Japan Tour: Enjoy Hokkaido Winter (6 Days, 5 Nights) from Ho Chi Minh City - Lunar New Year 2026

NIGHT 1: HO CHI MINH CITY - HANEDA AIRPORT (Overnight on board)

Your tour guide will meet you at the international departure terminal, Tan Son Nhat Airport. Check in for your Japan Airlines flight JL070 (23:40-6:50) departing for Haneda, Japan. You will enjoy a light meal and spend the night on the plane.

DAY 1: HANEDA - ASAHIKAWA (Packed Lunch/Dinner)

Morning: Around 06:50 AM, your plane is expected to land at Haneda Airport (Tokyo). After immigration procedures, you will connect to domestic flight JL 553 (10:45 – 12:30) from Haneda to Asahikawa Airport, arriving at the beautiful island of Hokkaido. A light packed lunch will be provided.
Afternoon: After collecting your luggage, the group will depart. The bus will take you to visit Asahiyama Zoo, located in Asahikawa, this is Japan's northernmost zoo with a long history, opened in 1967. Asahiyama Nature Reserve is the first facility in Japan to successfully naturally breed cold-climate animals such as Arctic Bears, Amur Leopards, and Eurasian Eagle Owls.

 The animals in the zoo are mainly cold-climate species, with over 700 animals of 124 species living in environments similar to their natural habitats.

Evening: Enjoy dinner and check into your hotel for an overnight stay in Monbetsu.

DAY 2: MONBETSU - ASAHIKAWA (Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner)

Morning: Enjoy breakfast at the hotel. Check out. Your vehicle and tour guide will pick you up to continue sightseeing. 

The group will visit the Garinko Icebreaker Ship in Mombetsu, an impressive tourist vessel with two large screws at its bow designed to plow through drift ice. On board, you can feel the intense vibrations as the ship approaches ice floes and hear the sound of the ice breaking, ensuring an unforgettable experience.

You'll get to see drift ice up close, which is truly captivating. Additionally, if you're lucky, you might spot rare birds like Steller's sea eagles, white-tailed eagles, and Steller's gulls perched on the ice, or even cute seals poking their heads out from the frozen sea.

Experience ice fishing on Memanbetsu Lake, an activity known as "wakasagi tsuri." Participants dig a circular hole about 15-20 cm in diameter, then drop their hooks and wait. Specialized wakasagi fishing rods are short, only about 30cm long, with a small reel. Anglers can flexibly attach about 10 hooks on a single line for maximum efficiency. Wakasagi tend to live in schools, so once you catch one, there's a high chance of a bountiful fishing trip. Anglers will try to catch these shiny-scaled wakasagi fish, which look incredibly appetizing beneath the cold ice. This type of fish is found in many different lakes across Japan. Your catch can be grilled and enjoyed immediately.

Noon: The group will have lunch at a restaurant, then continue to visit the Tokkari Okhotsk Seal Center. 

This is where injured seals are protected, nurtured, and cared for. Seals at the center are fed at scheduled times five times a day, with each seal receiving 3kg of fresh fish for all five meals. This is an engaging time as visitors can get closest to the seals, feed them, and learn hand signals to prompt the seals to perform.

The group will then travel to Asahikawa.
Evening: Enjoy dinner and check into your hotel in Asahikawa.

DAY 3: ASAHIKAWA - SAPPORO (Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner)

Morning: Enjoy breakfast at the hotel. Check out. Your vehicle and tour guide will pick you up to visit Sapporo Teine Ski Resort, a venue from the 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympics. 

This ski resort is located on Mount Teine-yama at an altitude of 1000m. This mountain once hosted the Olympics and is famous for its excellent powder snow quality. It features 15 ski trails, including a 6km long "Long run course" for beginners. (Entrance fees, equipment rental, and ski gear costs are at your own expense).

Noon: The group will have lunch at a local restaurant, then continue to visit Odori Park, an oasis nestled in the bustling business district of Sapporo, boasting 4,700 plants of 92 species, including lilacs and Japanese elms. 

The park stretches 1.5 km from east to west, cutting through the city center. Each section of the park, from Nishi 1-chome to Nishi 12-chome, features flower beds and lawns, combined with fountains and sculptures to offer many interesting sights throughout the year.

Visit the Sapporo Beer Museum, Japan's only museum dedicated to the history and brewing process of beer throughout the ages. During your visit, you can learn about how Sapporo beer is produced, from the smallest steps like ingredient preparation to the fermentation process and how beer evolved through different periods. (Each guest will receive one complimentary beer tasting)..

Evening: Enjoy dinner and check into your hotel for an overnight stay in Sapporo.

DAY 4: SAPPORO (Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner)

Morning: Enjoy breakfast at the hotel. Check out. Your vehicle and tour guide will pick you up to visit Otaru Canal. With a total length of 1140m, the stone warehouses along both sides of the canal retain their original appearance and are now repurposed as restaurants.

 As dusk falls, the streetlights and stone warehouses are illuminated, creating an entirely different atmosphere from daytime. Especially in winter, the canal forms a transparent layer of ice, reflecting the lights from the buildings and trees along the banks, creating an incredibly romantic and ethereal scene (the best time to see the frozen Otaru Canal is from late December to late February).

During this period, the Light Festival also takes place at the canal with thousands of lights. The light reflecting on the ice creates a truly romantic scene, making you feel like you've stepped into a fairy tale (specific times may vary depending on weather conditions).

Visit the Former Hokkaido Government Office Building, a red brick building made of 2.5 million bricks, built in 1888 in the American Neo-Baroque style. At 33m tall, it is one of the tallest and largest buildings in Japan. A famous symbol of Hokkaido, it houses historical exhibits, a museum shop, a tourist information office, and conference rooms.

Noon: The group will have lunch at a local restaurant, then continue to visit Mitsui Outlet Park Sapporo-Kitahiroshima, a commercial facility where you can enjoy shopping for designer brands with a wide variety of stores, from international brands to local brands and new brands opening for the first time in Japan. Importantly, all items here are tax-free.
 

Evening: The group will have dinner at a restaurant and return to their hotel in Sapporo for rest. You can freely enjoy the natural hot spring bath (Onsen) within the hotel premises in traditional Japanese style. The Japanese believe that soaking in hot springs can help treat certain joint pains, aches, and other ailments.

DAY 5: SAPPORO - HO CHI MINH CITY (Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner)

Morning: Enjoy breakfast at the hotel. Check out. Your vehicle and tour guide will pick you up to visit Nijo Fish Market, which has a history of over a hundred years and is an important wholesale market for the locals. In addition to Hokkaido seafood products like salmon, crab, and scallops, the market also sells fruits, vegetables, and other agricultural products. 

Today, Nijo Fish Market still has long-established businesses that have thrived for decades.

Visit Shiroi Koibito Park, a unique tourist attraction in Sapporo. Here, visitors have the opportunity to tour the production line of white chocolate sandwiched "cat tongue" cookies. Additionally, visitors can learn more about chocolate. Furthermore, in winter, Shiroi Koibito Park is magnificently adorned with thousands of colorful lights. Buildings, trees, and even giant confectionery items are lit up, creating a warm and sparkling atmosphere.

Noon: The group will have lunch at a local restaurant, then continue to have free time for shopping at AEON MALL CHITOSE, offering a wide range of famous brands and abundant goods, souvenirs, and more, all at unbeatable prices.

Afterward, transfer to New Chitose Airport to check in for flight JL 528 (21:05 – 22:50) back to Haneda Airport (Tokyo). Then, the group will connect to flight JL 079 (01:30 – 05:50) on February 4, 2025, returning to Saigon.