The Mysterious Waters of Touya-ko & Vengeful Cars

31st October, 2003 - We stayed the night at Sun Palace , one of the larger family-friendly onsen that faces onto the lake. Actually, one of the good things about Touya-ko is that every night there's fireworks on the lakes... fairly decent fireworks as well. The onsen is good too - but a modern style. Lots to do, and lots to eat.

Actually the onsens are fairly new here... they only discovered the hot springs around 1910. We were lucky they did; even if Touya-ko is a bit touristy nowadays.

The lake, as mentioned before is actually sitting in the residual of a giant volcano that had destroyed itself in a distant eruption. Indeed it's the third largest such caldera lake in Japan. At 180m deep, it's also one of the scariest. It's so deep, ice doesn't form on it in winter. The lake itself is about 43 km around, and about 9-11 km wide.

Youtei-zan stands off in the distance, looking more and more like Fuji-san.

But I wasn't the only witness to this view.

And not being a fisherman, I don't know if these make good eating or not - but there were a lot of them. Apparently the mineral rich water isn't that plentiful with life...

Actually, after we had finished up with our last trip to the onsen, packed the car and headed out on our way to Noboribetsu, we made a very quick stop at a convenience store just outside of Touya-ko. T-chan was in the car waiting for me whilst I went in to buy some food/drink for the drive. As I came out, I decided to take one last photo of Showa Shinzan from a different angle... T-chan and her Sera were parked just below the frame of the photo below.

Remember- Sera's have gull-wing doors (very cool, unless for whatever reason the car starts rolling backward and the door closes by itself - due to gravity - and catches your finger in it). As I approached the car, I noticed T-chan was yelling something at me... I just casually assumed she was telling me to hurry up and finish taking photos. I didn't realise till later that she was yelling because she was just about to faint. I realised something was wrong (I'm not that quick out of the blocks), and opened the Sera doors. Her finger (which had been stuck in the door whilst she was desperately holding her foot on the brake) was now about 4mm thick... about the thickness of her finger bone. I don't have photos of that moment...unfortunately... but it was a shocking thing to happen on our romantic getaway...

Suddenly I was feeling very vulnerable as T-chan was really in a lot of pain; we were a long way from home; and my Japanese is shockingly bad. What to do?

After perhaps 20 mins in the convenience store trying to restore some life to her finger, T-chan bravely said that she could go on. As long as I drove her car. Her car is a manual - I drive automatics. Her car is possessed with a vengeful spirit... the road to Noboribetsu is long and windy. Halfway along, we came across signs warning of dangerous conditions ahead due to slippery surface. T-chan started worrying more about my driving than her finger. That was a good sign. Wasn't it?

Thankfully there aren't many times you need to stop (hill starting was not my strong point). The Sera was having her revenge, as this was literally the last day that T-chan would drive it.

The drive to Noboribetsu was beautiful, but we weren't able to easily enjoy it. T-chan was tenderly reviving her poor fingers (at least there were still 5 of them, and a whole spare hand as well). Meanwhile I was bare-knuckle driving the Sera for my life. Half wanting to hurry up to get to our destination - half trying to do my best impression of "Driving Miss Daisy".

There was some breath-taking scenery along the way. You can just make out Touya-ko in the distance. Thank god for cameras... but to hell with the person who invented gull-wing doors! We would soon be getting a closer look at hell... but that's still to come...

Touya-ko and Mischievous Usu-zan

30th October, 2003 - Driving into Touya-ko, you don't get the impression that you've suddenly come across one of the largest remnant volcanoes in Japan. Indeed the huge lake is actually a enormous caldera crater left over from an enormous eruption that had literally blown the top off the previous volcano. Now all that remains is the deep, deep lake.

A note on spelling... the proper name is Tōya-ko which should be written as Touya-ko. You will often see the "u" omitted, to leave just Toya-ko. Youtei-zan is another example where this occurs. This occurs all the time in English web translation of Japanese names.

