Ice Drifting in Abashiri 網走の流氷
A phenomenon that leaves no ice!
Each year, the Sea of Okhotsk, in the very north of Japan, is covered with ice from Siberia: this is the ryuhyô . A spectacular and magnificent event, visible from Abashiri and during icebreaker boat trips.
Icebreaker boat in Abashiri
Valentine Pélissier (Travel Angel Living Japan)
The ice forms at the mouth of the Amur River, which marks the border between Russia and China, then invades the Sea of Okhotsk and descends towards Japan, depending on the sea currents and the wind from the depressions. The ice grows in this sea to come aground and pile up on the coast. The amount of ice is different every year, just like the first day the ice comes in. The appearance of the ice often takes place from mid-January to the end of January and is visible until March. Before coming, find out about the Japan Coast Guard Ice Information Center website.
How to admire this phenomenon?
First of all, you have to come to Abashiri, in the very north of the big island in northern Japan, Hokkaido. In winter, you have to face very low temperatures. The good period is therefore from January to March , but it is nature that decides and you can very well come across a day when there is very little ice to admire, just a few floating patches. Just like seeing the sea covered in large blocks of ice, if by chance a storm has just brought everything back to shore!
Read : The snow monsters of Zaô Onsen
It's up to you to choose the best way to best appreciate this phenomenon:
The ice seen from the port of Abashiri
Valentine Pélissier (Travel Angel Living Japan)
- By boat
From the port of Abashiri, the icebreaker Aurora offers 4 to 5 outings each day, for an hour's ride (3,300 yen/25€ adult, 1,650 yen/12€ child from 6 to 12 years old). When the ice is strong, it's very impressive to feel the boat hitting against it, it's to make you lose your balance. You have a breathtaking view of the whole bay of Shiretoko . You will meet animals like the emperor pyrargue ( Haliaeetus pelagicus ), an ice eagle, the clione or sea butterfly (a kind of marine mollusc), seals and even red foxes from Hokkaidô who venture on the ice to hunt .
Access: 10 min by bus from JR Abashiri Station to Abashiri Port
- By train
This is an original way to appreciate the sea of ice, along the coast by the JR Senmô line. Aboard a small local train, or even better the special Ryûhuô Norokko train , the ride is pleasant. Well seated in the warmth of a panoramic car , with commentary in English, you drive along the beaches covered with snow and mixed ice. At 40km/h, with two round trips per day, the journey between Abashiri and Shiretoko-shari takes one hour. There is always a prolonged stop of a good quarter of an hour in the small station of Kitahama , where an observatory tower has been built which allows you to have an incredible view of the entire Shiretoko peninsula . It is above all the closest station to the Sea of Okhotsk, without however having access to it for security reasons.
- By helicopter
It is a solution for the most in a hurry, and the most fortunate. But it's worth it, if the conditions allow it: from the sky, the view is totally panoramic ! Everything is planned for this, take off from the heliport of the Abashiri market. Count 4,000 yen/€30 for a 3-minute flight, or 20,000 yen/€150 for 12 minutes.
The Okhotsk Ryûhyô Museum offers you all the information you need to know about the phenomenon of ice drift, and about the inhabitants of the Sea of Okhotsk, which you can admire from a panoramic terrace .
Open from 8:30 a.m. in summer and from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in winter, every day. 750 yen/6€ adult, 540 yen/4€ child from 6 to 15 years old.
Access: by bus in 15 minutes from JR Abashiri station.
Discover : The pleasures of winter at Lake Akan
Sea of Okhotsk seen from Abashiri, Hokkaido
Oriolus
