In February, Sapporo, Hokkaido (northern Japan) has a snow festival. I took a couple of days off work to go to it, as well as the nearby Otaru snow festival. It was my second time to Hokkaido in less than a year and it was really great (despite the cold weather). (so, this is a few months late now)
Food
Hokkaido's regional foods tend to be less rice-based (comparatively, although there's still a lot of rice). It is famous for seafood and local varieties of ramen.
For example, Ramen Yokocho, near the south part of the city centre, is a tiny lane filled with ramen shops. I went there once by myself and then again with two friends who I met up with.
 |
| Ramen Yokocho. Filled with ramen shops. Truly beautiful. |
 |
| One of the ramen shops in Ramen Yokocho. Sapporo is said to be famous for miso ramen, but this is butter corn ramen, which unsurprisingly has butter and corn and is also a local specialty. And yes, there is a bear on my nori. |
Sapporo also has excellent seafood. I was told by my local sushi chef that I should eat as sushi in Sapporo because northern seafood is really good. I did have sushi, but I also visited a restaurant called Kanihonke, which is a really great crab restaurant. Every dish (except dessert) had crab in it.
 |
| Kanihonke, appetizers. Really, really great crab. |
Otaru
A short train ride away from Sapporo is a small town called Otaru, which has a beautiful (and famous) canal.
 |
| Otaru Canal |
 |
| Otaru from the port. |
 |
| Otaru Music Box Museum/Store. Three stories of music boxes of all sorts. |
 |
| Otaru Canal at night. |
 |
| Otaru at night, a little later at night. |
The Otaru festival, besides some picturesque lighting near the canal, also has a lighted path along an old railway line. It is filled with snow and ice sculptures that have been lit up by candles.
Sapporo and the snow festival
Besides the snow festival, Sapporo has plenty to offer.
 |
| Clock tower. It's from the 19th century. I've heard it said that it is the synonymous with disappointment because it's made to be a great sightseeing place, but it's just a clock. I liked it just fine, but I was warned in advance. Also, it is just a clock. |
 |
| Snowy park in Sapporo |
Other fun was to be had in Sapporo, including a "Genghis Khan" (ジンギスカン) meal, which is all-you-can-eat grilled lamb and all-you-can-drink beer. Lamb is not traditionally a Japanese food, so it is thought that maybe it came from Mongolian culture (hence the name), although probably it's more fiction than fact. Still, it was delicious. I also had a chance to visit the excellent modern art museum and other fun stuff in the city.
Sapporo Snow Festival
Sapporo's giant snow festival filled with events, giant snow sculptures, and even snow sports in the middle of the city. Here are some of the photos as evidence:
 |
A ski jump / snowboard jump event in
downtown on a tiny piece of park. |
 |
| Snow festival from above. You can see the ski jump about 3/4 of the way on the top of the picture. |
 |
| Trying to catch a Pokemon on stage, but for some reason it didn't work. |
|
 |
| An ice cafe. In other words, a coffee shop made of ice. |
 |
| Star Wars sculpture. It is several metres high (maybe 10 metres?). |
 |
| A snow sculpture in the international snow competition section. From Macau. It won. |
 |
| Also from the international competition. Latvia. If you ever think you are having a bad day, look at this guy. |
 |
| Snow sculpture. Relatively small - only about 3 metres high. |
 |
| Probably the most popular of the small sculptures. Although he doesn't have a pen, pineapple, or apple. |
 |
| Image projected onto a snow sculpture. Actually, it was part of a light show on the sculpture. It is not full-sized, but still extremely large. You can see the people in front for size reference. |
 |
| Some France represented. In snow form. |
 |
| For the gamers in the crowd. Cloud is maybe 10 metres high? Also, it was a projection mapping light show, so they are projecting a video onto the snow. |
 |
| Broadcast tower behind an ice sculpture. |
 |
| One of the many ice sculptures in the ice sculpture section. |
