Lake Shikaribetsu Ice Lodge Stay was added to Your Favorites!
Daisetsuzan NP, Hokkaido
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The lodge stands about 80 m offshore, above a part of the lake 50 m deep. Even if it’s −30°C outside, the igloo blocks the wind; guests sleep in a cold-weather bag on an insulated bed.
Listen closely at night: the frozen lake can creak as its ice expands and contracts with temperature. The lodge sits on roughly 40–50 cm of ice, and those shifting sounds can be heard inside the igloo.
Each winter, Kotan builders hand-make more than 10,000 blocks by mixing lake snow with lake water, then cut clear lake ice for decoration. The Ice Lodge is part of this village built from its frozen landscape.
The Kotan began as winter fun: in 1980, 3 young people started building igloos on the frozen lake. In 1982, Shikaoi Town and a lakeside hotel helped open the first official village—with just 3 igloos. “Kotan” is an Ainu word for “village.”
Since 2000, the Kotan has recruited volunteers; a 2021 profile reported about 35 helpers from Japan and abroad each year. Some first came as visitors, returned to help, and even settled in Shikaoi.
The lodge belongs to a village made from snow and ice, not permanent building materials. When the season ends, Kotan’s structures melt back into the lake—and the village is built anew the next winter.
