Sapporo and surrounds

When we booked our morning tour to Sapporo, we were unaware that it takes an hour to get to Sapporo and hadn't really considered the implications of departing from the ship at 7.30am. So it was an early rise this morning with breakfast available from 6 am, and we are required to meet on the dock at 7.15am. Our expectations are that it will be cool, so we dress accordingly.

It is Golden Week in Japan, a week of holidays celebrating different events. Today is Constitution Day, celebrating the drawing up of Japans Constitution in 1947, following WW11. We expect there will be large crowds at places we visit. 

Sapporo is a relatively new city by Japanese standards and is built around Western designs and concepts with the aid of many Western advisors at the time. The population is now around 1.9 million and it is by far the largest city in Hokkaido. Our weather forecast was also way off, as it is a very pleasant 20 C and sunny.

Not far out of Otura, we stop at a rest area as our guide explains it may be a while if people need to go to the rest room, so best to go now. Unfortunately, Tokyo's hi tech toilets have not yet made it to public facilities, so public toilets are "squatters".

These little cars are very popular as the government offers some tax concessions on their purchase which makes them very affordable. Our guide explained that it is now customary for the father of the bride at a Japanese wedding to provide one of these as a wedding gift.

Utes are also available

An impressive EV charging station (not in use)

The Japanese love their pets and this roadside stop has an area where you can exercise your dog, otherwise it must be on a leash.

We had about 20 minutes to wander around this roadside stop so ventured into the convenience store to check out what the Japanese fast food offering looks like.

Interesting Ice creams

It takes an hour to get to Sapporo from Otura and then another 15 minutes to get to our first destination the Historical Village of Hokkaido, a complete open air museum constructed of historical buildings either moved here from their original sites, or reproductions of buildings that were constructed on site. The village represents life in Hokkaido from the beginning of the Meiji Restoration (1868), through to the beginning of the Showa period (1926).

The site is very large and our guide takes us to the highlights before giving us a bit of free time to look at the rest. We spent well over an hour here and there was a lot more to see. Surprisingly, it is not crowded but we do see a lot of people setting up stalls for activities and it seems the numbers will increase dramatically as the day goes on.

The Entrance to through a 4/5 scale replica of the Sapporo Railway Station built in 1908

Rear View

Replica of the Hokkaido Development Commission Office (originally built in 1873 but burned down in 1879)

The streets are lined with replicas and relocated buildings from the era

The Old Sake Brewery attracted a lot of interest (built in around 1886 it was transported to this site)

Akiyama Family House (Wealthy Herring Fishing Family)

A horse drawn carriage runs on a rail line system through the park

We are also fortunate to see some Cherry Blossoms, as the flowering season was finished in Tokyo, but being further North, in Hokkaido flowering is a few weeks later.

The village also has a Shinto Shrine.

Most of the buildings in the village relate to trades and trading, blacksmiths, dying works, stores selling rice etc. here are a few of them.

Dying works for dying cloth

Rice Store

Having completed our tour of the Historical Village, we are taken on a bus tour of the City of Sapporo. The city is located on one of the few flat areas on the coast on this mountainous island, and it snow capped mountains form a backdrop to the city. It is laid out in traditional Western grid design and has a good mix of parkland, wide avenues and modern buildings.

Once the Sapporo tour is complete, we head to our final destination, The Hokkaido Shinto Shrine. By now the people have hit the streets to celebrate the public holiday and two of the most popular sites in Sapporo are the Zoo and the Shrine. Unfortunately they both share the same access road, so we quickly find ourselves in a traffic jam slowly edging our way to the Shrine. 

Eventually we arrive and there is a lot of activity. Our guide steers us through the traffic providing a very good commentary and we get to see the highlights with minimal disruption.

We finally arrive

A short walk through the cedar trees takes us to the shrine

Cleansing with water before entering the shrine has changed since Covid. Ladles have now been removed from the station to prevent contamination

Main entrance to the Shrine

People praying at the shrine

There is still a bit of snow on the ground

It is then back on the bus to Otura, an hours drive away, to re board the ship for lunch.

Departure from Otura is at 6pm this evening, and before we leave we must clear Japanese immigration. They have organised for this to be done by Japanese officials in the main theatre on the ship, before 5pm.

There is a bit of spare time after lunch to go for a walk into Otura to stretch our legs, before we clear immigration. The ship is berthed very close to town so it is only a short walk into the main shopping area.

 

Viking Orion alongside at Otura

Otura has a population of over 120,000 so is a reasonable sized city. The streets are busy as locals are out enjoying the weather and their public holiday, although many of the shops are closed.

 

The crowds are out enjoying the walk along the canal that runs parallel to the shoreline

Shopping Mall (with not a lot of shops open)

This one was open

Not sure what Thriller Karaoke involves, but we won't be around to find out

Walking back down the street to our ship, you can see her in the background illustrating just how close we are to the town

Back on board by 3.30pm, we cleared immigration and awaited departure. As departure time got closer there was a bit of a gathering of locals on the dock and sets of drums started appearing. Clearly the were preparing a farewell performance for us. Whilst it was only a small group they were very enthusiastic in wishing us farewell.

Dinner tonight is back at our favourite restaurant, the Chefs Table for a very nice Chinese inspired 5 course meal with matching wines.