If you're trying to get to Sarufutsu in a hurry, the best way is to fly into Wakkanai, a blustery little fishing town on the extreme northern tip of Japan's northern island of Hokkaido, then rent a car or take the bus east. From Tokyo the whole trip takes just over three hours.
But if you are in a hurry, you probably shouldn't be headed to Sarufutsu in the first place — and if you're not watching the clock, there's a slower, better way to go.
This way will see you flying into Sapporo, Hokkaido's capital, and taking a 90-minute train ride to Asahikawa (of zoo fame), where you hop the one-car local train north to Wakkanai. Soon you will be rolling slowly through low hills and empty fields with only the occasional farmhouse or cluster of rundown cabins to draw the eye. If, however, you're traveling between November and April, those same fields will be deep in snow, the pines weighed down with white globs and the rooftops decorated with icicles.