Sapporo Snow Festival

Thursday 9^th – Sunday 12^th February

"Wooden Dreams" Entry from Latvia

Did I mention I enjoyed Hokkaido?
Little over a month since I had been there with Henry and I found myself back in arrivals at New Chitose airport.

My old flat mate Martin was visiting from Osaka (where he is based as an ALT) with our mutual friends Judy and Liam. The trio in question were to be located in a local Ramen bar, indulging in the famous Hokkaido miso ramen and Sapporo beer.

We ventured into Susukino, climbing several flights of stairs to reach ‘Lime Bar’ where a very genki bartender served us boozed up hot oolong tea.

After a leisurely start on Friday morning (Marty & co.’s holiday mode turned out to be very different from mine and Henry’s) we caught the train into Sakaemachi to visit the snow dome and festival antics there. The dome sported a number of food stalls (and coffee – thank god) as well as a number of activities for kids, giant Pikachu bouncy castle, the entrance for which was in a questionable location…

Outside the lads had a go at manoeuvring Honda snow blowers before we indulged in the more childish pastime of building snow castles with the buckets and spades provided.

Back in the city we hit the main event.

After a couple of epic snowball fights had left hands cold and gloves damp we retreated into a coffee shop to warm up. It had warmed up since Henry and I had been there, the main roads were almost completely clear of ice and the snow that was around was solid and icy compared to the lovely soft fluffy stuff that had been there in December.

Mostly defrosted, we returned to Susukino for the Ice sculptures before finding a bar which served Shochu – sweet potato sake.

Marty Judy and Liam all left on Saturday morning, which gave me the best part of two days to myself.

I strolled from Nakajima koen to Sapporo station where I eventually found a locker to stash my trundle bag and stumbled across a café that served bacon and eggs (or as close to it as I’m going to get here).

After returning to the snow and ice festivals I indulged in a visit to the likes of H&M and Forever21 (the closest H&M to Akita is in Sendai). I then headed out of the city to Little Fort Coffee where I met Karyn, an Aomori JET who I was on a university trip to Japan with back in 2012. As the only remaining Kiwi in Aomori I think she enjoyed having someone to relate to about kiwi life and missing Wellington (and Wellington coffee…).

Ice Sculptures down Susukino

Having been unable to find affordable accommodation in Sapporo for that night, I had booked into a hostel out in Chitose. Wandering around the snowy streets trying to find something for dinner came with a sense of deja vu as Henry and I had done exactly that, though as it turned out it’s a lot less fun when you do it by yourself.

I had planned to bus out to Lake Shikotsu on Sunday and by sheer fluke there was an ice festival there. The caldera lake is the second deepest in Japan (after our own Tazawa) and the blue grey waters were indeed similar tones to its Akitan counterpart.

Lake Shikotsu Ice Festival

The ice festival really was something else. Structures that you could would in, on and around had been set up, a makeshift ice skating rink for kids, a frozen aquarium (had to feel a bit sorry for the fish…) a cave in which branches of pine had been laid into the ice so that the whole path smelt like Christmas…It was quite magical.

I had my first proper tumble in the snow and ice making my way back down from a look out, the path was so slippery that I considered not trying to stop and just letting myself slide the rest of the way down the hill side…

This trip has certainly confirmed that I have a soft spot for Sapporo.

The Great Japan Pilgrimage: Tokyo

We left Takayama amongst snow flake and had one last morning of snow covered hills as the bus wound its way to Shinjuku.

Touching down in Tokyo felt like tumbling into autumn, at a toasty 8 degrees about zero, I was ecstatic to be waltzing around Ueno park showing my pasty white legs to the world for the first time in months.

Ueno Park

The shopping streets of Ueno offered a glimpse of a different side of Tokyo and also presented Henry with a  chance to try his first Taiyaki (a fish shaped waffle-esque sweet filled with red bean paste).

That night we met again with Hayden, as well as Callian and Hugh (both Japanese classmates from uni and JETs in Tokyo) and Hugh’s girlfriend Yukari. We graced an Izakaya (Torinokizoku) with our presence and there were many beers to be downed.

On our wanderings home, Henry got himself separated from Hayden and I after they closed off part of the underground walkway for construction. Fortunately he happened upon a patch of wifi as I was trying to call him and we agreed to meet back at the hotel. I get the feeling he is somewhat proud that he can now say that he was lost, drunk and with no cellphone in the middle of Tokyo.

Senso-Ji

Thursday 12^th January

It should not come as a surprise to learn that Thursday was a slow one.

When we were finally ready to face being vertical, Henry and I sat in Ueno park, tentatively picking away at a breakfast of cup noodles, feeling sorry for ourselves.

We then ventured into Asakusa to visit Senso-ji the oldest temle in Tokyo. The shopping street leading up to the temple was alive with movement – a stark contrast to the half-dead pair being buffeted between the less hungover beings…

Sky Tree

We indulged in some green tea ice cream which did much to lift the spirits, before making our way towards Tokyo Sky Tree.

We meandered through the park and streets, the sky tree growing taller and taller with each step we took. With a top speed of 600m per minute, the lift took no time to reach the observation deck at 350m.

The city goes for miles…In the distance we could see Mt. Fuji and below, the shadow of the Sky Tree stretched for blocks and blocks as the sun began its decent behind us. We secured a window side table in the café and indulged in coffee and cake as we watched the sun set over the city.

Sunset over Tokyo

Friday 13^th January

Feeling substantially more motivated than we had done the previous day Henry and I braved the transport, crowds and couples donning matching outfits on our way to Tokyo Disney Sea.

