My time in Sapporo just a week ago was already memorable and I was so keen to come back. The city is lively and I made new friends here thanks to Hata San, the Buddha bar owner, who dragged me into his bar from the streets as I left miserably from a nearby eatery a week again. Time to say hello again :)
Being back in Sapporo made me really happy. The connections I made from the first evening to the last, just over a week ago made this city special, bring it to life. This time i stayed in JR Inn, a Japanese Railway operated budget hotel. It was close to the station which is why I needed, having to staff all my stuff and bike back to the station or pack everything there. Either way, i picked it and it was a great choice. A modern budget hotel with only shower facilities but a public bath and great common area with free drinks in the basement. I was probably their best customer at both, reading 2 bios there, one on Japanese gardens and one on Onsens. Both were really interesting as i really like these 2 features of Japan. The garden book gave me some inspiration on which garden to visit in Tokyo and the onsen book was just generally interesting to see how this culture of public bathing has evolved. It seems that nowadays it’s sill somewhat popular but in so cities may be dying out as most people now have baths in their homes.
This isn’t a day-to-day account as such as I officially stopped cycling but more of a diary entry. My bike remained parked near the hotel until the very fateful evening when Sapporo decided to pound my bike for having parked it apparently in a bad location (where also so many other bikes parked). This was on Friday to Saturday night. With the bike pound only open during weekdays I had little choice but to sadly say goodbye to it mentally and to arrange for a new owner for it. My selection process was pretty simple. Ask someone at Buddha bar. The bike was already 3 years old, in need of service (rear wheel spike and alignment), but maybe also a total rear wheel replacement as some spokes cannot be tightened any further and it also should need a rear cassette and chain upgrade as they were heavily used by now. Overall though I’d imagine the bike was still worth £150-£250, especially considering the great tyres (£80), good saddle, and overall being a solid bike. It’s a great gift so I would just make someone happy with it. Eventually I gave the keys to Max, one of the bar staff at Buddha bar. He’s got to free it from the bike pound, get it fixed up a little. He was very happy and so was I
During the days in Sapporo I did a lot of touristy stuff like taking the cable car to mount Moiwa, a mountain that towers over the city with its famous Hokkaido Shrine and view over the city generally. To do so I had to take the cable car, which does a loop around the city. It’s pretty inexpensive and a great way around for ¥200 (£2). I also checked out the subway, which isn’t just a subway but another city underground. As it gets pretty cold in winter, it seemed that you can easily walk to and from many places simply underground, with shops and food places abound or just take the underground to get around town.
I used the onsen facility in the hotel at least 2 times a day sometimes even 3. My toes were still numb, even after 2 days of rest but getting better. My things and lower back was still hurting but also getting better. I do wonder, I’ve spent 3 weeks in barefoot shoes (Vivo Trail II), which literally have no cushioning. It took some time to get used to barefoot shoes generally, which I stayed to wear 6 months ago but I’d not spend entire days or weeks in them. Not sure if being solely on concrete and on uncushioned shoes is good/ bad or just a matter of getting used to them.
Discovering Sapporo second time around was just as much fun. Now that I knew a few people here and having a “place to hang out”(Buddha bar), it’s made everything so much more enjoyable. I’ve discovered a great sushi place where I would either have lunch or dinner and I’d have 2 coffees a day usually in Starbucks to either write some notes/ Blog, do a little bit of work or just chill out. The evenings at Buddha Bar were always different, new people, stranded tourists both local or foreign were always up for a chat. I met some cool people from Osaka, Italy and Sapporo alike. We partied a little with the owner and bar staff and rounds went both ways, either the owner gave some or punters. One evening, having met a recent arrival from Osaka named Taiga, and a guy from Italy and his local girlfriend, we went out for karaoke in a tiny place and later went to a club. Gosh, I must have been the oldest person in there and the music, albeit electronic (yeh), was super annoying and “hyped”, targeting a much younger, maybe less mature audience. Maybe it was the style here but the nightclub didn’t see us for long as we ran out an hour later all pretty tipsy by now.
The next day it was time to leave Sapporo and to go to Hakodate, from where I’d take the Shinkansen back down to Tokyo. There is a direct train connecting Sapporo and Hakodate BT it takes 4h and isnt particularly fast. It was ok for me. I just had to ran to Buddha bar, give my key for the bike to whoever I could find, have a last coffee at Starbucks and go to Sapporo Station, where I had already bought my train tickets he day before. I reduced my luggage by one bag with better packing and having lost some of my stuff anyway, less clothes, less food. It was still a big travelling bag, one of my bike bags and a big backpack. It was heavy and annoying to carry and I was imagining also carrying my bike at that point. I’m a way I was ok having left it as it would have been such a pain to carry it around.
The journey to Hakodate was smooth but long, I dozed off for a bit but also enjoyed the travel past mountains and along the coast. I was extremely miserable though. This marked the end of my 3 weeks vacation, the journey back.
