One of the primary pleasures of any visit to Hokkaido is the food. The wide open lowlands are ideal for agriculture and livestock ranching, while hunters find the unspoiled mountainous hinterlands a rich source of game -- wild boar, deer and migrating fowl -- along with the wild mushrooms and herbs that find their way into so many Japanese dishes.

Grills and Genghis Khan barbecues of locally reared beef or pork feature prominently on the menus of tourist restaurants, supplemented with plenty of the sweet corn, potatoes and other vegetables synonymous with Hokkaido's outdoors image. But for most visitors, the biggest attraction is the superb variety of seafood that is available.

The icy waters off Hokkaido, especially near the southern Kuriles, are among the most fertile in the world. There are numerous species of crustaceans and shellfish, especially the Ezogaki oysters farmed along the pristine northern coast, and the sea urchin (uni) here is second to none. Fishermen bring in huge catches of Pacific saury (sanma), herring (nishin) and Atka mackerel (hokke), a local specialty that is gutted, split and hung to dry on racks along the windblown shoreline.