Hokkaido Recommendations

Hi guys! I had a wedding last week in Hokkaido and I love this island, so I’d like to report on a list of recommendations I have from this trip and prior.

This was my first time aiming for hanami in Japan, and specifically in Hokkaido. Official bloom predictions had stated full bloom would be on April 21 this year, however the majority of cherry trees in Maruyama Park/Hokkaido Jingu are *NOT* Hoshino sakura, and so official bloom predictions will not give you the best timing. The majority of sakura trees here (about 75%) are Ezoyama Zakura and Yaezakura, which are later blooming trees which this year reached full bloom about 5-7 days after Hoshino sakura.

In Sapporo, you’ll want to visit Susukino, Japan’s safest night life/red light district. In the daytime the fun places to go here are Surugaya Shopping Center, Tanukikoji Shopping Street, any of the many (many) maid cafe’s (I recommend ゆいまーる) the Animate Building, Melonbooks (the best doujinshi store), Daimaru/Pole Town/Aurora Town for tourist goods shopping, Pokemon Center above the Daimaru, Chitosetsuru Sake Museum, Sapporo Beer Museum. Get your exercise in by walking in the underground tunnel between Susukino and Sapporo stations, or along the Toyohira River if you’re staying in Nakajima Koen area. Good restaurants are plentiful, so it’s hard to recommend anything in particular, but dairy is the big thing in Hokkaido so be sure to get ice cream (which is also really popular for the younger local crowd to do at the end of a night of drinking). There’s information booths in Susukino that can give you info about the other night life activities and what’s English friendly. I also personally recommend going to the Historical Village (Kaitaku-no-Mura) if you’re interested in Japanese colonial architecture/history/a big Golden Kamuy fan, since that is the main holy ground for the anime.

Lake Shikotsu has a great onsen at Marukoma Onsen, which is a ryokan (also ok for day trip visits) this onsen is tattoo friendly, has some English speakers but many Mandarin speakers. It’s even open during the winter and has an outdoor bath – so if you’re wanting to sit in a bath while being snowed on, here’s your chance. It’s easiest to reach via bus from Chitose Station, but this bus comes at long intervals so you’ll probably find yourself spending time in the onsen town. Enjoy Log Bear coffee/cake set for \~$5 USD, highly recommend!

Otaru is entertaining, but a bit of a tourist trap. I still recommend visiting here if you’re interested in architecture, regardless, as you’ll see the equivalent of Japanese Wild West architecture. Since Hokkaido was colonized in the late 19th century, many buildings strongly resemble the old West US on the outside. The main tourist fare Otaru is known for is glassware and fromage; you can get most of the fromage at the tourist shopping areas at the airport/Sapporo, but the glassware is still unique to Otaru. Le-TAO has fantastic cookies, you must try them.

Asahikawa is 1.5 hours by train from Sapporo, about ¥5000 each way per person, and has a few interesting locations to see, though it is a smaller town so don’t expect to be overloaded by tourist attractions. You’ll be travelling primarily by cab. Hokkaido Gokokujinja is located here, and is essentially a Japanese version of the US’s Vietnam war memorial, except it’s also a Shrine. Hokkaido Gokokujinja is a less controversial branch of the Yasakuni Shrine in Tokyo, and is very interesting to see as an American if you’re used to American memorials. Unlike Yasakuni, though, this Shrine is owned by the State and it’s gods are now the same as Hokkaido Jingu; though you can still see the building built to house the soldier spirits. Across the street is the Hokochin Museum, another holy ground for Golden Kamuy fans and another incredible thing to see if you’re into military history. Asahikawa was founded as a military town by the soldier-farmers sent by the Meiji government to colonize the island, and as such this base is the nexus of a lot of that colonial history. It has memorabilia from many of the 7th Infantry Divisions campaigns, including in Manchuria against Russia, on Guadalcanal, and even up to modern day Iraq. Hokuchin Museum is not open all year, so figure out in advance if it’s a good time to go. In Asahikawa, you’ll also want to visit Asahiyama Zoo. It has all sorts of exhibits, but I think it’s most famous because they walk the penguins around the zoo in the winter. Furarito is a cool old school-style food street to see and has a few famous shops, including Hachiya Ramen (made famous by its honey ice cream) and Gin’neko.

I have yet to go to Hakodate, so can’t make any recommendations there beyond this: it’s 4 hours to get to by train from Sapporo, it has a really cool star fort, and it’s supposedly known for squid. It was briefly the capital of the short-lived Ezo Republic during the end of the Boshin War. When the shinkansen station is finished in Sapporo it will be easier to visit Hakodate.

Biei/Furano – you’re going to see tour buses offering a trip to see these locations. Be wary; you should check bloom reports to see whether or not the fields are in bloom. Otherwise, it could just be a 4 hour bus ride to see a tree made famous by a Nissan commercial 50 years ago. If you go during bloom though, this is the definition of idyllic farming, these people are the types that literally retired from Tokyo to start farms that look pretty, they don’t even grow stuff worth money.

Nibutani/Shiraoi – These are the places to visit if you’re into Ainu history. As a former Hawaiian resident I have mixed feelings about this, but I had been recommended to visit these by an Ainu person and so I feel inclined to actually make the recommendation. I’d probably say Nibutani (near Biratori) is the better one to visit, as Shiraoi has long queues, but Shiraoi is easier to visit since it’s by train on the way to/from Hakodate.