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Kushiro Shitsugen NP, Hokkaido
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One Ministry-listed winter canoe trip follows the Arekinai, a tributary of the Kushiro River. A guided route loops between this quiet branch and Lake Tōro, with about 60 minutes afloat in a 90-minute outing.
On cold mornings, moisture rising from the waterways around Tōro helps frost coat reeds and branches in white. From a canoe, the crystals can be close enough for a guide to brush a branch and set them fluttering down.
Some winter Kushiro River trips encounter hasu-no-ha, or “lotus-leaf,” ice: rounded floating plates with upturned edges. Seen at water level, the little disks look like miniature lily pads sliding by.
Winter paddlers in the Kushiro wetlands may spot Steller’s sea eagles and white-tailed eagles—two remarkable raptors named among the wildlife seen on Kushiro River canoe tours.
The quieter Arekinai route is known for kingfishers and crested kingfishers. Their sudden flashes of color make a lovely contrast to the white frost and winter-bare branches along the water.
Some winter itineraries pair a canoe trip with snowshoeing on completely frozen Lake Tōro. One day can take you from gliding through open water to leaving your own tracks across a snowy lake.
The canoe route meets Lake Tōro, a former lagoon more than 20 km inland and the largest lake in Kushiro Shitsugen. Its name comes from Ainu to-or, commonly explained as “the place at the lake.”
Long before winter canoe tours, Ainu communities lived along the Kushiro River and traveled its waterways in dugout canoes. Later, riverbank trading posts exchanged goods such as dried salmon and eagle tail feathers.
Pekanpe, edible water chestnuts gathered in the Shibecha area, were sun-dried and saved as winter food. Tōro’s former Pekanpe festival was also a kamuy-nomi—a prayer ceremony—not simply a harvest celebration.
A local outfitter’s winter-canoe idea came after its owner saw people walking on Okhotsk drift ice in dry suits and imagined safely bringing visitors onto winter river water. The first season attracted only a few groups.
