Hokkaido

We went on holiday to Hokkaido, the northern most of Japan's major islands. We spent much of of time either hanging out in Sapporo, or hiking in the hills of Daisetsuzan National Park. Those will covered in future posts. This is mostly about the other places we saw.

Hokkaido is the centre of agriculture in Japan, and has severe snowy winters compared to the rest of the country. This leads to rather different architecture and general vibes than Tokyo, or Kanto more generally. Think prairie, not mega-city.

Picture above is Shintoku, a small town where we changed buses.

A major seasonal crop is melons, from which all manner of products are made. The melon soda was a particular hit.

The next few are from Furano, a small ski resort, rather dead in summer.

Looking back at the Daisetsuzan hills from Furano.

The railway museum in Sapporo was closed while we were there, but fortunately we saw this massive engine just in the street in Furano.

Takikawa station. Waiting for the train back to Sapporo.

This large rock is a monument marking the geographical centre of Hokkaido. It is in the playground of a school.