Japan’s great new destination — new to foreigners, at least — is the sparsely populated northern island of Hokkaido. Scenically spectacular, with forested mountains, volcanic crater lakes and flower-filled pastures, Hokkaido now offers several hotels that merit my recommendation. You can read my full reviews of them here. Seemingly everywhere I turned was something beautiful to capture on film, whether in a hotel suite, on a hike or riding in a cable car.