---
node: dest_shiretoko_national_park
type: destination
slug: shiretoko_national_park
title: "Shiretoko National Park"
lead: "Shiretoko is a peninsula in far north-east Hokkaido where drift ice reaches the coast each winter, the southernmost place in the northern hemisphere where that happens. It was listed by UNESCO in 2005 for that link between sea ice and the land food chain."
published: 2026-08-12
updated: 2026-08-12
image_file: dest_shiretoko_national_park.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:140829_Track_Near_Furepe_Falls_Shiretoko_Hokkaido_Japan00s3.jpg"
image_author: "663highland"
image_license: "CC BY 2.5"
---

## Overview

The name is Ainu for the end of the earth, and the far end of the peninsula has no road at all — it is reached by boat or on foot with a guide. The brown bear density is among the highest in the world, which shapes every rule here: the Five Lakes boardwalk is electrified against bears, and the ground-level loop closes or requires a guide during the bear season from May to July. Drift ice arrives in late January and allows walking on the sea in a dry suit.

## Highlights

The elevated boardwalk to the first lake is open all year without a guide and gives the view of the peninsula's mountains over the water. Boat trips along the roadless coast in summer are the reliable way to see bears from a safe distance. Come in February for the ice, in June for the flowers, and expect the peninsula road to close entirely in winter.