Situated some 20 km west of Hokkaido sits the small, disk-like island of Rishiri. Small and compact it may be, covering some 180 sq/km, yet this mighty little island packs a punch, for standing tall and fierce in the rotund island’s icy centre is Mount Rishiri.

Beyond the shores of Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island stretching up to Russia’s Sakalin Island, an awe-inspiring transformation is taking place — one an untrained eye would have thought reserved only for the likes of mystical epics.