Winter in Hokkaido

Some photographers stay away from cold landscapes such as winter in Hokkaido and remain in warmer areas to do birding photography or landscape photography.  The Japan Dreamscapes Photography Tour Leaders see this as limiting.  Hokkaido Tours are filled with beauty and spectacular wildlife photography and landscapes all year-round, but the winter makes the photo ops all the more spectacular!  Steller’s Sea Eagles, Blakiston’s Fish Owls, Whooper Swan, and Red-Crowned Cranes are all part of Hokkaido in winter birding possibilities.  Photo tours also provide opportunities for non-airborne wildlife such as Ezo Foxes, Sika Deer, and perhaps even the Eurasian Red Squirrel will even make an appearance.

The landscapes that the wildlife call home also provide ample shutter chances.  Due to the low temperatures in Hokkaido and the glistening snow, you have the opportunity to photograph what is commonly called ‘diamond dust’, when the light catches the shimmer of the crystalline snow, you will have pictures that shine with the magic that only a Japanese winter can provide, but the natural phenomena do not end there.  ‘Sun pillars’ and ‘light pillars' can also be seen when the ice crystals drift in the atmosphere above the frozen plains of Hokkaido.  A final treat are the ‘snow rollers’, when chunks of snow are blown along the ground by the wind, etching a message into the pristine snow for your to commemorate with your camera.  JDS is waiting for you to book your tour and join us on the tour of a lifetime!