Having led Hokkaido Photography Tours for over 25 years, I understand the huge responsibility associated with leading visiting photographers of different levels and readinesses for my annual Hokkaido photography expedition.  Safety is paramount, and my team and I take every precaution, such as knowing our route like the back of our hands, it usually takes 3 to 5 years for us to scout out a route. I’m floored when I hear some photographers boasting that they just went on a week long scouting trip. WOW! A whole week, WOW!
Everyone thinks they’re prepared for whatever weather or environments that a Japan photo tour in Hokkaido may bring, but I can tell you from experience to expect the unexpected.  Bomb cyclones, whiteouts, squalls, blizzards, and flurries are also common occurrences during Winter Photo Tours, and I make a point of checking weather charts before going out in the blue hour, and at least once an hour during the day.  Smart phone apps are 90% usualness in Hokkaido.  Why are weather apps useless in Hokkaido?  Hokkaido is over 70% unpopulated mountain wilderness, and Japans most northern island surrounded by Ocean has several micro climates and the weather changes on a dime.
I know when to call off a day, or whether to hunker down and endure a 30 minute whiteout then head back out to chase the light in search of once in a lifetime photos.  Once during a Hokkaido photo tour, I held back my participants and informed them that it wasn’t safe to go out from morning, but all they could see were clear blue skies, so they complained rather loudly about why they were trapped in our 4/5 star accommodations.  I could think of worse places to spend the day, but I understood their frustration.  I told participants “it is what it is sorry,” and lo and behold, less than an hour later, it was whiteout conditions and absolutely unsafe to be outdoors, not even the hotel staff that live in the region could get into work that day.  When I met everyone at lunchtime, suddenly they were singing a different tune and all smiles.