Soar With the Birds of Mt. Kurodake

The Sounkyo area sits right at the heart of Hokkaido and acts as the doorway to Daisetsuzan National Park, Japan’s largest national park. Using the Daisetsuzan Sounkyo Kurodate Ropeway, visitors can ride 1,300 meters up to the 5th station of Mt. Kurodake. At any time of year the Daisetsu Mountain Range and surrounding park burst with life. In spring, verdant greenery coats the mountainside, turning into a landscape of alpine flowers and wildlife in the summer. In the fall, the autumn colors are some of the earliest to arrive in the country, while the winter brings skiers to Mt. Kurodake from January until mid-May. Brave visitors can even take a lift all the way up to the 7th station, which is 1,520 meters up.