Category Archives: Sapporo

10th February: Otaru Lantern Festival

Posted on May 1, 2012 by

We’d been wandering round Otaru most of the day and I had it in mind to visit the canal which I had heard was lined with picturesque nineteenth century stone warehouses. We arrived just after dark and, fortuitously, discovered that … Continue reading →

Posted in Hokkaido, Japan, Otaru, Sapporo | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

10th February: Otaru by Day

Posted on April 29, 2012 by

In the next sleeper on the train on the way to Sapporo, I met a Japanese man with a shared interest in photography and Nikon equipment.  He recommended I visit Otaru, so I did. Otaru is the port for Sapporo, … Continue reading →

Posted in Hokkaido, Japan, Otaru, Sapporo | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

10th February: Sapporo Snow Festival by Night

Posted on April 28, 2012 by

After dinner and when it was dark, I returned to visit the snow sculptures at night. Since we are in Sapporo, founded in the late nineteenth century in what was then largely an Ainu island, I will relate something of … Continue reading →

Posted in Hokkaido, Japan, Sapporo | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

10th February: Sapporo Snow Festival by Day

Posted on April 26, 2012 by

Sapporo holds a snow festival every year in early February, as it has done since 1950.  Obviously, it needs to be cold so the sculptures do not melt.  The average temperature while I was there was -7.3˚C and it was … Continue reading →

Posted in Japan, Sapporo | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

8th to 10th February: From Hakone to Tokyo to Sapporo

Posted on April 25, 2012 by

I returned the rental car though I didn’t manage to find petrol even after driving around all the tiny back streets of Hakone Yumoto.  My Japanese and their English were not good enough to communicate this to the rental company … Continue reading →

Posted in Hakone, Japan, Sapporo | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment