Day 10 - Yuki Matsuri (Sapporo)

9th February, 2003 - After a rest day - and my making a good traditional meal of Lasagne and garlic bread (actually it's not always that easy to find ingrediants for Western foods in Japanese supermarkets). We got ready for a night-time expedition back into Sapporo. Sapporo is definitely a winter city, and you have to wonder really at how their gardens survive the thick snow that buries them each year. The answer is - with a lot of care (and wooden supports to bear the weight of the snow).

We jumped on the subway and headed off to Odori Koen for another perspective of the Yuki Matsuri.


Even outside of Yuki Matsuri, Odori Koen is normally lit up - especially during winter to really look beautiful... but you have to watch out for those streets... during the night ice forms on the roads and even though they don't look that bad, they can be as slippery as hell! Odori Koen was apparently developed over a century ago as a natural fire break between north and south parts of the city - 100 metres wide and 12 blocks long. Perfect place to have a snow festival!

Sapporo TV Tower looks much more scenic at night.,, surrounded by a fairy garden of lights.

One of the scenes captured in snow was that of Captain Matthew Perry - a critical figure in Japanese history... and an American. Perry came to Japan with one mission. To open it up to American trade. This he aceheived using quintessential gunboat diplomacy... The first impact of this was that the port city of Hakodate (in Hokkaido) and Shimoda were officially sanctioned as open trading ports. More on Hakodate later...

A return to Edo-jo... looks different under lights!

Not sure those stairs would be easy to climb...

Stitch meets Mickey and Minnie... why - who can tell?

What happens at night? Many of the sculptures get rebuilt! Hard work... especially in the cold!

Day 9 - Sapporo City (Sapporo)

8th February, 2003 - Leaving Hokkaido Jingu we made our way into the city centre again to visit one of, if not the, sights of Sapporo. In fact it's an icon of the city - and a very good example why one should never put much weight on icons. The building is the Sapporo Tokeidai, or clock tower. The building was constructed in 1878 as part of the Hokkaido University - and is presently the oldest building remaining in Sapporo. There are few things remarkable about this building (beyond perhaps the colonialist design that marked the development of Sapporo)... what is remarkable is how much of a tourist attraction it is... and is supposedly one of Japan's three great disappointments in terms of tourism. If you do go and see the tower, there are exhibitions on the top floor (200 yen entry fee) - but also for a good photo op, go across the road (out the front) as there's a building with stairs and balcony from which you can take good photos. If that's your thing.

Leaving the inspiring Tokeidai, we then walked down to the former Hokkaido Government Building (built in 1873) which is now largely used as a public garden - and is quite spectactular in spring (see later trips). There are a number exhibitions inside, and is free to enter. Today however, we were admiring another of the sites for the Guinness World Record attempt.

After a day of sight-seeing, T-chan's family took us all out to a dinner of sushi at a very, very nice restaurant. We had a private room - and it didn't take a genius to realise that this was something special. And like most special restaurants, you could just tell you didn't deserve it... T-chan's family spent much time taking in the atmosphere, commenting on each dish as if it were a work of art, and especially considering each choice of plate. To me, it was nice sushi - but then again, until 6 months earlier, I had hardly eaten any Japanese food at all! ? : p  Of xourse, like most very nice cuisine - volume was not the main selling point.

It was very yummy - shame I'm such an uncultured swine! Arigatou otousan & okaasan!!