Hokkaido Photo Tours should always include a visit with the Red-Crowned Cranes (Grus japonensis).  As a Japan photo workshop leader, I always know the best places to spot and photograph Red-Crowned cranes, also known as snow ballerinas. The Red-crowned cranes’ courtship dance is legendary and carries as much grace and choreography as a prima ballerina from Royal Ballet.  The Red-crowned cranes mate for life and show their devotion to one another in their courtship dance; they bow to one another, then raise their heads towards the sky and call in unison.  Immediately following, the male or female who are mating for life will most likely leap into the air initiating the first furtive moments of the courtship dance.

Along with the Red-Crowned cranes, I recommend spending time in the Kushiro region because of the abundance of other wildlife plus a sunrise that is rated top three in Hokkaido.  As part of your Hokkaido Photography Workshop, we will make our way inland to the high alpine lakes of Hokkaido’s northwest which are comprised of Akanko, Kushiroko, and Mashuko lakes, which are among the clearest and cleanest on our planet, arguably Lake Mashuko is the cleanest on our planet.  The mountainous landscape is breathtaking, and home to the First Nations people of Japan, the Ainu. The Ainu are world-class wood carvers and storytellers; we will visit with them photographing their museum-quality wood arts, paintings, and mosaics.  We will also visit the Ikor theater, where we will partake in a spiritual journey, as the Ainu dances carry many meanings—they may be performed as a prayer to the kamuy (gods or spirits) or to ward off evil spirits. The performances you’ll see here incorporate contemporary elements while continuing the traditions of dance, song and the use of unique Ainu instruments.  The Ikor theater performances are performed to show respect and gratitude to ancestors and the kamuy (gods or spirits).

After a stay with the Ainu in Lake Akan (Akanko) - Akan Mashu National Park, we make our way to the Pacific coast for raptor photography.  The Steller’s Sea Eagles (Haliaeetus pelagicus) are huge and beautiful and one of the most fierce diurnal birds of prey on our planet.  Off the coast of Hokkaido, these magnificent raptors call the pack-ice home for most of the winter, where they feed off of fish that they catch with their razor sharp talons in the icy cold waters off of Hokkaido’s Pacific Coast.  During your Hokkaido photography tour workshop, we will board our chartered vessel to photograph the Steller’s Sea-eagle in their natural feeding ground on the pack ice. The White-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla), which is smaller and endemic to Japan, also feeds on the pack ice next to the Steller's sea eagle; tensions are high when fishing, and the White-tailed eagle hold their own with the much larger and legendary Steller’s sea eagles. You will have hundreds of spectacular images of eagles clutching fish in their talons in flight and while feasting.