Hokkaido

“Getting Away from Already Being Pretty Much Away from it All”
-- David Foster Wallace




Classes were canceled last week for Japan’s annual sports festival , where amateur sports teams from all over Japan assemble in one of the kens (states) and compete in every sport imaginable. This year, the festival just happened to be held in Akita, where we live. It literally was a once-in-a lifetime opportunity, even for the Japanese, as the festival visits a different ken every year and had not been in Akita since 1961. While sticking around was tempting, we decided it was time to get out of the prefecture and visit someplace truly exotic – a vacation from our vacation. And so, at 5:30 a.m., we boarded a ferry for the 10-hour trip to Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan, and a place enthusiastically hyped by my friend B-San, the science teacher: “It’s just like America! You’ll love it!”

Tuesday

The ferry leaves at 7 a.m., and we’re advised by our fabulous travel agent to arrive an hour and a half early, which we promptly do – only to sit in the parking lot for an hour waiting to board (it’s already starting to feel like America!). Although it was a 10-hour trip, there isn’t a whole lot to report. The ferry was massive – more cruise ship than ferry. We splurged for a room, in which we all took a relaxing and much-needed 2+ hour nap. What else is there to say? We ate, Jonas made a mess, and we spent most of the trip chasing him around, which is about all we do these days, anyway. Luckily, the ferry was expansive and provided plenty of territory to roam, so all in all, it was a good trip.

There was one episode of note. I forgot Jonas’s milk (still a must for nap taking) in the car, which was below deck, locked and restricted to passengers until we hit land. The cafeteria and restaurant were closed for “preparations,” so I wandered down to the main deck and asked one of the workers for some milk. This caused much confusion – for me, her and the swelling crowd that soon surrounded us. Nearly every passerby, in particular a group of older women whom Jonas entertained earlier, stopped to find out what was going on. I showed them the empty bottle, used the Japanese word for milk, and they immediately knew what I needed. But no one had a solution. One woman started rubbing her stomach and midsection in a circular motion (was she hungry?). Thankfully (or maybe regrettably) her friend cleared everything up. With one hand, she mimicked cradling a baby, and with the other, she used a squeezing motion near her, uh, chest, making what must be the international sign for breast milk. No, I told her. We can’t nurse him. I then pointed at her, asking whether she could for us. This got me a big laugh, but alas, no milk. After a few more frantic minutes, a guy dressed in a track suit (it was unclear whether he worked there) appeared out of nowhere, led me back to the cafeteria, grabbed a jug of milk from the cooler, disappeared for another 10 minutes, then returned with a scalding hot bottle. By the time I got back to the room, Jonas barely touched it, falling asleep on his own.


Wednesday-Thursday

We camped near the port our first night, then took off for Daisetsuzan National Park, where we stayed two nights and were the only campers in sight (to which B-san said, “Of course you were the only ones! Hokkaido is very cold. Japanese people know this!”). The days were sunny and beautiful, and the nights were indeed on the cool side, which would have been fine, but Jonas was still getting over a cold, and we decided that, after three nights outdoors, the frigid weather wasn’t helping. So these also were the last nights of camping for us. We hiked a bit, Tricia and Jonas took a cable car to the top of Asahidake, the tallest mountain in Hokkaido(I stayed safely on the ground; the car looked rickety and suspect to me. If Tricia and Jonas wanted to risk their lives, fine. But I wasn’t about to), and spent each night soaking in an onsen (hot spring), which for all three of us, may have been the highlight of the trip.







We also visited the Asahiyama Zoo, which, depending on your source, is either the most-visited zoo in Japan, or the second-most visited (the zoo in Tokyo is its competition, and considering 35 million people live in metro Tokyo, and virtually no one lives in Hokkaido, I’ll give Asahiyama the benefit of the doubt for most popular. I’d imagine a couple thousand people at least visit the Tokyo zoo just to ask for directions). However, it is unquestionably the northernmost zoo in Japan – a curious point of pride, which is highlighted in nearly every description I saw, including on its web site which reads, "Asahiyama Zoo: There are many unique interactive animal viewing facilities here at Japan's northernmost zoo."

As it turns out, the most unique interactive animal to view was Jonas. A group of uber-hip kids from Osaka went berserk when they saw him, stopping us to pose for pictures, which, in turn, drew an even bigger crowd. After awhile, we just had to plow through them to get out of there. Here are some picks, including those of the real animals.





(more to come soon)
For more pictures click on the slideshow below