Our next stop is Akan National Park. We started from Akanchō Kamiakan towards Akan National Park, heading to Lake Akan – a drive of about 40 minutes. To reach the lake, we had to cross a pass that took us to a higher elevation. There, we found not only a beautiful landscape but also icy roads that we had to navigate.

Gestern Abend sind wir in Kushiro, einer Hafenstadt an der Ostküste Hokkaidos, gelandet. Nach unserer Ankunft fuhren wir gleich weiter zu unserer ersten Unterkunft. Diese liegt in der Nähe von unseren a…

I've been back in Japan for a week now – my second home, you might say, given how often I'm here every year. I always feel very comfortable here, far from the elbow mentality, as I see it, in Germany.

The cloud hat at Mount Fuji is a phenomenal event that I was able to document photographically on my last trip there. Although I had wished to experience this event beforehand, it is hard to predict when it will actually occur.

In the third part of my Wild Japan travel report, I focus on the EZO Brown Bear and how best to photograph this apex predator on Hokkaido. Of course, our plan for this part of the journey was to capture this giant of the wilderness in photos.

The Blakiston's Fish Owl (Bubo blakistoni) is listed as Endangered on the Red List. In Japan, only about 140 breeding pairs remain, and the global population is estimated at a few thousand.

Finally, after almost three years of COVID-19 restrictions, it was possible for me to travel to Japan again this year. Over the past 10 years, I have had the opportunity to explore the country from Tokyo to the southernmost point.

The final leg of my Wild Japan winter trip in Hokkaido. You can read about the experiences and see the photos in the last two parts of my live blog series.

For the next two weeks, I will be sharing updates from my Wild Japan winter trip in Hokkaido. In the first part of my live travel blog, I shared a few smaller but beautiful urban nature experiences.

In the next 5 weeks, I will document sections of my Wild Japan trip in my little live blog. Feel free to join me 😀

The Izu Peninsula captivates visitors with its diverse nature, both underwater and on land. It offers a wide variety of natural formations and a wealth of activities for nature lovers. The peninsula is not only famous for its numerous onsens, Japan’s renowned hot springs, but also for its impressive flora and fauna, ranging from mixed forests to exotic bird species.

The Formation of the Izu Peninsula: A 20 Million Year Journey
About 20 million years ago the Izu Peninsula, then a collection of underwater volcanoes, lay on the floor of the Pacific Ocean. In addition to volcanic activity, tectonic shifts played a crucial role over the centuries in shaping the present-day Izu Peninsula.