Four Points Day 5: Nemuro to Akan-ko

Distance: 286km

When you drive from Nemuro to Akan today, be sure to drive out to Cape Norosappu, the eastern-most point in Hokkaido and maybe Japan, first thing in the morning, and be sure to take in the view of the disputed Kurile Islands just off the coast. While you're there, don't miss all of the propaganda in the visitor's center about how Russia should do their duty in unifying the Japanese Northern Territories by returning the Kuriles to Japan. Reflect on the stagnant feeling of loss that seems to loom over all of it, just as useless as the giant, rusted arch that stands in observance of the property dispute.

Be sure to take the coast north from the Nemuro peninsula and head out onto the Notsuke peninsula: the longest sandspit in Japan; a saltmarsh that hangs like a ratty balcony out over the pacific.

When you're out there, swatting the ubiquitous flies and photographing the cranes, be sure to take in the mountains that seem to fill 180 degrees of the horizon. Be sure to recognize that this is your first proper look at the fabled shiretoko: the Third Point on your tour and one of the last refuges of wilderness in Japan. Remember that this is one of the few places on your island that you can't make it to the end of by road, and feel the anticipation to be in it tomorrow.

After Notsuke, head to the Melody Road just outside Shibetsu. Bring your rental car up to 60, and let your mouth gape as the grooved road in the middle of the boonies, with NOTHING at either end of it, plays a symphony through your tires. Pull U-turns and drive over the short stretch of it, again and again, at different speeds and with windows open or shut, experimenting with the road like a musician.

Take the roads from there across well-cropped farmers fields and up around bends over mountains into Akan-ko, the clear lake that is home to both the spherical algae, Marimo, and armies of lake-side onsen hotels. Catch the sunset behind Oakan mountain from on high and give in to scenic mindgasms at the scenery arrayed beneath you.

In Akan-ko, be sure to take in Ainu Kotan, and when you're there, under the aeries of wood-carved owls, be sure to sample the authentic dishes of the Hokkaido aboriginals. Order the cheap venison, the strange pumpkin puree salad, the mind-altering fried pumpkin dumplings. Peruse the clothing and jewelry available for sale and pay special attention to the mad, maze-like Ainu patterns that seem to unlock oublietted chambers in your mind.

When you finally make it to your campsite at Akan-ko for the night, after you've taken in the slow, hypnotic hair dancing of the Ainu and have tried, unsuccessfully to find an onsen to banish the autumn chill from your bones, be sure to keep your shoes in your tent at night, or else the Kitsune will take them away. They'll nose the hints of salty sulphur from the scalding footpath at the campsite that seeped through your socks and into the insides of your shoes, and they'll track you from the shadows of cars in the parking lot while you photograph the moon and your tents. And then, when you bundle yourself into all of your clothes, deep within your sleeping bag, be aware that those foxes will steal from those shadows and carry your shoes off into the night.