Asahikawa is the second largest city in Hokkaido, but doesn’t even get a mention in my Lonely Planet guidebook, which didn’t fill me with the greatest confidence about the city!! We arrived too early to check in so had a wander around the massive Aeon mall that is attached to the JR Station at Asahikawa.
We had a free afternoon after check in. It was cold with a bracing wind, I wandered up and down the main pedestrianised street, past shops, izakayas which were already busy, and a surprising number of statues of women in various states of undress…
We went to a small jingisukan restaurant in the evening. Jingisukan is essentially a do-it-yourself lamb barbecue which originated in Hokkaido, and is a Japanese translation of Genghis Khan.
The following day we started with a visit to an Ainu museum to learn about the indigenous Ainu peoples who have been in Hokkaido for thousands of years. They have only very recently been formally recognised as indigenous peoples in Japan so it was really interesting to hear about how the museum is helping to preserve their culture and educate others on their history and traditions. We had a delicious lunch of salmon, soup, and grape jelly for dessert from our Ainu hosts.
After lunch it was off to another sake museum, and for some more tastings. Still not sure I like sake…
We also visited a wood working centre, which is a key industry in and around Asahikawa. Lots of very cool, and very expensive, furniture designs.
Ramen for dinner that evening, followed by karaoke, which is ubiquitous in Japan. Now, I can’t sing, but there’s something about singing in a booth in Japan with some people I’ve only met a few days ago which makes it pretty enjoyable. Probably because if I make a fool of myself, I’m likely to never see them again anyway!!
The next day we headed out of Asahikawa, to Mount Asahi and the Asahidake Ropeway (cable car). As we headed out of Asahikawa, it started to snow. And as we drove up towards the ropeway station, the snow got heavier and the road got whiter and whiter until you could barely see where the road was. We did take the cable car up the mountain but instead of the glorious vistas, we got heaps of snow, a blizzard and a bit of a white out! I’m actually not sure I’ve ever seen this much snow in person so despite not seeing the views, it was still pretty awesome to be in a bit of a snowstorm.
I was quite cold at this point, and very glad of the coat and thermal trousers I’d bought earlier on in Japan! We went to a small restaurant for lunch, a lovely warming bowl of beef stew, which reminded me of home!
After lunch we visited the Blue Pond, which despite the snow and clouds, was surprisingly blue. We also went to a nearby waterfall at Shirogane, again with some unexpectedly blue colours given the weather.
We then headed to Furano, which is an area known for cheese and wine production. We made our own mascarpone which we then had for dinner at the hotel along with some biscuits, local strawberries and local wine. The hotel we stayed in at Furano had an onsen so later in the evening I squeezed in a final soak on my Japan trip as I suspected the hotel for the final couple of nights in Sapporo wouldn’t have any baths. I’ve really enjoyed the onsens on this trip. An extremely relaxing and peaceful way to spend time.
The next day we headed to Sapporo on the train. The weather was such a contrast to the previous day – lovely blue sky, and very spring-like, though still quite chilly. When we got to Sapporo, we had lunch at a cafe at Hokkaido university and then spent some time in the university museum which was extensive and had lots of interesting exhibits. Not all of it in a language I could understand so Google Translate came in very handy!
We had a free afternoon so I walked around Sapporo – an easy city to navigate due to its grid street pattern. It also has underground walking subways which must be very useful in the depths of winter when it’s very cold. As we walked into the subway for the first time, it did look a little dystopian as it is very quiet, and with everyone walking in an orderly fashion on the left. But I thought it was really ingenious, as it connects directly with all the buildings above at street level, and there are even shops and restaurants at the subway level too. Almost like an underground city.
I used the subway to walk about half an hour downtown towards the Susukino area, stopping along the way at the Clock Tower, the TV Tower, and Nijō Ichiba market. Sapporo is quite a nice city for a wander, though in the late afternoon it was getting increasingly cold so I headed back to the hotel.
We went to an izakaya (a Japanese pub) for dinner. There was an extensive menu of small dishes that we had including yakitori, sushi, ramen and rice. The izakaya was small and full of people, which made for a bustling environment, I’m really glad I experienced one during my trip.
The next day we headed out on the train to the nearby port city of Otaru. Formerly, Otaru was a financial capital of Hokkaido, due to the port and the coal that was exported from here. There are some very impressive buildings here that were all previous banks and financial institutions which grew up around the port. Nowadays, most have been repurposed into shops and eateries. The canal has also been restored and because of the coal history and the redevelopment, it did slightly remind me of Cardiff.
We returned to Sapporo in the afternoon and had our final dinner of the trip that evening. Another jingisukan, this time on a bigger scale at the Sapporo Bier Garten. We rounded off the evening with another karaoke session.
This was the final day of the Intrepid trip, and the following day I had a travel day back to Tokyo in readiness for my flight home the next day. Sapporo New Chitose Airport is about a 40 minute train ride outside of the city, but is very straightforward to get to. There wasn’t heaps to do once through security though…
I was flying to Tokyo’s Haneda airport and needed to get to Narita airport for my flight out the next day. The road distance between the 2 airports is about 55 miles (88km). Whilst it is possible to get trains (with changes) between the 2, I opted for a limousine bus (aka a coach) which leaves regularly from all terminals at Haneda to all terminals at Narita. You can buy a ticket from the machines in the arrivals hall which helpfully have an English language option. Transport in Japan can be a little overwhelming but I was honestly pleasantly surprised by how much was available in English. And the internet, particularly Google Maps and Reddit, were extremely useful tools in helping me figure stuff out when I was on my own.
Overall I’ve really loved Japan, I’m so pleased that I headed north in addition to the more well-trodden route through southern Honshu, and I’m fairly certain I will go back one day.
catsgreatadventure 