Hakodate I
I arrived in Hakodate around 2, checked into my extreme budget hotel right opposite the station and tried to figure out what to do. I was still very sad and wasn’t sure what was going to make this feeling go away. I didn’t bother unpacking, took my WiFi device, phone, wallet and ran out of the hotel. One of the tourist destinations is the castle but it was 3.2lm away and I felt in no shape to walk there and it was getting dark in an hour. I made it 300m before discovering (google maps) that this was the place where the last samurai died. The last samurai (Hijikata Toshizō) fighting for the Tokugawa shogunate, tragically died here in Hakodate. Not without a fight. His death and the battle of Hakodate (函館戦争) took Japan into the Meiji area.
Finally, by 1872, the daimyōs (feudal lords), past and present, were summoned before the Emperor, where it was declared that all domains were now to be returned to the Emperor. All complied and were given a strong voice in a now united Japan. This also accelerated the growth of Japan as an industrialised nation (...Thanks Wikipedia).
I saw the small shrine that marked the Hijikata Toshizō Deathplace Monument, where I made a quick stop before deciding to go somewhere else. I had dinner in a small ramen place and even though I told them that I don’t eat mean, the ramen was still full of tiny pieces. Oh well, they’ve made it. I better eat (most) of it. After dinner I decided to walk to Mount Hakodate (2km) to take the cable car for a night view of Hakodate. The city seemed dead to me. There were few people around and only at the cable car did it get busy. I went up, took some pictures but wasn’t “feeling” it. I went down, walked back and looked for somewhere to go. Google suggested a little bar with a friendly bar tender and foreign hang out. I still sat down on a bench, by the harbour to take stock of the last few weeks and be more miserable.
Eventually I’d get to the bar which was close to the hotel. Here I met two young guys, both working on oil ships that take oil from Sapporo to Hakodate for 2 months before having a month off. They were form Yokohama and from Nagoya. We had a few drinks together and one of them spoke pretty good English. The female bar tender was pretty awesome, liked 90s hip hop (as I do), had most of my favourite CDs and was playing “Things to come”, a HG Wells classic from 1936. My kinda bar. Good. My mood slowly lifted being with people. Eventually one of the guys left and me and the other guy went for some food close by. I had fried potatoes and a German beer and we chatted to the exclusively local people in this tiny 6-seat food joint. I was ready for bed and we said good bye.
Hakodate II
3 random things happened today.
On my way into town this morning I saw another foreigner waiting for the bus, just like me. He had a friendly face so I said hi and how are you? We quickly realised we were both cycle enthusiasts having spent a similar amount of time in Hokkaido. He was from Quebec and has been doing bike tours every year for the last 7 years since hitting retirement: http://alainricard.blogspot.ca/ We spent a few hours checking out the castle and talking about the meaning of life (no conclusions reached), life choices and how important it is to enjoy life now, as opposed to “saving up for retirement” to enjoy life then. We talked a lot about journeys and what they mean and how cycling and travelling adds to life in general, about making choices, being and staying uncomfortable, discovering new things and meeting new people. We were in broad agreement. He also said he gives talks in Quebec on his travels, as there is always an audience that wants to explore cycling tours or just like to hear of others people adventures. I’ve done this too, 2x in an old people home back in 2009. I think I’ll do it again back home in London.
We checked out Goryukaku, a special place in Japanese history as it was here where the last remaining shogunate forces were beaten by the incoming Meiji government. There was a lot to learn in the castle about the history of it, the history of Japan and Hakodate itself. We also stumbled into a re-enactment of the fight scene of the last samurai. Good times
Then, on our way out from the castle we saw this gentlemen (Japanese would probably refer to him as “Otaku”, meaning geek/nerd). With his “friend”, Nini, a girl puppet he had on his lap, sitting on a cloth. I asked if I could take a picture and he said sure. I asked his dolly how she was “Genki desu-ka, Nini? and he answered that “she’s fine”!
Then, we both saw a crow that had a nut in its beak. It flew over a road and waited for traffic to stop before throwing the nut into the air to drop it on the street. Intelligent crow I thought at first. But then, why not drop it somewhere with no cars so you don’t get run over. I had seen many sea urchins (the black, spiney balls) and clams being opened by sea birds 🦅 letting them fall on concrete so their shells crack. Nope, this crow had a different technique. The nut didn’t crack, it was way too hard (Japanese chestnuts have 4 chambers, not just 2 like in Europe and are much more sturdy). I was like haahaa, silly crow. Only for the traffic light to turn green again and for cars to zoom down. On car drive over the nut, and cracked it. The crow patiently sat on its power cable waiting for traffic to subside and to enjoy its nut. Wow, intelligent crow after all
It’s time to go to Shin-Hakodate, the Shinkansen terminal. From here a 4h ride to Tokyo (Ueno) and then. 40min ride to Kashiwa, home for the next few weeks as I pursue my martial arts activities. I’ll also be back at work, being able to work remotely and focusing on “going big” with our charity Hatch. It’s good to be able to work here as I’m generally 8h ahead and can can things done whilst London still sleeps...
There’s a typhoon sweeping the country, again, and I hope it won’t be too bad like the last one. I know one airport is closed and some trains will stop running but I also know it will be ok.
Thanks Hokkaido, I’m sad to leave today, back to Tokyo...by Shinkansen.