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A White Silence: Terra’s First Year in Hokkaido

Jonas Paurell
Apr 11
3 min read

With around 70% returning guests, the team at Terra Photography Expeditions take pride in launching exciting new photography destinations each year. For 2025, one such destination was Hokkaido for winter landscape photography. And now, as our first season there comes to a close, we can say—what a fantastic first season it’s been. Nearly three weeks of deep snow, stillness, and complete photographic immersion in some of Japan’s most poetic winter landscapes.

This wasn’t just a photo trip. It was a shift in pace—a space for stripped-down seeing. The kind of experience that lingers.

We chose Hokkaido for its snow, its minimalism, and its quiet. We wanted to get away, just for a while. What we found was more than we could’ve imagined: endless white, wind-shaped lines, solitary trees, and ethereal light. A place where photography slows down. Where less becomes more. And where snow seems to absorb time itself.

Shosanbetsu – Where the Sky Meets the Sea

Our first stop was Shosanbetsu, on Hokkaido’s northwest coast. What it offered was something rare: vastness. This small fishing village feels like the edge of the world, where the Sea of Japan presses against frozen beaches and a lone red torii gate stands tall.

Because of its remoteness, we stayed in a small local hotel—simple, warm, and full of miso. The landscape here is as raw as the location is remote. Minimalist, yes—but tinged with a quiet melancholy. Snow-covered beaches, idle fishing boats, distant lighthouses, gulls riding the cold wind. We focused on long exposures, low-contrast scenes, and that elusive, in-between light Hokkaido does so well.

Saroma – Silence on the Ice

Next was Saroma, a wind-battered corner of northeastern Hokkaido facing the Sea of Okhotsk. Here, the lake and sea meet beneath an icebound sky. Trees hunch under the weight of wind. Snow dunes shift like desert sands. The air tastes of salt and frost.

We stayed at a spectacular onsen hotel overlooking the lake—luxurious, with exceptional food and a hot spring that warmed both body and spirit after long days of shooting. This place… it got under our skin.

Our focus here was on coastal solitude, on finding form in abstraction. One morning, we spotted a tree with clouds seemingly tethered to its branches. That single frame says everything about Saroma.

Biei – The Minimalist’s Dream

Our final base was Biei, in central Hokkaido. A landscape of soft hills, scattered trees, and a sense of infinite calm. We rose before dawn, waiting for that first pale glow to drift across the sky. The stillness here was so profound it felt more like painting than photography.

We visited the classics—the Seven Stars Tree, the Blue Pond, and those winding, snow-covered roads. But we also wandered further, finding compositions that felt entirely our own. Biei reminded us that sometimes, the simplest scenes hold the deepest emotion: a lone birch, a gentle slope, a sky whispering snow.

Biei

Lake Toya

Our final stop was Lake Toya, a beautiful crater lake with fantastic potential for photography.

Beyond the Frame

The food? Sublime. Bubbling hotpot after a day in the cold. Grilled fish caught that morning. Handmade sea food. The best ramen you’ll ever taste. Every meal felt earned. Every Onsen soak, a gift.

Our hotels ranged from rustic inns to luxurious retreats, but all shared that quiet Japanese grace. Minimal yet warm. Functional yet poetic—just like the landscapes outside.

But above all, this trip was about presence. About showing up for the light. For the small things. A line of snow-covered fence posts. Wind brushing a hillside. The way a shadow moves across a white field.

We’ll be back next year—and we’ll bring others who want to see like this. To slow down. To let the land speak.