There are quite a few tourist traps in Sapporo, but perhaps the biggest one of all is the Chocolate Factory, catered especially for the mass Chinese tourist crowds. It’s run by Ishiya, a local chocolate company, that has devised a brilliant
A walking tour of Otaru : Hokkaido
I spent the last summer in Sapporo in Hokkaido, and was looking for daytrips from Sapporo. Otaru was a daytrip promoted to me as the Japanese Netherlands, in that it featured ‘canals’. Japanese tourists from all over Japan who flew in
Lake Toya & Showashinzan : Hokkaido
In the last few days before leaving the scenic Hokkaido region in northern Japan I took a few quick day trips around Hokkaido to see the beauty of this island. One of those were to Lake Toya and the Showashinzan cable car,
Okurayama Ski Jump Stadium : Sapporo
During the summer I spent in Hokkaido one of my favorite things was to go up the cable cars. The Hokkaido region is perfect for that, with high mountains surrounding the urban regions. During the freezing winters, all those mountains
Sapporo summer festivals : Hokkaido
My trip last summer to Sapporo was completely unplanned. I was originally planning to tour the Nagoya area following a conference, but the scorching heat of 35-38c had me looking for cooler alternatives, and Hokkaido seemed like a good alternative.
Nakajima Park & Odori Park: Sapporo
I spent much of the last summer in Japan. The original plan was to roam around the Nagoya area, but with ~35c weather, I quickly changed plans and moved up north to spend most of my time in the lovely
Visions of Otaru : Hokkaido Japan
While I was spending the summer in Sapporo in Hokkaido, the Otaru daytrip was promoted to me as the Japanese Netherlands, in that it had ‘canals’. Japanese tourists from all over Japan who flew in to cool down in the
Shinsen-numa Wetland Swamp : Niseko
During my summer stay at the scenic Hokkaido region in the northern part of Japan, I was based in Sapporo and made occasional trips to see some of the area. In a trip to the Niseko area I made a
Visions of Furano : Hokkaido
While spending the summer in Sapporo in Hokkadio, at the northern region of Japan, I made a number of daytrips to explore a bit of the mountainous region of Furano. I started off with the blue pond and Biei and then
Moerenuma Park : Sapporo
Sapporo has a number of public parks all over the city, but the one I liked the most, by far, was the Moerenuma Park. It’s a bit off the beaten track in already rural Sapporo, but it’s well worth it. Aside from
