Kari & Dines Bjørner August 24, 2006Hokkaido, Japan: 11-18 August, 2006
Trip was made during the Japanese Obon Festival week. For info on Obon, Buddhist festival, see:
Uneventful flight, ANA. Hauled our one suitcase, one carry-on, Dines' computer bag, an umbrella and Kari's small bag the 500 meters down to the nearest Airport Limousine bus stop. 1100 Ye oer operson, 40 mins. Flight took 1 hour 20 mins.
Walked downtown, up and down Sapporo's North/South, East/West streets a la N.Y. Had a delightful cold buckweat noodle at this shop:
Otherwise something of a dismal town.
First highlight of our Hokkaido vacation. A seaport, some 40 mins. by train from Sapporo. Center, in "ye olde days" for music box industry, competing with Switzerland's. Also glass making. And fisheries.
The second highlight of our Hokkaido vacation. A "skansen" of city houses from the late 1800s and early 1900s and also some fine farm buildings.
Uneventful 4 hour trip, along coastal areas, mostly. Japan is actually not very beautiful. Uncontrolled, unhindered building destroys any resemblance of vernacular architecture, any resemblance of hundreds of years of cultural landscape.
The third highlight of our Hokkaido vacation. One of the first ports to open to the West, Hakkodate has many fine "Western" style buildings spread across town and an old foreigners' cemetery.
Uneventful 2.5 + 3 hour trip, along coastal areas, mostly. Japan is still not very beautiful.
Arrived at Kushiro at 3:15 pm. Walked "downtown" and along river/harbour between 4pm and 6pm. Had two fine cocktails in the, our Prince Hotel 17th floor lounge and a fine sushi and sashimi dinner in the adjoining counter restaurant. All the while Kushiro was foggy. No view from the 17th floor.
Two hour bus trip, 2650 Yen per person, 7:25-9:20 am. Rainy, foggy.
Arrived at 9:35 am. Got into our room at 1:30pm. Meanwhile we walked around the tiny resort place with 10 very large resort hotels, especially around the one short street of Ainu shops. Umbrellas in use all the time. Akan-ko is along the lake. Fog concealed any redeeming sights there might have been.
Our hotel, 5 and 6 nights ago and now again was the splendid Sapporo Grand Hotel, the "grand old, yet smart, lady" of Sapporo. Their "1934" bar, from the year the hotel was built, possibly has one of the best bartenders in - well, perhaps the world: Mr. Takahashi, also chairman of the Japanese Barmens Association (yes, barmen (French), not bartender (US)).
Friday am we walked to the Sapporo Botanical Gardens. What a disappointment: Lots of weed, hardly any flowers, no real concept, a dismal "Green House", and a tiny Ainu Museum - our reason for going there.
We had a delightful French lunch at the Sapporo train station Nikko hotel, 9th floor, great view, rather reasonable price, four courses and a Cotes du Rhone wine!
The Japanese seems very awed by this rickety-rackety train that moves at very slow, but still so unsteady a speed, maybe 60-89 kms., molstly, that one cannot conveniently work at one's laptop!
In fact all - also intercity (i.e., Ltd. Super Express) trains on Hokkaido were like that - unlike trains in Europe where one can work comfortably.
See also: The "Twilight Express"
You see them all over Japan, and we have shown some from Wajima.
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The translation was initiated by Dines Bjorner on 2006-08-24