Northern lights in Nemuro tonight

Cape Nosappu is the easternmost point of Hokkaido and the easternmost publicly accessible point on the Japanese mainland. The cape faces east across the Nemuro Strait toward the Habomai Islands. It is the first point in Japan to see the sun rise on any given day - and on nights with aurora activity, it is among the first positions in Japan to register it. Bortle Class 2-3 from the cape itself; the lighthouse and the small observation monument have some working lights but the headland positions to the south give a clean sky. In winter the cape is exposed and cold with frequent northeast winds off the Sea of Okhotsk.

The coastal road between Nemuro city and Cape Nosappu runs along the southern shore of the peninsula facing the Nemuro Strait. Multiple pull-offs along the 25 km give north and east-facing positions over the water. Bortle Class 3 from the road corridor. The Sea of Okhotsk coast gives clear winter nights under Siberian high pressure, with less coastal fog than the Pacific side of Hokkaido. Positions midway along the peninsula road reduce both the city glow from Nemuro to the west and the lighthouse light from the cape to the east. Useful for spontaneous stops without committing to the full drive to the cape.

Kiritappu is a coastal wetland west of Nemuro where the Kushiro Shitsugen National Park approaches the coast. The flat bog terrain gives a 360° open sky with minimal horizon obstruction. Bortle Class 2. The wetland road is accessible in winter and the terrain is open enough for wide-angle photography of aurora overhead with the flat wetland below. Combined with a Nemuro base, Kiritappu extends the range of dark sky positions westward toward Kushiro. The wetland is protected conservation land - stay on the road and do not enter the bog itself at night.