Day Six: Sapporo (A wild Articuno appears!)

As Daniel alluded to, our arrival in Sapporo was bracing to say the least. It seems odd that a train station which accepted so many overnight passengers was wholly unable to accommodate them in any way. So we sat in that godforsaken unheated terminal until some chain cafe opened at 7am.* We stayed in there for three hours, subsisting on their breakfast menu which seemed to largely consist of ham and cheese sandwiches and hot dogs. Before our eyes, Sapporo transformed from some darkened, snowed-in hellhole into a sleek, modern and quite beautiful city (literally – that cafe had a pretty good view).


Feeling a bit better about the place, we ventured forth to our hostel, which is actually really nice. It’s a lot like the city around it: well-organised, clean and relatively new. Our room is 8 tatami mats big, and we use traditional Japanese bedding and furniture. When we first arrived, it was very nice: serene, quaint and clean. Now it looks like this:

First order of business was obvious. We headed to Odori Park, a series of block-sized green spaces in the centre of the city, to catch a glimpse of the major sculptures of the 60th Annual Sapporo Snow Festival. Some had recently copped a fresh snowfall and were looking a little the worse for wear, but others were just spectacular. Monuments to Tokyo’s 2016 Olympic bid, recreations of castles and temples, a whole heap of Disney characters; there was so much going on that it was just nuts. And we made it through the whole thing without stacking it, so that was a plus.

After regrouping at the hostel, we headed out for dinner. Our goal was to seek out “ramen alley” which is exactly what it sounds like: a tiny laneway packed on either side by small noodle joints. The fact that it was snowing heavily didn’t help matters, which was unfortunate because the area was also exhibiting ice sculptures as part of the festival. Hopefully we’ll get some better pics tomorrow.


We’re in Sapporo for (effectively) two more days before we hop a train to Kyoto via Tokyo. Hopefully the journey is easier to do in reverse. In the meantime, though, this is a nice place to spend some time. The hostel is great, there’s wacky snow sculptures everywhere, fresh snow daily and some excellent food options. All is well.

-Nik

*My dad asked if the cappuccinos were up to scratch. To answer your question, I would not know. Coffee culture in Japan leaves something to be desired. It seems to be left largely in the hands of chains like Starbucks and something called Mr. Donut. I walked past one outlet in Tokyo where a sign proudly announced the arrival of their “new” latte coffee. Since then, I have been too terrified to order anything that resembles an espresso from a menu, especially when I can’t see the relevant machinery anywhere behind the counter.