THE NORTH FACE

In the North-Easternmost tip of Hokkaido, the Shiretoko Peninsula stretches out into the Sea of Okhotsk to where drift ice floats, transporting abundant nutrients from further north to the nearby mountains and sea, creating a highly unique ecosystem, unparalleled anywhere else in the world.

Shiretoko shows many different expressions for each season—forms of drift ice disappear as Spring breaks the long winter to announce its arrival, then, for a brief moment in time, Spring holds a flurry of activity to welcome the short Summer. Plants and animals from the land, sea, and sky explode with happiness, and in one instant, the forest changes color.

This time, photographer Naoki Ishikawa traversed the Shiretoko mountain range in Summer, where “there is a wildness that you can feel throughout your body,” and filmmaker Nao Yoshigai enjoyed passing her time in the remaining Spring snow. They have both aimed to record the overwhelming nature of Shiretoko—an entity that coursed throughout their whole beings—in the hope that you may feel it too. And then, pay a visit to the Peninsula.

Although Shiretoko may often be called “the end of the earth,” in reality, Shiretoko invites you in—as an entrance to mother earth.