Blogs from Hokkaido, Japan, Asia - page 7

Furano – Asahikawa 46 miles Furano is famed in summer for its fields of lavender, and with the season’s sudden change farm labourers were out in force maintaining the crop in readiness for the hive of tourists that would shortly follow. Being slightly too early I would miss out on the lavender at its peak but would however as the day progressed into another absolute belter witness Hokkaido’s agricultural splendour. Milk, beef, potatoes, soybeans, sugar beet, pumpkin, onions, wheat, corn and of course rice are all consistent in making the island Japan’s number one producer of agricultural products. And it’s no surprise when you consider that Hokkaido farms a fourth of Japans arable land. The idyllic panorama and patchwork roads just outside the small rural town of Biei offer up a fine and scenic example of ... read more

Sapporo – Takikawa 62 miles Despite the coming of the cherry blossom the weather the week prior to my departure from Sapporo had been a cold, wet and windy disgrace. A hostel guest that had just recently returned from the north would tell me that it was the coldest place he had ever been to in his life and that if I planned to camp, well then I would surely die. A small imaginary knot had begun to weave itself into my gut. So it would come as some surprise that the day that I had decided to venture north would be the day that summer arrived. It was as if by the flick of the switch that winter would suddenly be turned off and spring overridden as to allow for a glorious 26.7°C belter. It ... read more

Sooner than planned, I find myself back in Japan. After an impromptu ‘lets plan some adventures together’ as a local idea became international, and with several online clicks and searching my contacts from the last snow visit, it was happening. P1 and P2, power of two, 16th letter in alphabet and on a travel booking (sushi) roll. Departure day from Auckland dawned by spin bike to mitigate a coming day of sloth. Could the pace of companion travel be hacked, asks Pop? Pays to be organised said P1, and a repeat of our Kyoto memory, dragging a suitcase uphill for lack of coin locker availability at the train station, was not on the agenda Goodbyes said, passing through customs swiftly, and a pencil bought for my bloke so crosswords could be had, lead us to board ... read more

Hiroshima 10 to 13 January 2016 Tom and I were looking forward to seeing how the Japanese present WW2 events, compared to what we saw in Pearl Harbour. We learned of the Japanese sensitivities, their yearning to ensure the “evil of war” was never repeated and their sorrow that so many people were killed. 140,000 people were killed from the A-bomb which the Americans dropped and loss of life continued for many years after, from various cancers. The great difference between the battle of Pearl Harbour and Hiroshima was the targets and the bomb substances used. Many civilians were killed in Hiroshima but mainly members of the armed forces were killed in Hawaii. I don’t intend to lessen the horrors of the treatment the Japanese authorities applied to their captives in so many parts of the ... read more

Beginning of May. It was a very short trip (a weekend), but I managed to visit both Asahikawa and Sapporo (including Otaru). I left Sendai on the late afternoon (more exactly the port in Tagajo-station). I slept in a on a tatami room inside a boat and woke up the next morning in Tomakomai. From there I went to Asahikawa and visited my friends and their newborn half-japanese baby girl. Asahikawa is a very quiet city, with a lot of rivers. I tasted the ramen and the furano wine, went to the matsuri and the school music parade. I also visited the Ainu Museum and felt what it was like to live in a real ainu house. The next day I moved to Sapporo but first I visited Otaru and its beer brewery. Though I just ... read more