The little truck that could: A fresh way to tour Japan’s north

Standing on the summit of Hokkaido’s highest peak, I’m overcome with reduction. It’s as if I’d been holding my breath your complete climb up.

The remainder of Daisetsuzan, Japan’s largest nationwide park, unfurls towards the horizon. Sunbaked mountains coloured terra-cotta and dusty inexperienced soften into faraway shades of blue, the shadows of clouds drift over their treeless slopes.

Behind me, Mount Asahidake descends into an arid valley, its floor pockmarked by volcanic vents that regularly give solution to a sea of greenery. Ultimately, the fields flip into the grey mass of Asahikawa, Hokkaido’s second-largest metropolis and certainly one of its coldest.