Hakkoda Mountains

Hakkoda is a cluster of volcanic peaks rising to 1,585 metres immediately south of Aomori, and it takes some of the heaviest snowfall in the world - the moist air off the Sea of Japan hits these slopes first. In February the combination of supercooled fog and wind coats the Maries fir on the upper slopes in rime ice until the trees become juhyo, thick white columns that people call snow monsters, and a ropeway runs up into them. In the warmer months the same slopes carry marshland boardwalks across the Kenashitai plateau, with alpine plants and pools, and one of the earliest autumn colour displays in Honshu in early October. Sukayu Onsen at the foot of the mountains has a large mixed cypress bath known as the thousand-person bath and is one of the country's designated hot spring health resorts.

What you actually see

• Juhyo - firs coated in rime ice into standing white columns in February.
• The ropeway - running up into the rimed forest and onto the plateau.
• Marsh boardwalks - alpine pools and plants across Kenashitai in summer.
• Sukayu Onsen - a large mixed cypress bath at the foot of the mountains.

When to go

February for the rime; June to October for the marshes and colour. A day.

Honest expectations

The ropeway closes in high wind, which is common in winter. Rime forms only in the right conditions and some years are poor. Backcountry here is genuinely dangerous - a 1902 winter march across these slopes ended in the deadliest mountaineering disaster recorded in Japan. Sukayu's main bath is mixed, with limited women-only hours.

Nearby

Aomori is north; Lake Towada is south-east.