Rafting Season Splashes into Hokkaido’s Niseko Resort Area; Season Open Through Mid-May

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:03 JST, May 6, 2025

SAPPORO — Rafting season has arrived in Hokkaido’s Niseko resort area as the Shiribetsu River is swollen with snowmelt.

Water levels of the river that runs along the foot of Mt. Yotei began rising in early April, earlier than usual, according to Niseko Adventure Center, a tour operator based in Kutchan, Hokkaido.

Participants in dry suits and life vests held paddles on a rubber boat as cold water splashed them while they enjoyed white-water rafting for about 12 kilometers.

“It was so thrilling that I could feel the nature of Hokkaido,” Yusuke Inoue, a 23-year-old graduate student from Fukuoka said, after participating in the rafting tour.

Rafting season continues through mid-May.