Hokkaido (Wakkanai, Sapporo, Asahikawa, Otaru & Hakodate) & Honshu (Hirosaki, Sendai and Odarawa)
Cherry blossom viewing in Hirosaki on May 6, 2013
April 29 Monday: Sapporo – Wakkanai
I took a 5-hour train from Sapporo to Wakkanai, the northernmost city in Japan and went to Cape Soya, the northernmost point which is only 43km from Sahkalin, Russia. I met a nice young student, Kazutoshi who called Youko, owner of May- Road, a minshuku to arrange my stay there for two nights. Though Youki and her husband Yoshio do not speak English, we had a fantastic time because they make me feel at home and Youko is a great cook.
 Japan’s northernmost railway station |
 Kazutoshi and I at Cape Soya |
 Music Rock, Cape Soya |
April 30 Tuesday: Wakkanai
Yoshio kindly offered to take me to see seals and whooper swans in the morning. In the afternoon, I visited Cape Noshop and spent over two hours in an onsen (two minutes’ walk from May-Road). I had a dinner with eight dishes.
 Seals, Baikai |
 Fishing boat |
 Pintail |
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 Whooper swan |
 Over 3500 whooper swans spotted here on 30/4/13 |
 Breakfast with grilled salmon |
 Youko & her May Road |
 Dinner with steam fish and sashumi |
May 1 Wednesday: Wakkanai – Sapporo
I spent ¥11,000 for two nights’ accommodation and three meals at
May Road. This is the best home stay experience I have so far. Yuko took me to the station at 6:40am. I had a pleasant ride back to Sapporo. Instead of raining as forecast, I had blue sky and saw the beautiful winter scenery of Hokkaido.
The weather was good and the journey to Sapporo was enjoyable. The countryside was still covered in snow. It started to rain in the late afternoon when my friends (Dennis, Amy, Winnie, Yue and Choi) from Hong Kong arrived in Sapporo. We had a wonderful dinner with beef, sashimi, chicken and fish in Uosaku Restaurant (Best dinner of this trip)
 Still plenty of snow in Hokkaido in May! |
 Restaurant owner |
 The chef |
May 2 Thursday: Sapporo
It was a cold and wet day. We had a leisure day. Dennis first took us to a small eatery located in the wholesale market in Soen which serves excellent but reasonable sushi. I had seven pieces in total! (Best breakfast of this trip).
Then we went to the Clock Tower constructed in 1878 as a drill hall of Sapporo Agriculture College. It was time for lunch again and we went to a well-known restaurant in a hotel for a fairly expensive shabu-shabu set lunch. But the service was poor and the food was average. We spent a few hours window-shopping before tea time. We went shopping and I brought a top!
 Former Hokkaido Government Office Building |
 Sapporo TV Tower (147.2m high) & Odori Park |
 Clock Tower |
 The sushi restaurant |
 Fresh crabs, Soen Market |
May 3 Friday: Sapporo – Asahikwa – Furano – Asahikwa – Sapporo
We took the 7:48am train to Asahikwa and picked up a car around 9:30am. Our original plan was to drive to the Daisetsuzan National Park and Furano which is famous for its flowers in the summer. Unfortunately, the weather was not good with rain and sleet throughout the day. We took it easy and had a fantastic lunch at Restaurant Kumagera which is specialised in local Furano food. Yue had her finger burnt when she touched an iron hot plate. The staff took a pot of bear oil from the safe. We had never heard of such oil before but it works! We had excellent steak and sukiyaki which only cost us 22000Yen! (Best lunch of this trip).
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May 4 Saturday: Sapporo – Otaru
We had a late start for a change and did not arrive in Otaru till 11am. We had a seafood brunch with crab, grilled fish, scallops, abalones, salmon roe etc. We did not finish lunch till 1pm!
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After lunch, we strolled along the canal and saw many glass-making studios. We had lots of fun when Choi decided to take up the challenge and make her first ever vase (2000Yen). As it would not be ready till the following day, she could not it pick up. Instead, the studio gave her two glass pigs as souvenirs! Choi found a backpack made of deer skin which is beautiful and practical while I brought a glass clock. We were all happy! When we got back to Sapporo, we had noodle for dinner. Simple but most delicious!
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 Former warehouse along the canal |
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 Glass-blowing |
 Choi, her creation and instructor |
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 Lovely ice-cream in Hokkaido |
May 5 Sunday: Sapporo – Hakodate – Hirosaki
The train from Sapporo to Hakodate took over three hours. The weather improved slightly. We went to the Hakodate Castle for cherry blossom viewing. Since the weather had been exceptionally cold this year, the flowers would not be ready for another week. Too bad! We had a nice time strolling in the old part of the city with plenty of churches and foreign architecture as Hakodate was one of the first ports opened for foreign trade in the late 19th century. We also had a nice seafood lunch. I left my friends at Hakodate and took the 6:19pm train to Hirosaki.
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 We had lunch here |
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 Orthodox Church |
 Former warehouses |
May 6 Monday: Hirosaki – Sendai – Atami
I was in Hirosaki on April 28 but did not see cherry blossom. Though not yet in full blossom, the flowers were beautiful and the Hirosaki Castle and nearby mountains provide a superb setting for cherry blossom viewing.
I began my day at 6am and was surprised to find many people already in the park. I spent three hours admiring the flowers and taking photos. I then left for Sendai at 11am and spent two hours there before heading to Tokyo. I finally ended spending a night in Atami as I could not find a hotel in Odarawa. Fortunately, I had a rail pass and could go wherever I wanted. I only spent about seven hours on the train from Hirosaki to Atami, thanks to the most efficient and fast train service in Japan.
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 Oldest cherry blossom tree (1882) |
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