 From Youtei-zan, it's another 50+ km to get to Toya-ko



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The volcanic story of Touya-ko is far from over however... back in 2000, Usu-yama (actually it was the nearby connected volcanic cone, Nishi-yama) erupted in a spectacular display of force. This volcanic system has erupted every 20-50 years since the 1600's when it awoke from slumber.

The eruption was announced by pronounced activity around 31st March - with major land deformation and crater formation by the 5th April with activity peaking around the 7-10th April. The volcano continued till about June...

Nowadays the area is still active, the air filled with the noxious sulfurous gases... it's as if we had discovered a gateway to a grim apocalyptic future...

Where man had surrendered begrudgingly to the forces of nature. During the eruption, about 16,000 people had been evacuated from Touya-ko and surrounding areas - leading to no known deaths. Alas however, the nearby homes were lost - now a stark reminder of humans (fool-hardy) ability to defy the inevitable. There's a good Volcano Science Centre located near the volcano.

Around the end of WWII, there were a series of earthquakes that had disturbed Touya-ko's then sleepy existence. The resulting earth disturbance lead to a bulging of the surface, that eventually came to be known as Showa Shinzan (Showa-era new mountain)... It's about 300m high, and continues to grow - a disturbing reminder that not all of geologies actions are slow by our standards.

Showa-Shinsan can best be seen by taking the scenic ropeway to the summit of Usu-zan. It costs around 1,300 yen (adult) so it's not a cheap trip... however.. it's worth it.

At the top you'll get amazing views across both the Touya lake...

And find a stark landscape atop the summit, with just a hint of beauty amongst the volcanic desolation.

The views out across Uchiura Bay are glorious. It's the Pacific Ocean ... and it's beautiful.

And another view of Uchiura Bay, with volcanic steam venting through Usu-zan's top.

Youtei-zan... the Waters from the Gods

30th October, 2003 - T-chan and I head off to Toya-ko for a night away... but on the way we drove to Youtei-zan, which is one of the most prominent volcanic mountains around Hokkaido. Indeed it's apparently referred to as the Fuji of the North. It's about 120 km drive from Sapporo, and a good  thing to add to the Touya-ko trip. You'll see this peak prominantly in the distance if you're off to Niseko in the winter time. There's no snow at this time of the year... but the autumn clouds gather and threaten a cold snap.

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Youtei-zan stands about 1890m tall... and it's one of those classical conical shapes that always looks better from afar than up close. Yes you can climb it as well... remember your cow-bell. This is definitely bear country.

We were on a mission... Yotei no Fukidashi-Kouen (translates to Youtei's Spout Park ... or something like that) which is near the Kyogoku township. That's right - we weren't here for the view. We were after the water. 

The spring itself is well catered for in terms of visitor facilities - but I suspect that foreign visitors would rarely come to visit... water-drinking just doesn't rate high on most tourist's list of things to do.

The spring runs strong, the waters making its way down through the stones, through the mineral rich soil, to the man-made lake below. It's a beautiful area, and worth a stop even if you're not really into water.

It's quite common in Japan that people come specifically to collect these sorts of natural spring waters - and Youtei water is famous all over Japan. This spring water was even considered one of the top 100 waters in Japan... but the fact that Japan has a top 100 waters tells me so much more about the Japanese than it does about the water.

The water is so pure that people drink straight from the spring. To be honest, the rationalist in me says this is a bad, BAD idea (knowing how bacteria can develop in natural water courses...). Still when in Rome, grit your teeth and do as the Romans do... Hmmm yummy... water. We had brought some water containers purely for the purpose of bringing water back to T-chans parents. Luckily our stomachs came through without any problems.

The spring generates about 80,000 tonnes of water per day, so I don't think that they will miss the odd litre or two. But the local diety keeps a watchful eye over proceedings anyhow...doumo arigatou gozaimashita angry sword-bearing god!

