Meet the people who shape Hokkaido: Smart Discovery's new journey culminates in a meeting with the architect behind four featured hotels  

Four hotels by one architect, a potter, a painter and winemakers, and, at the end, the architect himself.

Smart Discovery, Japan's Food & Culture DMC, today unveils a new journey through Hokkaido, built around the people who shape Hokkaido. Smart Discovery has long opened up Japan through food, craft, art and faith. This journey adds a new lens: architecture

At its heart is architect Makoto Nakayama, who designs every detail, from architecture to furniture and lighting. A signature route links four hotels he designed:

• HOTEL BIACLYN HAKODATE, a former Russian consulate reborn as six suites with a new wellness wing, French cuisine at BIACYA and sushi at FUNAMI; a Relais & Châteaux member with one MICHELIN Key.
• Hotel Kuki, a seven-room inn in Esashi, the old herring capital, where owner Kiyoshi Tanada raises Suffolk sheep, grows organic vegetables and serves dishes made with ingredients sourced within 25 km.
• Sansui Niseko, a MICHELIN Key hotel facing Mount Yotei, its 53 rooms designed down to their kitchens.
• OTARU RETREAT KURAMURE by Onko Chishin, where all 19 rooms have their own hot-spring bath and the restaurant serves cuisine incorporating fermentation techniques.

The journey ends with a meeting with Nakayama himself, either over a meal at a restaurant he designed or during a visit to his studio, subject to his availability.

Guests also meet:

• Katsutaro Kikuchi, a potter born by Lake Toya, who returned home in 1974 to build a wood-fired climbing kiln, Niwatazumi-gama. In 1992 he added a 10-metre anagama, an older style of kiln. Guests visit his kilns and meet him.
• Shigeru Tokumaru, a Niseko painter of the plants and landscapes of the Shiribeshi region. His new gallery, MUSEO KUTCHAN, is due to open in April 2027 beside the Ogawara Shu Memorial Museum of Art.
• Winemakers in Yoichi, one of Japan's most talked-about wine regions, who show guests their vineyards and winery.

Much of Hokkaido's herring was once dried into fertiliser and shipped south to grow rice, hemp and indigo. Kombu took the same route to Kyoto and Osaka, becoming the base of dashi. Herring fed Japan's fields; kombu flavoured its kitchens. Guests taste it today: Tanada's lamb in Esashi, Yoichi wine, fermented dishes in Otaru.

"The people on this journey love Hokkaido and know its value; no guidebook lists them," said Motoi Mori, Founder and CEO of Smart Discovery. "Through them, guests come to know the land deeply. We can't hand anyone a discovery, but we can create the conditions for one. Discovery runs both ways; our hosts learn too. This journey is for travellers eager to learn."

Like every Smart Discovery journey, it begins with each traveller's purpose and interests; the route, hotels and length of stay are reshaped for every guest. Designed with Hokkaido-based licensed guide Miki Misumi, it runs May to October for two to six guests, with a private car and English-speaking guide. It is available through travel trade partners.

Meet Smart Discovery at WTM London, Stand N10-400 (Japan area), 3–5 November 2026.

Smart Discovery is Japan's Food & Culture DMC, designing tailor-made journeys from Hokkaido to Kyushu. Founder Motoi Mori, a Certified Sake Studies Lecturer, visits every maker and chef in person before guests do. Licensed travel agency, Kanagawa Prefecture No. 2-1303.

Media and trade contact: Motoi Mori · contact@smart-discovery.com · smart-discovery.com