Tag Archive for ‘Hokkaido’
Japan: Sapporo to Nagano on the Twilight Express sleeper
Riding overnight trains must also be a special experience for Japanese. As I sit in the very comfortable and spacious salon car, with its linden-green upholstered sofas and oversize panoramic windows, the merchandise cart comes along. The attendant hands out a menue-like card showing all the items available, branded especially for the Twilight Express. A [...]
Japan: Asahikawa’s Ice Festival
Asahikawa in central Hokkaido will not win the “prettiest town” prize by a long shot, neither in summer nor in winter. Its main claim to fame is being a rail hub for the northern Japanese island, about 80 minutes by train from Sapporo. It also boasts an “Ice Festival” with snow figures and ice sculptures, [...]
Japan: Otaru’s lights and lanterns
Once a flourishing port specializing in the herring trade, Otaru, on Hokkaido’s west coast and about an hour’s train ride from Sapporo, has found out that the tourist trade is far more profitable these days. Since Otaru has a picturesque canal lined with old warehouses, why not make an “Illuminated Night Path” with lanterns on [...]
Japan: Sapporo’s 62nd Snow Festival
What started out 62 years ago as a school boy fun pastime is now a full fledged Snow and Ice Festival in Sapporo, Japan during early February every year. Innocent snowmen with button eyes, a carrot nose and a shawl belong to the past. Now there is corporate sponsorship for monumental structures, intricately carved, fancifully [...]
Japan: Tokyo to Sapporo with the Hokutosei sleeper train
For holders of the JR Railpass, this is a good option to get from Tokyo to Sapporo on the northern island of Hokkaido. The Hokutosei is a tokkyu limited sleeper express and leaves at 7 p.m. from Ueno Station, arriving the next morning at 11:15 a.m. in Sapporo. That is about 17 hours, but there [...]
Entries(RSS)