Rikubetsu Town, in the Ashoro district of eastern Hokkaido, is certified as Japan’s coldest town \u2014 a small farming community of some 2,500 residents where January temperatures routinely plunge well below -30\u00b0C. Yet this extreme cold is the town’s greatest pride and tourism asset. The pristine, light-pollution-free atmosphere creates extraordinary night skies, and the ‘Ginga no Mori Observatory’ (Galaxy Forest Observatory) houses one of Japan’s largest 60-cm reflector telescopes \u2014 a mecca for stargazing enthusiasts. The winter festival ‘Shibare Festival’ features the legendary experience of waving a wet towel until it freezes solid in the air \u2014 a quintessentially Hokkaido way of celebrating, rather than fearing, the cold. In summer, lush pastoral farm landscapes replace the snow, making Rikubetsu a rewarding destination in any season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rikubetsu Town, in the Ashoro district of eastern Hokkaido, is certified as Japan’s coldest town \u2014 a small farming community of some 2,500 residents where January temperatures routinely plunge well below -30\u00b0C. Yet this extreme cold is the town’s greatest pride and tourism asset. The pristine, light-pollution-free atmosphere creates extraordinary night skies, and the ‘Ginga no Mori Observatory’ (Galaxy Forest Observatory) houses one of Japan’s largest 60-cm reflector telescopes \u2014 a mecca for stargazing enthusiasts. The winter festival ‘Shibare Festival’ features the legendary experience of waving a wet towel until it freezes solid in the air \u2014 a quintessentially Hokkaido way of celebrating, rather than fearing, the cold. In summer, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1300],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hokkaido"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n