A lively winter festival on frozen Lake Akan, Hokkaido's Ainu heartland. What happens? The Lake Akan Ice Festival transforms the frozen landscape of Hokkaido’s Lake Akan into a breathtaking winter event. Each night, fireworks displays light up the icy expanse, reflecting off the frozen lake. Schedule 2025 Evenings kick off with a welcome ceremony at 7:45 p.m., followed by a fireworks show at 8 p.m. There will also be projection mapping on the Marimu-kan Building, running nightly from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. until February 28. From March 3 to 16, the fireworks will continue, though ice access will be restricted. During the day, you can dive into Ice Land Akan, open until March 31 from 8 p.m. to sunset. Try your hand at smelt fishing, zoom around on snowmobiles or snow buggies, or hang on tight for a banana boat ride. How to get there From Tokyo, fly to Kushiro Airport (approximately 1 hour 40 minutes). From the airport, take the Akan Airport Liner highway bus, which departs in sync with arriving flights and takes around 75 minutes to reach Lake Akan. Alternatively, you can take a train from Tokyo to Kushiro Station via the JR Hokkaido Line (with a transfer in Sapporo, approximately 8–9 hours). From Kushiro Station, a bus to Lake Akan takes approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes.