Sapporo - The Storm Hits

8th Jan, 2005 - The day starts with a cold wind, and the bit-between-my-teeth, I head out to exhume the car. I felt like some very badly dressed (and not so handsome) Indiana Jones... in search of some lost ancient treasure. Anyone seen a Toyota around here?... Ah... there it is.


We were going shopping today, and that meant using the car. The weather wasn't great even as we headed off....

The futility of a snow-dump-truck trying to quickly offload it's not-so-precious cargo whilst another countless tonne of snow started falling down upon the city did not elude me.

It's funny how our perspective becomes slave to habit. I can't help tilting my head every time I see this photo. Not sure if this is common anywhere else in the world (but in Australia we like our traffic lights vertical).

It starts - all of a sudden - getting quite dark, and the snow starts sweeping in over Sapporo. It's fubuki... a snow storm.

Actually, the photos most probably give a slightly better impression than that which I had being a passenger in the car. Visibility was very limited (and the wipers were going like they were trying to take off) - and T-chan had to drive very slowly. Whilst this driving is quite dangerous if you're not used to it, it's not as bad as black ice, which typically occurs at night and in the morning when the snow/water melts and re-freezes on the road. Hard to see and incredibly slippery. Thankfully, most cars in Sapporo are either 4WD or AWD, and just prior to winter everyone changes over to their winter tyres. You just need a lot of patience and a little bit of courage...

We arrive at the shop (a nearby Sanwado)... to be honest - as I write this, I wonder what it was that we wanted from the shop so badly that we thought it a good idea to brave the snow-storm. There is a Mister Donut here... but I don't think even I am that big a fan.

T-chan looks quite casual - however - that was largely due to the cold locking all of her joints together. Of course, for local dosanko (person from Hokkaido), this is just another Winters day. Actually the name dosanko derives from the name for the famous Hokkaido horses, also known as the Hokkaido Washu. Not that flattering a connection really. 

Hmmm... T-chan's not very happy being compared to a horse.

The strange thing was that after spending perhaps an hour or so shopping, we left to find the skies almost clear.... the snow storm was over.

Literally within the space of about 10-20 mins, the day had suddenly turned clear; the fresh winters air teasing your senses and your exposed skin... It's amazing to me that the day could transition so quickly, as if the city had spent all of it's fury and passion, and now exhausted, had changed it's mood into a benign, even happy one.

The only reminder that there had been a snow-storm was the tonnes and tonnes of piled up snow.

Ah - home sweet home. Who would have thought that the weather had been so bad earlier in the day.

Despite the bad weather, there's something exciting about snow-storms. If you've seen the movie the Ice Storm (another great Ang Lee movie), you know the feelings of tension that can build prior to and during a big-freeze. Then again, these sorts of storms are pretty regular in Sapporo, so the tension never gets a chance to build up too much. Plus, there's enough clear days to get and about and blow off some steam. Or in this case, snow.

A Quiet Sapporo Day - Something Wicked This Way Comes...

7th Jan, 2005 - We awake to an eerie quiet - the dim light lets us know that it's going to be another cold day. The snow has been steadily building up; the ice gradually invading the skylight with it's crystalline plans to conquer this white world.

Winter in Sapporo, at least in T-chan's house is a strange contradiction. Outside the cold threatens to consume all; however inside the warmth of the floor heating (and especially the heated toilet seats... ahhhhh) conspire to fool you into thinking the weather is not so bad outside. In fact, you can quite easily walk around in just a loose shirt.

Today, there's not so much snow outside... yet the film of white has covered the surrounds...

And the clouds over the mountains offer only the promise of more snow on the way.

It is an inhospitable country when the winter comes in - and even the Japanese trees need help to survive the winter. It is common to bring out the supports in November - a job that is often done by professional gardeners... but T-chan's Otousan is a part-time gardener himself.

This is called yukitsuri, (or yukigakoi) or snow suspension, and is designed to support the additional weight of the snow on the branches. There are many examples in parks of extreme yukitsuri that look like some strange kind of modern art.

Another feature of the Japanese gardens in Sapporo (as in other cold parts of Japan), is the effort expended to cover the more vulnerable plants in a protective covering using a combination of thin bamboo ribs and a synthetic hessian material. This keeps the majority of the snow away from the plants and the root system.

It's a full days job to cover the plants in even a modest garden.

Indeed after a heavy snow, the plants can be all but buried in the snow, but will be protected enough to come out bright and early come spring.

You may well ask - what happens to all that snow that we shovel off the driveway? The simple answer is... off the driveway and onto the road... at least the roads edge. This is based on the principle that (a) there's not that many pedestrians walking around in winter, and (b) the council is responsible for snow-shovelling the streets. Actually - I told a lie... almost as many people walk in winter as in summer - and indeed it might be safer to walk to the subway than try and drive your car.

