Lake Akan's shores become an open-air gallery this week, as Ainu artists and contemporary artists open a three-week collaboration timed to the season's first turning leaves. An hour outside Hakodate, Kikonai throws its own party — a 400-year-old shrine, celebrated with fireworks and music.

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Thu Oct 1 – Tue Oct 20, 9:30 AM–3:30 PM - Sapporo Kokusai Ski Resort, free entry and parking, ¥1,500 gondola (jr. high+), ¥800 (elem.), free (preschool) — A 15-minute gondola ride to the 1,100m summit through turning autumn colors — on clear days the view stretches to Ishikari Bay and Otaru Port. Paired with a food festival at the base on weekends/holidays: Hokkaido pork grilled over open flame, all-you-can-stuff potato bags, kitchen-car food stalls, street performers, a monkey-performance act, kids' festival games, and a dog run.

Sun Oct 4 - Sapporo Marathon (51st edition) · Starts/finishes at Makomanai Sekisuiheim Stadium — Half marathon starts 9:20/9:30 AM (two waves), 10km at 9:00 AM. Open to amateurs as well as competitive runners.

BEYOND SAPPORO

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Opens Thu Oct 8 (runs through Oct 31) - Lake Akan Onsen & Ainu Kotan, Kushiro, free — Now in its 3rd year — Ainu artists and contemporary artists from diverse backgrounds collaborate, with work installed across the hot-spring town and Ainu Kotan. 2026's theme: "Pirka Kar Kar — on the act of making something beautiful." Confirmed participating names include musician KOM_I, actor Masaya Kato, and musician xiangyu. Closing night (Oct 31) features a live music set from xiangyu and producer Kuniyuki Takahashi. Opens the same day as the 77th Marimo Festival.

AKAN | KUSHIRO

Opens Thu Oct 8 (runs through Oct 10) - 77th Marimo Festival · Lake Akan Ainu Kotan, Kushiro — Running since 1950 — a ceremony to protect and return marimo, a rare, endangered spherical algae found almost nowhere else in the world, to the lake. Rooted in traditional Ainu prayer and ritual, with Ainu communities from across Hokkaido gathering for the ceremony.

NISEKO

Fri Oct 3 - Mountain Lights · HANAZONO Resort — Bruce Munro's light-art installation narrows to select dates in October — this is one of just two left before the season wraps (the other is Oct 10).

Through Mon Oct 12 - Niseko Kutchan Mystery-Solving Town Tour · Kutchan Town, free — A self-guided puzzle walk through town.

Through Mon Oct 12 - Free Sky Resort Shuttle (Panorama-gō) · Niseko area — A free shuttle bus connecting Niseko-area sights.

ASAHIKAWA

Sun Oct 4 - Asahikawa Youth Music Festival 2026 · Asahikawa Kitasaito Kids Activity Center ASOBI-BA

Sun Oct 4 - 15th Picture Book Forum — The World of Kazuyoshi Iino · Asahikawa Daisetsu Crystal Hall

HAKODATE

WEEKEND PICK

Sagawa Shrine's 400th: fireworks and music for a milestone that won't repeat

Four hundred years is a long time for anything to still be standing, let alone still drawing a crowd. Kikonai's Sagawa Shrine marks the anniversary the way Hokkaido knows best — Matsumae Kagura, an acoustic live set, and fireworks over the shrine grounds as the night closes. An hour or so outside Hakodate, and a genuinely rare milestone to catch in person.