Northern lights in Kushiro tonight

Japan's largest wetland covers 183 km² of marsh, reed bed, and river channels with no permanent settlements. The main observation platforms at Hosooka, Kottaro, and Shirarutoro give elevated views over the reed bed with completely open sky in all directions. No roads cross the core wetland zone at night, and the nearest significant lighting is Kushiro city, 15 km to the south. The flat wetland horizon means the northern sky is unobstructed down to the true horizon. Bortle 2-3 from the elevated platforms. Winter conditions keep the marsh frozen and the air unusually transparent under Siberian high pressure.

A low headland on the Pacific coast 60 km east of Kushiro, at the end of a peninsula with the sea on three sides. The cape faces directly north over the Pacific with no land obstruction until the Kuril Islands. South and east face the Nemuro Strait. Settlement lighting from Hamanaka town is 8 km distant and does not significantly affect the northern horizon. Bortle 2 at the cape tip. Winter conditions make the coast occasionally foggy, but clear Siberian air brings exceptional transparency. The drive on national Route 44 east from Kushiro is straightforward in clear winter conditions.

Akan Mashu National Park contains two caldera lakes - Akan (with a floating island of moss) and Mashu, Japan's clearest lake. Lake Mashu at 355 m elevation sits inside a 212 m caldera rim that screens ground-level light from all directions. The observation platform at the crater rim gives a view over the lake and unobstructed sky to the north over the surrounding highland. No artificial lighting exists within the caldera. The park interior road is closed in deep winter, but the Mashu observation platform remains accessible. Bortle 2 conditions at the rim. One of the darkest positions accessible by road in Hokkaido.