Hokkaido

Hokkaido in many ways is Japan's "final frontier". Unlike the concrete jungle image that most people associate with the land of the rising sun, Hokkaido's landscape is typified by wide open spaces, mountain ranges, farmland and ranches, and a relatively small population. In many ways, I ended up living there by chance, and fell in love with it.

Hokkaido is the traditional land of the Ainu, Japan's largest native group. Until the Meiji resortation in 1868, Hokkaido was not populated by the Japanese people except a small population on the southern tip of the island. Following the restoration, the Japanese quickly colonized the island, and forced the Ainu to assimilate. This forced assimilation led to the destruction of traditional Ainu culture, as well as the near extinction of the Ainu culture and language.

In spite of this, Hokkaido is perhaps the most welcoming part of Japan. Because of its short history - not that different from BC in many ways, and immigration of Japanese people to the island from all parts of Japan, the people as a whole are open, friendly and welcoming, and do not have as many deep rooted cultural traditions such as in places like Kyoto.

The main city in Hokkaido is Sapporo, Japan's fifth largest city, and home to close to two million residents, more than a third of the island's roughly 5.7 million inhabitants. Being the second largest island in Japan, a country of some 130 million people, it is easy to see that Hokkaido doesn't have anywhere near the same population density.

Unlike most other Japanese cities that have evolved and changed over many centuries, Sapporo was a planned city from the start. The streets are organized on a grid pattern, making it easy to find things and avoid getting lost, and has much wider boulevards and an abundance of parks.

Hiking in Hokkaido is pure joy. Close to Sapporo, there is an abundance of hiking trails. On the island itself, there are numerous great parks with great vistas, and camping. Some of my favorites are Shiretoko, on the northeastern tip of Hokkaido. Shiretoko is near the disputed Kuril islands which were annexed by the former Soviet Union in 1945, and remain a source of ongoing dispute between the two nations. Biei Town (in Central Hokkaido near Tokachi Mountain), Mt. Yotei (near Kutchan and Niseko towns), and the Shakotan-hanto Pennisula.

Besides being picturesque year round, Hokkaido is Japan's snow country. The city of Sapporo is perhaps the snowiest major city in the world, and gets 4-6 metres of snow each year within city limits!! If you live in a snowy place, you'd better like some sort of winter activity. It very rarely gets below -10C, but does it snow.

Before going to Japan, my closest experience with snow was sticking my hand in a freezer, which is hardly the real thing.

After a couple years in Sapporo, I got into skiing, both downhill and cross-country. Sapporo hosted the winter olympics in 1972, and there is no lack of ski hills nearby. There are probably 20 or so within a couple hours. Some of my favorites are, Niseko Hirafu, Rusutsu, and Teine Highland (where the olympics downhills took place).

Cross-country skiing in Hokkaido is also great, but unlike Canada, most cross-country ski trails aren't groomed except before events. I went in a couple ski marathons (whew!), including 25km in the Okhotsk ski marathon (my husband was crazy enough to do the 85 km part 3 times with friends), and the Sapporo International Ski Marathon.