The thrill seeking rides were definitely the favourites – despite the queues, and if you get a chance in between shrieks, the Tower of Terror is worth riding just for the view of Tokyo from the top. We did lapse into a state of despair when we finally made it to the front of one of the hour+ queues, only to be informed that there had been an earthquake near Tokyo so we would have to bear with while they performed a safety check on the ride.. 

That night we headed into Shibuya to see the crossing, Hachiko statue and chow down on the most enormous bowl of Ramen I’ve ever seen (topped with a mountain of bean sprouts).

Saturday 14^th January

Meiji Shrine

We began the day with a stroll through Yoyogi park. We visited the Meiji Shrine, which was the first shrine or temple that I have ever seen that has copper coloured tiles on the roof. On the majority of the buildings the tiles have oxidised and turned the dusty green colour that many are familiar with. The entire complex appeared was undergoing reroofing and near the entrance gate, a table had been set up where passersby could donate \3000 to buy a new copper plate for the shrine, on the back of which they could write a message.

A wedding procession passed through the courtyard and bystanders crept as close as the guards would allow to get a glimpse of the Couple and the many friends and family that followed.

The rest of the afternoon consisted mainly of hopping around the various camera shops in Tokyo that Henry had on his wish list. A quick break at Starbucks for a Macha Late and then to the grounds of the Imperial Palace.

We spent some time back in Ueno taking long exposures of traffic from the over bridge before heading to the Ueno branch of Torinokizoku for our last dinner in Tokyo.

Sunday 15^th January.

I’m not going to lie; there was a sense of dread hanging over Sunday as it was the day that we had both been dreading for weeks.

Leaving our Suitcases at the hotel we had a long and leisurely breakfast in Tully’s and strolled through Ueno Park for want of something to do.

On the bright side, saying goodbye this time round wasn’t so bad as it had been when I left Wellington. The inconvenience of having an emotional breakdown in the middle of Tokyo was motivation enough to keep it together while I rode the train to Haneda airport, knowing that Henry was on his way to Narita International.

Tokyo left us with a spectacular sunset and a stunning view of an illuminated Disneyland as the plane flew over.

Only a couple of months till Hong Kong.

The Great Japan Pilgrimage: Gifu

Monday 9^th January

In between buses and trains from Nagano to Gifu we decided to sneak a spot of sightseeing into our travel day.

Matsumoto Castle

Jumping ship at Matsumoto station in Nagano, we secured a locker for our suitcases and a bus ticket for Takayama before venturing off to the Castle.

Matsumoto Castle is regarded as one of the beautiful castles in Japan and I swear to god it’s one of the only ones that hasn’t been burnt down at some stage. The grounds were covered in pure white snow and the moat partially frozen with tracks meandering through it where the ducks had swum.

Climbing the steep stairs inside the castle proved difficult, given they were presumably designed for ascending “one the double” and we had to wear the indoor slippers provided that are prone to flying off even on flat ground.

Similar to Matsuyama castle the interior was speckled with display cabinets that hosted an array of artefacts from Samurai armour and painted scrolls to bullets and guns. An additional turret designed for moon viewing was constructed once the threat of military invasion had ceased.

Shirakawago

The drive to Takayama took us through mountains and long dam spotted rivers where the roads were so narrow that the bus had to stop multiple times to allow oncoming traffic to pass. The bus rides made for some nice downtime when we were able to simply sit there and watch the snowy scenery pass by.

Our room in Takayama was traditional Japanese style complete with Tatami mats and futons. By sheer fluke Hayden, a friend of mine from uni, happened to be in Takayama on that night as well. He showed us to a local okonomiyaki restaurant where we had dinner. We made quite the entrance after Henry announced our arrival by smacking his head on the low door frame and the locals turned around to see a 6 foot 2 gaijin flanked by two laughing friends coming through the door.

We returned to the hotel to christen the sake pourer and cups that I had bought that afternoon.

Tuesday 10^th January

Another day, another bus.

Shirakawago

It hadn’t snowed for a couple of days so when we arrived in Shirakawago (thatched roof village and world heritage site) but there were traces still lingering accompanied by a crisp chill in the air.

 We climbed up one of the hills so as to look down over the village, which looked like something from a story book. Steam was rising from the thatched rooves as the sun broke through the clouds.

The traditional gassho-zukuri get their name from the unique shape of their rooves, which are built to withstand heavy snowfall in winter. The name reflects how the rooves are shaped like a pair of hands clasped in prayer. We were able to enter one of the houses (which are around 250 years old) and I swear it was warmer outside…

Takayama Castle Ruins

It was interesting to see the range of aged thatch, from houses that looked like they had been re-thatched in the past couple of years, to ones that had a healthy layer of moss on them.

Back in Takayama we made our way to Ninomaru Park and the Takayama castle ruins – while the walk was lovely, there really wasn’t a lot left to see of the castle but for stones and markers.

We decided to embark on a cross-town mission to the enormous gold roofed building that we had seen from the ruins. The building turned out to be the Mahikari World Shrine (or Sukyo Mahikari World Headquarters). 

Mahikari World Shrine

As it was closed for the evening we were unable to enter the building we circled the perimeter though were still unable to grasp how incredibly huge this structure was. From what I could gather, the main principles of the practice are to develop a true world peace through the use and understanding of light energy and universal principles, followers are not required to discard any previous beliefs or religious practices they may have followed.

We found a Nepalese curry restaurant for dinner, before returning to the hostel and preparing for our final leg of the trip.

Next stop: Tokyo