Hokkaido, Japan

– by Passionfruit

We made it through our trip with these four words:

Hello =  Kon’nichiwa
Yes  =  Hai
Delicious  =  Oishi (also Poppy’s middle name)
Thank you  =  Arigatōgo

We loved Japan. Absolutely breathtaking in so many respects. Our only expectation (which is dangerous to have any when traveling) was so to see fall leaves and we did! And then we got a bonus… it snowed!

Before the snow came, we lived it up in Sapporo, where we spent 2 nights (first and last nights) and ate as much ramen as we could find. Sapporo was basically our launch pad for the focus of our trip, Daisetsuzan National Park.

Daisetsuzan means “great snowy mountains”

This place was magical. We stayed in a lodge, hand built by Nappa-san and his wife Mariko-san, both super lovable and kind. The lodge sits in Daisetsuzan National Park, at the base of Asahidake, the highest peak in Hokkaido (2,290 m / 7,510 ft). It’s a prime location for shinrin-yoku and escaping city life.

The lodge is delightfully overflowing with beautiful trinkets, textiles, books, photos, and musical instruments which are literally everywhere (including a marimba and piano). Nappa-san collects and play them all. The kitchen was always active as Mariko cooked breakfast and dinner for all the guests, every day. Meanwhile Nappa-san kept things lively, social and cozy with drinks, music and stoking the wood fueled stoves (three of them).

Wine & Ginko Balls

The second night a group of their friends arrived, apparently they get together once a year to celebrate their friendship. This was year 28! I was hoping they would fold us in to their shenanigans and soon enough they did and we were all sipping wine and eating Ginko balls in the back room together. They even had cake to celebrate the October birthdays (including me)!

We spent the rest of our time soaking in the onsen (a naturally formed hot spring found around volcanic areas like this area). We spent so much time in the onsen that Nappa-san and the guests became concerned. Apparently 5-20 minutes is a normal amount of time, 2 hours is not. We couldn’t help ourselves!

When we weren’t at the lodge, we were hiking. We took the ropeway up to the base of Mount Asahidake. We attempted to hike to the top, but cloud cover rolled in. Instead of taking the ropeway down, we hiked back to the lodge, through bear country. There wasn’t a soul around. It was wild and blissful.

The other days we hiked in the cross country ski trail system, across the road from the lodge (Nappa-san grooms them in the winter). The woods were misty and peaceful as if we entered a Murakami novel. Later that day the snow began to fall and we did the same hike the following day, but in ankle deep snow, which was dreamy. Not a soul around except for birds flapping overhead and the mysterious snowy footprints of some woodland creature.

The Ainu People call this park, “Kamui Mintara”, “God’s Playing Ground”

When it was time to leave Nappa-san and the remaining guests walked us out to our car. Nappa-san gave us wooden chopsticks to use as cross country ski poles in case we got stuck driving down the mountain (he’s a silly one) and Aiko brought her whistle to stop any traffic as we backed up on to the main road. As I said, a pretty lovable, sweet group of people. It was hard to leave this special place.

 

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Sapporo ramen alley!
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Ramen chef in his tiny kitchen
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Strolling the city streets of Sapporo – in PUFFY coats!
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Ramen alley dinner

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Green tea matcha desserts make Scott go doe eyed
Bye, bye Sapporo. We’re off to the wild!
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Amazing GPS system, just type in a phone # and it knows where to go. No need to type Japanese words/characters. Phew!
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All eyes peeled for these cute animals along the highway

We arrive to the lodge, which is the definition of cozy land!

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The back room. Nappa-san’s personal space.
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Nappa-san opened a brewskie for us
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Beautiful instruments everywhere
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The dining room, all furniture made by Nappa-san
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Dinner
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Tea station, always available and ready with hot water

Yukata tips: Do not close right side over left as this means you have passed away. Also, do not tie off in the front as this indicates you are a prostitute. Apparently I was a dead prostitute the first night and we all had a good laugh over that. Always left over right and tied in the back!

