Hokkaido is one of the northernmost Japanese islands, and its frosty climate and largely rural, mountainous landscape have made it the national winter wonderland. The locals play up the chill with Quebec-style carnivals – snow mazes, ice villages, frozen waterfall festivals – and it’s got all the picturesque cold-climate necessaries like mountains with reliable fresh powder, hot springs, and ice floes drifiting down from through the Sea of Okhotsk. The only thing that’s missing from this perfect picture? The Northern Lights. So, with typical Japanese ingenuity, they’ve decided to make their own. From February 5 to March 21, the skies above Shiretoko Hot Spring will light up with a laser show designed to mimic the polar aurora, only better, because their version comes with a stirring soundtrack and is guaranteed at 8:00 pm every night! Take that, Arctic Circle! (via Jaunted)

Elsewhere:
– Aurora Borealis Forecast (University of Alaska Fairbanks)