hokkaido memo vol. 1

For the uninitiated, Hokkaido is the northernmost island of Japan, often referred to as the "Alaska of Japan". The largest city is Sapporo, home of the beer that bears the same name. Hokkaido was only settled in the mid-19th century, so it lacks the centuries of established history found in other parts of Japan. Sapporo is laid out on an American grid system, and has the feeling of a western frontier town. The terrain of the island is rugged and mountainous, the countryside open and rolling.

I landed in Sapporo Friday afternoon and spent the hours into the evening wandering the city's central districts. There is a lovely park that runs along the north/south dividing line; I stopped briefly to enjoy the late afternoon sun slanting onto a nice fountain. The center of the Friday night action is in Susukino, a neon, flashing, pulsing district full of bars, strip clubs, and late night eateries. I wandered around for about 2 hours until my feet were beginning to ache because I was too shy to try out any restaurants. After becoming accustomed to Korean food and being able to read Korean menus, being alone in a new country where I was unable to read menus made me nervous again. After finally deciding to just go for it, I stopped in to a little curry shop with picture menus and enjoyed a nice fried pork cutlet curry dish.

After dinner, I decided to check out "Snack Team", a bar I had stumbled past several times on my wanderings. The sign outside boasted of blues/rock, and the bar did in fact deliver this. Unfortunately, I was the only patron in the bar, and things were a little awkward between the owner and myself, as neither of us was particularly fluent in the other's language. He did have an excellent blues collection, and a really nice assortment of dusty stereo equipment from the 1970's. My guy put on a very nice Buddy Guy live in Tokyo DVD, and that gave us a bit of a distraction. I sucked down three Kirin draft beers, and was a little disappointed to get the bill, which clocked in just shy of US$30. I justified it to myself by remembering that I was the poor guy's only customer all night. Cool bar though.

I woke up late Saturday morning to make a new friend in my roommate, a guy from California who is into traveling, indie rock, and philosophy. Needless to say, we had plenty to talk about. We attempted to go to the Sapporo brewery, but ended up at the old Sapporo brewery, which is now a mall. Luckily, there was a bit of an impromptu petting zoo going on the central plaza, featuring many strange animals, including a nice beaver. We finally determined that we needed to be at the new Sapporo factory, and quickly made the trek north to the actual factory. Upon arrival, we were a little disappointed to find out that we couldn't really tour the actual beer production facilities, only the "beer museum". Despite the lack of English signage, the beer museum was interesting and fairly informative. There was a very bizarre depiction of the beer brewing process using strange cartoon-like characters, and a wide array of historical Sapporo packaging and product samples.


After the tour, we stepped into the sampling room, and each went for the variety tray. We made friends with a very endearing group of folks sitting next to us, and then they bought us each a beer and snack on their way out. Having not eaten all day, we stepped out in the day squinting from the bright light and neatly buzzing. We wandered downtown and feasted on Sapporo's nearly famous miso ramen. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the city, checking out the parks, and just exploring. We toured a great Japanese grocery store, where we picked up a six pack of Yebisu "The Hop" tall boys, and some dinner box sets. We headed back home via the Hokkaido University campus, and found a lovely creekside bench on which to enjoy our dinners and beers. Upon arrival back at our hostel, we grabbed Kai's guitar (which he has carried for eight months from India up to Japan) and sat out on the street trading songs late into the night.

I got up early the next day and began my trek out to Daisetsuzan National Park, and Asahidake, the tallest peak in Hokkaido. I had originally been interested in camping, hiking, and perhaps even some backpacking around the peak of Asahidake, but as I neared the resort area, it became clear that the weather was more fitted to skiing than hiking and backpacking. Several meters of snow still piled up on the ground at the mountain's base. It also became clear that I had picked one of the most popular holiday weeks for domestic travel in Japan. I arrived at the resort area greeted by basically laughing faces at the two reasonably priced places to stay when I told them I didn't have a reservation but wanted a bed for the night. I grumpily decided to suck it up and try the giant, super fancy hotel across the street. I started to panic when even that place was booked up. Luckily, there was an incredibly friendly, English speaking woman at the desk who offered to call around and find me a room. The staff of this super classy lodge were more than willing to invite my sweaty, dirty, backpacked self into their reception seating area and offer me tea. The women got me a single room down the road, and I stumbled down to check in. The room ran me about US$100, but it did involve a nice dinner and a warm, private shower.

Despite the setbacks, Asahidake was a wonderful and stunning area. The mountain rose majestically in the background, and rustic log lodges dotted the snowy, forested hills. A nice little river ran through the "town", steaming from the hot mineral spring water that washed out from the many onsen (public baths). The air was clean and cold and wonderful. It was just what I needed, an open space, a tall mountain, and peopleless landscape. Having gotten my mountain fix, I left on the bus next morning and headed down to a town on the edge of the mountains.