Okhotsk II

I decided to take a last road trip while I'm administratively a Hokkaido resident, so I went to Kitami. This is a place I've gone by several times but never had the chance to take a look at in depth. Well in depth that is maybe a dip deeper than scratching on the surface. (spoiler: I didn't look at Kitami in this time either)

Onneyu, Rubeshibe, Kitami

Onneyu looks like a hot spring resort from the 90s, or even 80s. I have been there 3 or 4 times, mostly approaching from the Sekihoku Pass - the west approach. The pass itself, to me, is the best pass to drive in Hokkaido, by the way.

Rubeshibe was its own munincipality until it merged with Kitami (alongside several others) in 2006. In that sense, it's not a complete wonder that Rubeshibe and Onneyu possess a slightly different character than Kitami the city.

Hokkaido seriously lacks a type of purely market towns. Rubeshibe, of course, was not a market town either. Rubeshibe was mostly agriculture and mining. The Itomuka mercury mine is a very different thing (which is also the original namesake of the town, or village, Muka Village) compared to not only coal mines all over the Do, but also other metal mines around the Okhotsk region.

That said, Rubeshibe's conversion from excavation / extraction to tourism started rather early. Because there were hot springs. And you know that they've been there for a very long time.

Onneyu is the biggest, and only complexed hot spring resort in Rubeshibe. The other springs are also developed into hotels or baths but lack a full set of supporting community.

The hotel that accomodated me was old to start with. Typical traditional Japanese hallways and room sizes that surely would prove difficult for anyone over 185 centemetres. No-smoking signs for a new era in civilisation with cigarette burn marks on the carpet from an older era. Room heater made by National when it was yet not Panasonic. There is a bath as the hotel is one of the Rubeshibe Onneyu hot spring hotels. But it's a mere bath, in maybe 1980 style. Maybe even in 1980 it wasn't the most modern and flashy hot spring hotel you'll see.

And there was no sauna. Past tense here because I haven't checked since, but I don't really doubt that they haven't built one. Yes I know Japanese people have a slightly different understanding about sauna than the more insane people who live between Rus Russia and Sweden, whose sauna culture I actually like more. The point is I appreciate the general sauna which is a room that is heated to some 80 to even 100 degrees Celsius, has some wood, and not overly steamy. I don't abide by sauna rituals but I do enjoy heating my mortal body up in such enclosures. And that's it.

I had to seek for saunas outside of Rubeshibe but that would be put under other sections because you see, these weren't in Onneyu, Rubeshibe, Kitami.

The fox farm actually opened in 1983 and is still in operation today. I didn't go there on this trip but I remember well how it looked like. Bit of a shame I didn't manage to have a look at the foxes in snow. I never did actually. Good thing is there is a nice guy posting Kitami fox pictures almost 365 days a year on Twitter. And he takes good pictures.

Monbetsu

Monbetsu itself is somewhat overshadowed by Abashri in many aspects, at least in my opinion. Japanese people know the Sea of Okhotsk, know the floating ice, and they know that Abashiri is kind of Okhostk-y, so it's natural to associate them. Not completely wrong because you get the ice in Abashiri as well. But I would prefer to think that Monbetsu really puts in more effort about them ice. I'll write about ice and icebreakers after a minor detour.

Aside from that, Monbetsu is also a bit more industrial than it might sound to be. Though I'm not a fan of biomass electricity, there is a biomass power plant right next to the leisure marina... well it was not exactly a marina but maybe you can still call it a pierhead. Coastal playground space. There is also a port, a shipbuilder (maybe shipbuilders), and a JCG base which was why I went in the first place. The JCG cutter (I think they officially call them 'patrol ships') Yuubari had been based in Monbetsu. Sadly but somehow predictably I didn't do my research before going and I did it when I eventually got to the panoramic tower (was it Okhotsk Tower?), and I found out that our favourite old girl was already decommissioned in 2023. Not desperately off but still not there for me to see. Not that I was desperately disappointed either.

Ikutahara

Ikutahara is one of the 'other' mines in Hokkaido. It's not a coal mine town. It's a fucking gold mine, literally. Well if we're talking literally it WAS a gold mine, just like almost any mine in Hokkaido.

I stopped simply because of the name sounds so similar to Ikuta Haruki. Sometimes in life you just need these added nonsense as catalyst to initiate an action, in this case, stopping by. Probably also due to that they have a spa complex with sauna.