Field Report: Asahikawa, Japan (08 February 2014)

08Feb14 Asahikawa Winter Festival 026

Yesterday’s trip to Asahikawa was a great experience, but there’s a lot more to the city than just its famous zoo, especially at this time of year.

Welcome to the third winter festival of our journey.

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Field Report: Otaru, Japan (07 February 2014)

07Feb14 Otaru Snow Light Path 013

The use of the adjective “magical” tends to send me retching, but I’ll admit that the word entered my mind as I enjoyed a candlelit evening in a small city on Hokkaidō’s Sea of Japan coast.

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Field Report: Asahikawa, Japan (07 February 2014) – Part 2/2

07Feb14 Asahikawa Asahiyama Zoo 006

Watching paint dry is one thing. Watching penguins strut their stuff on an icy catwalk is another.

I don’t know about you, but I’d rather see the latter.

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Field Report: Asahikawa, Japan (07 February 2014) – Part 1/2

07Feb14 Sapporo-Asahikawa Asahiyama Zoo Train 006

Diego’s off to visit Japan’s northernmost zoo, in Hokkaidō’s second-largest city. But we don’t even have to wait until we arrive to get a taste of the animal experience – because in this case, the zoo comes to us!

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Field Report: Sapporo, Japan (06 February 2014) – Part 3/3

06Feb14 Sapporo Yuki Matsuri Susukino 012

The Sapporo Yuki Matsuri isn’t just a daytime affair. In fact, it seems that the festival atmosphere only really kicks in when the sun goes down and the lights come on. We’ve had a taste of that on the first night, when we visited the main venue at Ōdōri Park – but there’s lots more to see at the third and final site, in Sapporo’s main entertainment district of Susukino.

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Food Report: Lavi (ESTA Branch, Sapporo)

06Feb14 Sapporo Soup Curry Lavi Esta 003

In terms of fun and enjoyment, the Sapporo Yuki Matsuri was certainly hot, hot, hot . . . but not even the festival atmosphere could keep the weather from being so very cold, cold, cold. I’ve never bundled myself up so thickly in my entire life, with enough layers on my person to stock a clothing store – and whilst all that protection helped keep my outsides warm, after a long day of outdoor sightseeing my insides felt like they needed a bit of heating up from within.

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Field Report: Sapporo, Japan (06 February 2014) – Part 2/3

06Feb14 Sapporo Yuki Matsuri Odori 008

One Sapporo Yuki Matsuri site down, two more to go. Now for a return visit to the focal point of this year’s festivities.

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Field Report: Sapporo, Japan (06 February 2014) – Part 1/3

06Feb14 Sapporo Yuki Matsuri Tsudome 017

The Sapporo Yuki Matsuri is a big annual event, and it has a giant footprint to match: no less than three large venues in different parts of Hokkaidō’s snowy capital. We’ll hit all three sites today, starting with a place that’s great fun for families.

Continue reading “Field Report: Sapporo, Japan (06 February 2014) – Part 1/3”