It's a strange area - part national park, part spring, part sacred land, and part tourist trap. In Japan, it's not unusual to be many things at once.

Now off to Touya-ko!

Peace Waterfall (Sapporo)

24th October, 2003 - Time waits for no man (or even woman)... and at times like these when time seems to be racing away you can really appreciate moments of peace. That's what you find at the peace waterfall (heiwa no taki). Ok - it's not going to win any height awards, and I can't see too many daring fellows crashing over this baby in a barrel to impress their girlfriends, but... in Autumn it's a beautiful spot.

It's a bit of a drive (about 12 km from the city centre by car)...see the map below.

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The waterfall is next to a forest that makes for good walking (in good weather) - but this time, it really is getting into the bears domain. So be careful... Also, expect a steady stream of local residents coming down for a peaceful drive or stroll to the waterfall. 

Watch your step...

The path leads right down to the waters edge...

Not far from the Peace Waterfall, you can find small parks such as this one which are beautifully decorated in Autumn colours.

And a closer look at those very happy carp... no fish and chips tonight my friends, not tonight.  (|8^/)

The waterfall and surrounding area are a great place to get back to nature - especially the walks around the hills.

It's most probably not going to make it to the top 10 of things to do in Sapporo if you're on a tight timeline however.  Let the local Sapporo people enjoy this little treasure.

More Sapporo Pioneers - BIG TALL ONES

23rd October, 2003 - Just down the road from the Historical Village is another memorial to the pioneers of Sapporo and Hokkaido... it's called the 100th Anniversary Memorial Park (Hyakunen Kinentou)... although you might think they'd mention what the anniversary was for!! Actually, like many parks in Sapporo, it's a very nice park... but unlike many parks in Sapporo this one has a very VERY BIG ...... thing.  ?;`) To be honest, I'm not sure what they were thinking when they made this other thing than... "let's make it big". Ok... Actually you can climb it (not sure I'd go in there on a dark afternoon though)... and you can perhaps make out the observation deck about 3-4 stories up. That gives you some sense of scale.

It's not a bad view of Sapporo, and to be honest, this memorial can be seen from a long distance away.

And you never know who you might bump into when you go for a walk in a Sapporo park. Oops... do I know you?

But if Hollywood has taught us anything, it is this... the folly of man is in our pride and our desire to make great big edifices to our dominance over the earth. In the end, nature has a way of tearing down our towers of hubris. It was a terrible, terrible sight to witness to...  ?;^P

(No Godzilla jokes please - sorry T-chan)

The park is free, and so is the tower observation deck. Don't go in with high expectations and you won't be disappointed. Also - you couldn't go to the Historical Park and not come here... that would be wrong.

Moiwa-yama Lookout (Sapporo)

20th October, 2003 - Driving up to Moiwa-yama, one of the best vantage points of Sapporo, you can't help but feel you're close enough to touch Sapporo city. The normal way to get to the top is to catch the ropeway, but if you have access to a car, you can drive almost all the way to the summit for free.

Unfortunately - the ropeway, roadway and lookout will all be closed from April to Sept-Oct 2011 for renovation. That's a long wait!

At 531 m the view is spectacular. Actually, it's not too dissimilar to Adelaide's Mt Lofty which stands at ariound 710 m and has a similar outlook. Strangely, there's a few similarities between Sapporo and my home town of Adelaide... I might go through the similarities at the end of this trip... a snapshot from Mt Lofty is shown below (sorry no night-shots)...

Now - back to Moiwa-yama; I have to say that whilst the views were great, the weather was quite cold for this time of year (not quite up to Hakodate cold... but it was pretty cool up there at night).

Perhaps Moiwa-yama is most famous as a romantic location to take your date - and stare longingly into each others smiley-face eyes... and the drive up to the summit can inspire some romantic thoughts... ok, the starry skies are missing in most large light-saturated Japanese cities, but this is the closest thing you'll find.