Rishiri-Rebun-Sarobetsu National Park, National park in northern Hokkaido, Japan
Rishiri-Rebun-Sarobetsu National Park is a national park in the far north of Hokkaido, covering two offshore islands and a large coastal wetland. The three areas each have their own character: Rishiri Island with its cone-shaped peak, the low-hilled Rebun Island, and the flat Sarobetsu Plain stretching along the Sea of Japan.
The park was officially established in 1974 and placed under the protection of the Japanese government to preserve its landscapes and wildlife. The Sarobetsu wetland was later added to the Ramsar list of internationally important wetlands in 2005, giving it formal recognition at a global level.
Rebun Island is commonly called the Island of Flowers, a name earned by the many wild plants that bloom across its grassy hills each spring and summer. Visitors walking the island trails encounter species found nowhere else in Japan, growing in thin, rocky soil close to the ocean.
The summer months are the easiest time to move around the park, as trails on Rishiri and Rebun are most accessible and the weather on the Sarobetsu Plain tends to be mild. Both islands are reached by ferry from Wakkanai, and each area has a small visitor center where you can pick up maps and get advice on routes.
The peak on Rishiri Island is an extinct volcano that rises straight out of the ocean with no coastal plain between the water and the summit, giving it a shape that looks almost detached from the sea below. This makes it one of the few places in Japan where you can watch the mountain from a ferry and feel the full scale of its rise from the waterline.
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