Experience the best of Chitose

Chitose lies on the plain south-east of Sapporo, on the island of Hokkaido, and is best known for New Chitose Airport, the main gateway to the island. The city itself is quiet, set among forest and farmland, with the Chitose River running through it. In autumn, salmon return up this river to spawn, and an aquarium in the city lets visitors watch them through underwater windows.

Lake Shikotsu, a deep caldera lake ringed by volcanoes in Shikotsu-Toya National Park, is a short drive away, and its water stays unfrozen in winter, when an ice festival is held on its shore. Mount Tarumae, an active volcano with a bare dome, rises nearby. Noboribetsu, with its steaming Hell Valley and hot-spring inns, lies to the south-west, with Lake Toya beyond it.

Hokkaido is Japan's larder, and Chitose's tables hold salmon roe, crab and scallops, soup curry, lamb grilled in the Genghis Khan style and fresh dairy products. Winters are snowy and long, summers are cool and comfortable, and the leaves turn red and gold in October.