Seasons · Biei

The two weeks before the snow

Jun 2026 · Asahikawa ／ Words and photographs: INSIDE HOKKAIDO NORTH — three years in Biei and Furano, now living in Asahikawa

Locals call the first two weeks of November the in-between season. The leaves are gone and the snow has not settled. The hills are brown and hard to photograph.

In exchange, the visitors disappear. Room rates halve, and some mornings there are five cars in the Blue Pond car park. The light sits low and long, and even under cloud the shape of the hills reads clearly. If you want the landscape to yourself, this is the window.