Shiretoko and Utoro

• Have the operator assess current skill, equipment familiarity and fitness for the proposed cold-water/overhead environment.
• Establish whether the session permits immediate ascent or involves an ice ceiling; confirm the training and contingency arrangements appropriate to that plan.
• Verify oxygen, extraction, communications and the receiving-facility escalation plan before entry.
• Use the agreed cold-rated equipment and decline conditions outside your training or accepted plan. DAN: ice-diving preparation and training

If a dive illness is suspected, stop diving, activate local emergency services and provide oxygen/first aid within the responder's training. Medical evaluation remains necessary even if symptoms improve. Do not improvise in-water recompression or select a chamber without medical coordination. DAN: decompression illness response

Agree onward flight and mountain-road timing before the trip. DAN's minimum preflight guidance for asymptomatic recreational air divers is 12 hours after a single no-decompression dive and 18 hours after repetitive or multiday diving; longer intervals reduce risk further and do not guarantee avoidance. Decompression dives and symptoms need individual advice. DAN: flying after diving

Utoro Clinic is a local outpatient resource at 208 Utoro Higashi, telephone +81-152-24-2052. The prefectural directory lists weekday 09:00-17:00 service with weekend/holiday closures; confirm current arrangements for non-emergency care. It is not verified as a continuous emergency department or recompression facility. Hokkaido Prefecture: Utoro Clinic Hokkaido Prefecture: Shari medical directory

Shari National Health Insurance Hospital accepts urgent emergencies outside ordinary hours and on weekends/holidays, using the doctor on duty. It asks patients to call +81-152-23-2102 before attending where possible. Shari Hospital: emergency care

No operational recompression chamber in Utoro or Shari was verified. Hokkaido University publishes a hyperbaric service in Sapporo, but that does not establish immediate acceptance, the nearest suitable chamber or an evacuation time. Let emergency clinicians, the insurer and dive-medical support determine the receiving facility and transfer. Hokkaido University: hyperbaric service DAN: emergency assistance

Call 119 for ambulance/fire and 118 for a maritime emergency. JNTO's multilingual visitor hotline is additional assistance, not a substitute for emergency dispatch. JNTO: visitor and emergency contacts Japan Coast Guard: maritime emergency 118

Follow closures and designated routes, keep food managed, carry out rubbish and never feed wildlife. Five Lakes prohibits leaving its paths, eating/cooking, smoking and drone use within its visitor-route rules. Five Lakes: walking rules

For bears, follow the local visitor advice to maintain at least 50 m and stay in the vehicle during roadside encounters. The Ministry's regulated approach/following thresholds are separate legal standards and must not be interpreted as safe viewing distances. Shiretoko Foundation: bear visitor guidance Environment Ministry: bear approach rules

Do not collect organisms or enter salmon habitat on the strength of an old tour advertisement. Ask the actual operator to identify the current permitted activity and leave wildlife undisturbed. No seal, whale, bear or salmon swimming access is established by this guide.