From Wikitravel

The Eastern Circuit (道東 Dōtō) covers the eastern half of the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.

[edit] Regions

The Eastern Circuit is composed of the following four subprefectures:

• Abashiri
• Tokachi
• Kushiro
• Nemuro

[edit] Cities

• Abashiri - fishing town famous for drift ice and infamous for its prison
• Bihoro - gateway to the Akan National Park
• Kitami - the onion capital of Japan
• Kushiro - the largest city in the Circuit with 200,000 people
• Obihiro - the main city in the Tokachi Plain, a large agricultural area
• Nemuro - at the easternmost tip of Hokkaido

[edit] Other destinations

• Akan National Park - known for the crystalline mountain lakes of Akan, Kussharo and Mashu
• Daisetsuzan National Park - Japan's largest national park named after its "Great Snowy Mountains"
• Shiretoko National Park - the most inaccessible and least explored of Japan's national parks
• Shari - gateway to Shiretoko National Park and home of onsen village Utoro

[edit] Understand

The most sparsely populated region in all Japan, this vast area is nearly 40,000 km² in size. While the easternmost part is largely flat, rural and filled with endless cow pastures, much of the circuit is ringed with mountains.

[edit] Get in

Kushiro and Memanbetsu (near Abashiri) have regional airports.

[edit] Get around

Here, if anywhere in Japan, a rental car will come in handy. Train coverage is severely lacking (many lines have been terminated due to a lack of customers) and buses are infrequent, inconvenient and expensive.

[edit][add listing] See

[edit][add listing] Do

Eastern Hokkaido has beautiful coastline, wonderful outdoor hot springs, and remote hiking. Some combination of these should make for a satisfying visit.

[edit][add listing] Eat

Hokkaido on the whole is good for seafood — if you're on the coast — and dairy, and the east is no exception. In central Hokkaido, near Asahikawa and Furano, there are a plethora of melon stands, though by foreign standards, Japanese melons are exceedingly expensive.

[edit][add listing] Drink

[edit] Get out

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