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Yukatas for casual lounging were provided fresh everyday.
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Our cozy Tatami mat room was super comfy, but as a (nervous) back-up Scott brought his Big Agnes camping mattress. Ha ha!
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My cute Scott-san!
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Oishi oishi
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Owls bring luck and offer protection from suffering. Nappa-san made these spiritual owl-like sticks. He makes lots of things!
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Nappa-san and my dad believe the Jøtul Norwegian stoves are simply the best.
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Hanging in the fun back room
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Nappa-san’s friends have good taste in Sake
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Who doesn’t enjoy a little French horn after dinner?
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Mimi, a regular here
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Mariko-san (owner & head chef), Aiko and Mimi
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The lodge after a little snow fall
outdoor onsen therapy
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We had it all to ourselves too
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In my top 5 favorite places on earth
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Indoor onsens as well. The Japanese take bathing very seriously.

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Mount Asahidake, the highest peak in the park
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The lodge sits at the base of this beauty
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Volcanic hot spring action, why onsens are popular here
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A hut for emergency stays
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Feathery ice crystals covered all the rocks

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Instead of taking the ropeway down, we hiked all the way down to the lodge, through bear country, in a shallow creek. The terrain was lush and peaceful. Thankfully, no bear sightings!

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Bears are called higuma in Japanese. The higuma are part of the ursus arctos horribilis, known as grizzly bears in North America. They are over 2 meters tall, weigh about 300 kg and can run at a speed of 50 kph.
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Hiking in snow melt… eventually turned creek

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The following day we hiked in the cross country ski trail system

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The only people we encountered in our two days of hiking these trails. How cute is their umbrella?

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We got a medley of weather, including rain and hail while hiking

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The lodge in the mist

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The park lodge is pretty chill

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That night it snowed!
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Then we did the same x-country ski trail hike, in snow!

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In broken English, The Nat. Park lodge told us we could find luminescent moss on our hike and we did!

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While hiking I found this moth (with a very bird-like face). It was in a dormant state due to the quick drop in temps. I found him a cozy home in Nappa-san's wood pile. I hope he made it!
While hiking I found this moth (with a very bird-like face). It was in a dormant state due to the quick drop in temps. I found him a cozy home in Nappa-san’s wood pile. I hope he made it!

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Saying goodbye to a very special place

Nappa-san gave us chop stick ski poles in case our car got stuck.

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Interesting observations seen while driving
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A rather beautiful and mysterious event. The silver car got off the flat bed and drove off. The driver then bowed to them and held this pose for longer than expected.

 

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All construction barriers have cute characters. We even saw Hello Kitty ones on the highway. They certainly make you slow down!

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Back in Sapporo we found an entire floor in a mall dedicated to photo booths.

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We obviously did this one
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The most popular booth. The tagline: “Fall in love with yourself in an instant”
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Drinks at the hotel. I had a red Hokkaido wine and it was pretty good.

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City park strolling

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Shinto (“the way of the gods”) is the indigenous faith of the Japanese people and as old as Japan itself. It remains Japan’s major religion alongside Buddhism.

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The Hokkaidō Shrine (a Shinto shrine).

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This is a Chōzuya. It’s a water-filled basin used by worshippers for washing their left hands, right hands, mouth and finally the handle of the water ladle to purify themselves before approaching the main Shinto shrine. It’s a very simple process, which we partook.
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Snow in the mountains, flowers in the city
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This is a real airline, with a real terminal, with a cafe and playground and so much more. We flew with the only slightly more grown-up airline, Scoot (whose uniforms look straight out of Star-trek).
Sayōnara Japan. We’ll be back.

2 thoughts on “Hokkaido, Japan

  1. Oh, I want to go there. No words can say more. Mama-san Hello Kitty Airline. I am studying the Lodge–they way it is put together. xxxxx

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