In the meantime... it's a quiet day today - but there's a sense of something coming.

A Cold Night Out in Sapporo Town

5th Jan, 2005 - The night in a Sapporo Winter can be a little on the daunting side... if there's snow about, the city lights can cast an eerie glow to the world. The air is cold at this time - and it's a good thing for double-glazing (something that's almost unheard of here in Australia).

Come the next day however, the sun is out, and there's blue (albeit cold) sky above our heads. There's something so refreshing about a cold Sapporo morning... or is that the blood rushing from my skin?

The train ride to Sapporo Station is a quick one (about  15 min for us) and it's always on time. Below you can see Teine-yama rising above the horizon.

The trains are comfortable - and whilst this isn't peak hour, even then they don't get oppressively crowded. The trains are easy in Japan... there's always a ticket machine with a handy map showing the price of the ticket required - which can always be adjusted at the destination if you put the incorrect amount on the ticket. A word of warning - using mobile phones and listening to loud music on the train is considered rude in Japan, though this is becoming more prevalent with younger people.

I'm not sure how digital camera's are considered.

One of the great things about Sapporo is the extent to which there are underground malls (such as Paseo, Stellar Place, Pole Town, Aurora Town etc). These are especially convenient come winter time. The shops are generally small - but there's great variety. Actually there are two major centres (Sapporo Station and Odori) which will soon be joined by an underground shopping mall (like the one shown below). If I remember correctly that will be completed in 2011/12... the amazing thing is that they're building underneath a road whilst the road's in use.

After an afternoon of shopping, we get ready for a night out with T-chan's best friend, T2-chan. It gets dark quick in Sapporo during winter.

We went to Tenkuu (Hidden Dining) Izakaya. This is a great little place - especially for atmosphere. People sit in their own little "earthen pod", which are spotted around an underground maze of steps and dark passageways. The food is ok (not brilliant), but you're paying for the ambience.

Lots of low-doorways and steps... have to watch your head and your step.

Afterwards we went to visit a Sapporo King Xmhu (pronounced Mu) who is like the patron deity of Suskino and the Sapporo nightlife. If you're confused, this was one of the largest icon night clubs in Suskino - but seems to have become just a venue these days. T-chan spent a bit of her crazy youth going to places like this. Ah - back when we were young.

By the way - if you're an enterprising man of good character living in Sapporo, T2-chan may be interested in meeting you. Japanese girls are struggling to find good partners these days, and T2-chan is one of those great gals just missing out on finding a good guy. I have to say that I don't understand why Japanese men are so stoopid... so many great women in Japan are single... but not necessarily in a "Sex in the City" kinda way. ?;-)

Hokkaido Jingu - A Cold Snowy Hatsumode

2nd Jan, 2005 - Whilst it's best to visit the local Shrine shortly into the New Year, there's generally a bit of grace period... which is good because if everyone went at the same time it would be VERY BUSY. Even on the second of Jan, it was quite busy at Hokkaido Jingu or Shrine. This was my first Hatsumōde, even though I had seen examples of it on TV. In Hokkaido, it is a cold experience... but you certainly know you've been.

The shrine itself is (literally) sealed off behind plastic. I'm not sure if that's to keep the people or the snow out, but it didn't seem to degrade people's enthusiasm. The offering box has also been moved out of the Shrine... this is peak time for throwing some copper in the collection box for good luck.

There's always other things to do - such buy and put up an ema board (which mean picture-horse) as a personal votive offering. Actually ema originated from horse offerings to the Shinto Gods. It's a good thing that the offering has been simplified somewhat... might be hard carrying around a horse in this day and age - especially in the car.

And if ema aren't your thing than you can always buy a charm - and you will find an abundance of charms for every occasion at most Shinto Shrines.

Examples are shown below with the essential New Year fortune (left) known as omikuji, and an example of one of the overall good luck charms (right) known as omamori. There are a set number of fortune templates that you can get - ranging from good to bad. This particular omikuji is known as suekichi - and is generally one of the worse ones. What I should have done was to have tied the bad omikuji to one of the stands (or attached to pine trees) allowing you to free yourself of the bad luck. I forgot. D'oh!

 This Omamori is for general good luck, and its the sort of thing that you keep close to you (this one calls my wallet home).... but then again I also keep my bad-luck omikuji there! Do these balance out?

The day comes to an end... like many if not all shrines in Japan, the approach to the shrine is often where you will find many street vendors - especially food vendors. On a cold day like today - something hot to eat is a good option. You'll find such culinary delights as chocolate banana's, cotton candy, frankfurts and amazake (a low alcohol rice wine). Ok - it won't win any food awards.

It was a good day - but remember to be prepared for lots of people. And very busy car parks. Even in the cold Hokkaido winter.

