Rishiri Island

A whole island, with the sea all around it. Unlike the other mountains, this is one you approach over water.

The place

Rishiri Island, off the northwest coast of Hokkaido in the Sea of Japan. It is nearly circular, about 19 km across, with Mount Rishiri (1,721 m) at its centre.

A free-standing stratovolcano with nothing nearby to compete with it, it rises from sea level to 1,721 m with nothing in the way — which is why it is called “Rishiri Fuji”. On a clear day, almost the whole island is visible from the summit.

The terrain we built

About 97 km square, reaching Rebun Island to the north and the Hokkaido coast to the east.

The sea goes all the way around the island. Surf breaks along the shoreline, and everything inside it lifts at once.

What it is like to fly

You see the island long before you reach it. There are no landmarks over open water, so the approach is a triangle appearing on the horizon and slowly growing.

Once you are on it, the mountain blocks every direction at once. Come round either way and you cannot see what is on the far side. It is neither Aso’s closed circle nor a gorge’s single corridor — it is terrain you work around.

This is the northernmost sky in the game, and in summer the twilight lasts a long time.