/?lang=en_US#googtrans(ja|en)
わたしは2年前くらいに厳格でないPescatarianになった。
だから、肉製品は食べない。（めったにないが、ポテトサラダの中に入っているハムを食べたことはある）
最近、スーパーの中には代替肉（大豆ミートなど）を売る店も現れた。たまに、大豆ハムやひよこ豆のパスタなどをイオンで買っている。
昔からあるのは、セブンスデー・アドベンチスト教会関連の三育フーズだ。
https://vegetus.jp/
お店に関しては、こちらも参考にしてください。
（情報が古い可能性もあるので、事前にGoogleマップでチェックしてください）
https://vegewel.com/ja/style/sapporo
https://vegewel.com/ja/prefstate/1
https://happy-quinoa.com/sapporo-restaurant/
https://chatsweets.jp/
https://rawfoodlohas.com/
https://harmony-garden.ocnk.net/phone/page/30
https://www.asombroso.jp/vegansweets
Hokkaido vegan
北海道　ビーガン
Hokkaido vegetarian
北海道　ベジタリアン
If you search with the keyword, you may find more.

Vegan（ビーガン） is also written as vegan（ヴィーガン）, so it would be a good idea to search for 北海道　ヴィーガン.
restaurant=レストラン
shop or store=ショップまたは店
Cafe=カフェ

By the way, I am affected by natural hygiene, so my breakfast consists of fruits (apples, bananas, pineapples, persimmons, pears, etc.), lukewarm water, and aojiru（青汁） (I recently added moringa （モリンガ）powder to the water).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aojiru
I'm currently taking moringa powder from Seikatsu-no-ki(生活の木,Tree of Life), which is a little spicy.
https://onlineshop.treeoflife.co.jp/ec/pro/disp/1/024603090
This is my favorite aojiru, but there are few stores that sell it.
https://jp.sunstar.com/health-food/kenkodojo/product_008.html
You can buy fresh vegetables at JA's direct sales store.
(You need to wash and cut them yourself)
https://ja-dosanko.jp/store/index.php
Recently, even convenience stores sell cut fruits.
Seicomart（セイコーマート） is famous in Hokkaido.
https://www.seicomart.co.jp/index.html