Hello! Third time in Japan, I’m going to Tokyo for work and I’m planning to attach some holiday beforehand. My primary goals outside of Tokyo are:(1) to visit Hokkaido (I’ve never been, and I recently read about the Ainu and the rapid colonisation/industrialisation of Hokkaido during the Meji era. I don’t plan on taking a car, and I don’t have so many days, so I thought of confining myself to a couple of major sites connected by good transportation. I still like the idea of doing something more ‘bucolic’, which is why I’d like to do a couple of trekkings, see below)(2) to visit the Ukyo-e museum in Matsumoto (because I’m a fan of Yoshitoshi’s art and would like to see something about him. I see Matsumoto is a bit awkward to reach from Tokyo so I’m thinking of flying directly from Hokkaido!)I only have about 7 days for this first part of the trip before having to go to Tokyo, so here is how I’m envisioning it. The period of the year is around the third week of August.
Day 1: Land in Tokyo airport in the morning (from London), take the Shinkasen to Hakodate during the day. I think I will be pretty jet-lagged that day so I didn’t plan anything ambitious besides reaching Hakodate before the night and enjoy the view from the Shinkasen.
Day 2: Visit Hakodate. My main goal is hiking to the summit of Mt. Hakodate in the afternoon, enjoy the night view of the city from the top, then descend with the cable car. During the first part of the day, I was thinking of trying the morning market. I also know about Goryokaku fortress and park, but not sure what’s worth visiting and whether my day ends up being too compressed if I try to do it all.
Day 3: More from Hakodate to Sapporo in the morning by train. Visit the beer museum and nearby area in the afternoon.
Day 4: Odori park area in the morning, Mt Moiwa trekking and ropeway in the afternoon.
Day 5: Daily trip to Otaru (while staying the night in Sapporo)
Day 6: Midday flight from Sapporo to Mastumoto. Nothing planned as I’d like just to make some last stop in Sapporo in the morning and some walking in Matsumoto in the afternoon/evening.
Day 7: Matsumoto castle in the morning, Wasabi farm in the afternoon.
Day 8: Ukyo-e Museum in Mastsumoto in the morning, transportation to Tokyo in the mid-afternoon.
Day 9-12: I’ll be in Tokyo working in these days. I plan to do some sightseeing, but I’ll depend on my work schedule so I’ll have to figure it out later.
As you can see various parts are still a sketch, so suggestions are very welcome!As for activities, in Hokkaido I’d like to see some natural beauty too (compatibly with my lack of private transport). Also, I’m a fan of Japanese weird/ero-guro literature, comics (Edogawa Ranpo, Kobo Abe, Suheiro Mauro, Shintaro Kago, Kazuo Umezz, to name a few authors) and woodblock prints/paintings. I love bookstores and remainders/second-hand bookshops, so any reccomandation in that sense is especially welcome.
by Italian_Shevek
