Akkeshi Onsen Hokkaido

Akkeshi Onsen Hokkaido is a thermal facility in Akkeshi Town on the Sea of Okhotsk coast of eastern Hokkaido, a fishing port community universally celebrated among Japanese food enthusiasts as the home of Japan's finest Pacific oysters, cultivated in the cold, nutrient-rich waters of Akkeshi Lake (Akkeshi-ko) where the combination of the Sea of Okhotsk's cold clear currents, the lake's brackish conditions at the tidal interface, and the abundant phytoplankton nourished by incoming sea water create ideal conditions for producing oysters of exceptional size, sweetness, and oceanic minerality recognized by Japanese chefs and gourmets as the country's premium oyster production site. Akkeshi Lake is itself a Ramsar Convention designated wetland, providing habitat for red-crowned cranes, whooper swans, and the Pacific salmon that run up the Akkeshi River system in autumn in populations large enough to attract brown bears from the surrounding forests in one of eastern Hokkaido's most accessible wildlife-watching opportunities. The chloride thermal spring waters here warm oyster farmers, fishermen, and visitors who come specifically to eat freshly harvested Akkeshi oysters at the town's seafood restaurants and fish markets before soaking in the therapeutic mineral pools of this proud eastern Hokkaido fishing community where marine gastronomy and hot spring culture combine in characteristically Hokkaido fashion.