We were a bit sad to leave Tokyo after only 4 days, but we’ll be back for another 5 at the end of the trip! Plus, we were really looking forward to using the Japanese train system. We grabbed some amazing bento boxes for the 4.5 hour train trip. It was such a great experience compared to flying, we’re really glad we decided to spend a bit more and take trains instead of flights and busses. We even had time to try our hand at some origami cranes:
We only had one night in Hakodate, so we did the two must-do things in the area. We climbed up the nearby hill to get a night view of the city from the observatory. Apparently, every other person in Hakodate does the same thing every night (except most take the gondola up). Just a bunch of people waiting around at a viewing platform for the sun to set…
In the morning before our train left, we went to the famous seafood market. Hakodate (and Hokkaido) are known for their cold water seafood. Especially crab and squid, I enjoyed a squid ink bun for breakfast. The market was full of all kinds of seafood, you could even fish for your own squid!
After Hakodate, we rode the train along the southern coastline of Hokkaido to Kushiro and stayed at a little guesthouse. We didn’t spend a lot of time in the city of Kushiro, but it is known for one of the best sunsets in Japan.
We also did a nomihodai (open bar) at an izakaya. We left fat and happy.
Kushiro is the primary access point to Kushiro Shitsugen National Park. This park is the largest wetland in Japan, where Japanese cranes gather in large groups during the wintertime. We explored it fairly thoroughly during our two days in Kushiro. Our first day, we went up the east side of the park on the historic sightseeing train. We got off at a couple of places to do some short walks to viewpoints.
We even spotted some Japanese cranes out the window of the train and a park ranger showed us another one, way off in the distance, at one of the viewpoints (can you see it? It’s the tinny white dot in the lower right). It was a really relaxing day.
The second day, we took a bus along the west side to do a hike along a series of boardwalks in the marsh. It was such a beautiful day so we had some bento boxes for lunch along the boardwalk before the rain set in. Luckily, the rain was light and short. 
Two sections of this part of the park are connected by an old rail-trail walk which stretched straight off in the distance as far as you could see. During the wintertime, you can use complementary crosscountry skis or snowshoes along it, all the way into Kushiro over 20km away! We were disappointed to come before the snow and miss that, but we did spot a fox.
The path passed an archaeological site where a small village had been unearthed. Some of the houses from the period have been recreated and had fires burning to keep them dry. These were seriously impressive thatched houses. The fact that we stumbled upon them along our walk really made it feel like we were back in time. 
Highlights of Kushiro and Hakodate:
- Boardwalks and rail-trail between Onnenai Visitor Center and the Marsh Observatory. We spent almost the whole day exploring, and could have been there even longer!
- Taking the Norokko-go sightseeing train up the east side of the marsh. We were glad to have the JR rail pass so we could hop on/off to see a viewpoint or two
- Staying at a small guesthouse was a great experience, our host was friendly and served us an unexpected but great breakfast every day