Welcome to Travel Hokkaido! This site is run by James and Nicole, and supported by our chow chow, Papi!

We first visited Japan in 2024 and fell in love with the country, culture, food, people and landscapes. Fast forward to 2025 and we worked hard towards starting a new life in Japan, learning the language, applying for a visa and picking a location to live in. We spent a further month in Japan in October 2025 to get a further taste for the country, look at places to live, and how we could imagine our life fitting into place here.

As the saying goes, the rest is history.

All signs pointed to Japan during this time, and at the end of December 2025, we packed everything up, sold our house and our belongings, leaving the UK for Japan with 4 suitcases to our name in January 2026. What a way to start a new year?

It felt unbelievably liberating, and the three of us made the long journey from Plymouth, UK to our new home in Sapporo in Hokkaido.

Who better to be your gateway to Hokkaido than us who are living here, exploring and finding off the beaten track hidden gems that you can’t find anywhere else on the internet?

Before our first visit to Hokkaido, we struggled to find specific pieces of information for certain areas, such as if there were any private onsens in the Sapporo area. It turned out there were, but no one was talking about them online! We found there was also a huge focus on places such as Niseko, but not so much on the rural parts of Hokkaido, and less generic places to eat at and explore. In our efforts to boost tourism in the parts of Hokkaido that aren’t as popular, we promise to share the slower, local and less touristy side to this northern part of Japan that you only experience when you actually live here.

So, what makes our travel site different? Every article you read on places we have visited, recommended or eaten at, they are all based on our actual real visits and experiences in the places, not rewritten content from across the internet. In an age of rising AI, the human nuance of real trips is what can help you to plan real, effortless and enjoyable trips to Hokkaido.

Most importantly, we will also be sharing content for all of the seasons, which is especially important in Hokkaido, and in Sapporo which is the snowiest metropolitan in the entire world. What you can experience here in the autumn, is completely different to what is possible in the height of winter.

Our detailed itineraries will include local food spots, not just tourist lists, honest travel times, a mix of popular and off the beaten path places worth exploring, and our honest opinions of them.

Travel Hokkaido is your gateway to Hokkaido, we will be covering all of the best places to visit in this prefecture, the best things to do in Sapporo and day trips from the area, Hokkaido foods you can only get here, all actually explored, tried and tested by a local in Hokkaido. Seasonal advice (winter snow, summer flowers, autumn colours) and transport tips for getting around Hokkaido. We’ll be sharing more about our new life here in Japan, along with stories from locals in the area.

Since moving to Sapporo, we have settled in and been able to explore so many beautiful places across Hokkaido, throughout the seasons. Each week we explore somewhere new in Hokkaido so we can bring new content to the site, everything that has been experienced directly by us.

We experience it first, test things out and hunt out the local, hidden gems so you don’t have to. Travel Hokkaido is designed to make your trip to Hokkaido, easier, smoother and more enjoyable. Everything is regularly updated so you can ensure that you have the most up to date information on the areas for your next trip.

We feel incredibly privileged to be living this new life here in Japan, and we can’t wait to keep sharing everything Hokkaido has to offer with you. If you’re planning a trip to Hokkaido, we hope this site helps you experience more than just the highlights.

James, Nicole & Papi