A 2005 New Year - Of Snow and Fukubukuro

1st Jan, 2005 - After an eventful night, we awoke to find the world covered in an even thicker quilt of white, cold snow. The new year would be a cold one, if the first day was anything to go by.

In Japan, there is a concept of the first of the year.. such as the first sunrise (Hatsuhinode) or the first visit of to the local Shinto Shrine (Hatsumōde)... in this case it was going to be the first snow-shovel of the year. I'm not sure what you would call that in Japanese... Actually T-chan's family are lucky (with a new-ish house) in that they have a heated driveway.... however, on a bad day, even that doesn't help you!

T-chan helps - but I get the feeling that she's a little over-dressed. One of the down-sides of coming back to Japan from Australia is that you often don't bring a wide range of clothes. Certainly not enough clothes for every occasion.

It wasn't such good weather to visit Hokkaido Shrine, so we looked for nearer things to do... After clearing the driveway and cars, T-chan and I go to do some New Years shopping at the local Seiyu store (a cross between supermarket and department store)... 

There's a tradition in Japan of the "fukubukuro" (or lucky bag). It's based on the idea of a lucky dip - a shop will often have a range of sealed bags which can be purchased at reasonable prices 2,000 - 10,000 yen. You don't know (generally) what's inside until you've bought it, but it's generally (fingers crossed) a good bargain. The good thing about buying fukubukuro is that you can always on-sell on the internet auction sites (the discounts are often > 50+% off), so you can even come out of it with a little pocket money if you don't like what you find. I was happy with my choice - 

Actually Seiyu was controlled by Walmart (the US giant) who purchased a controlling share in December 2005 - and since they have owned it, the chain supermarket/department store has been going downhill. It just goes to show that some commercial business models do not translate well in a global economy. There have been some positives however with Seiyu being one of the first retailers to gain ISO 14001 certification for eco-management in 2007 (well before green-bonanza - which faded into the green-almost-revolution as the world's economies headed south in the global financial crisis). Unfortunately, Walmart didn't appreciate that the Japanese actually would pay more for quality - and infact, did not necessarily respond well to the "we sell for less" mantra.

Shopping over, we headed  back home. The rest of Sapporo was looking like a premonition of things to come. New Years Day in Japan is always pretty quiet - with people electing to spend quality time at home instead. Of course, it doesn't help when the weather's cold out.

The local shops are "on holidays" for the day... but it won't take long for business to pick-up again (even with a lot of snow). It's nice to know that even in the heart of the capitalist dream, that the Japanese can take time out to relax (when they're not buying fukubukuro).

Despite the snow of the night before, the snow-tractors (employed  by the local government to keep the roads clear) are often out of commission on New Years Day in the suburban streets. Anyway - it's meant to be a holiday isn't it?

New Year's Eve 2004 - Families Together

New Years Eve, 2004 - This was going to be a slightly different New Years, and my first one in Japan. T-chan's family had put together a wonderful dinner -including the hokkaido kegani or hairy crab (bottom), sashimi (middle), the vegetable stew known as umani and a special dish of osechi (top) which is a traditional New Year dish that is designed to keep long enough to last through the New Year - and is meant to give the overworked mother a break. The four blue-ish cups are for chawanmushi, a steamed egg custard dish that T-chan's mother calls her "treasure pot". Towards the end of the night, T-chan,s family will then have toshikoshi (year passing) soba noodles which are meant to be good luck for life into the new year. New year is also the time for the long, long variety shows on tv. It's an interesting night.

Before we got to eat the wonderful dinner however, we had to thoroughly clean the house. From top to bottom. It's also an old tradition (called ōsōji) to welcome the new year in with a clean house. It's a bit old-school, and I have to say, hard work... but then again, it adds to the sense of a family day as everyone gets involved.

This New Years was going to be especially meaningful for a number of reasons. One of the main reasons why we were back in Japan again was because T-chan's grandfather (ojiichan) had become very sick. T-chan's family had renovated their garage into a small apartment for him (rather than living in an old-age facility). He was really not well - and whilst we didn't talk about it, we knew this was likely to be his last New Years. He had been in hospital for a while before I had arrived, and had been given permission to be discharged for the weekend to be with family. I had met ojiichan first on my previous trip, and he had come to our pre-wedding party at the Grand Hotel. He was one of these indomitable characters that still had a great deal of life even in the direst of circumstances.

Ojiichan enjoyed the New Years Eve dinner with his family, and it was a special moment. Unfortunately however, ojiichan became sick again shortly after and was re-admitted to hospital. A few months after we had come back from Japan, we heard the sad news that ojiichan had passed away. This had been T-chan's last chance to be with her grandfather. It was both a sad and happy time for us - certainly, it can be hard on families when you immigrate to another country. We were very glad to have come back when we did - and were able to share the time with ojiichan. It was a special New Years Eve.

Rest in peace, and thankyou for everything ojiichan.