The Americas also has amazing foods. What would our world be like without hot peppers and the like?
Guy
Snow monsters and snow foxes in ZaÅ.
Snow wall in Tateyama Kurobe
Crabs in Hokkaido
Any Onsen village, letās say Kusatsu
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We are talking about heading north for the winter and checking out Hokkaido ā and Japan at 140 JPY per US dollar.
If we do not ski, anything else we might look out for over there?
Iām going to study this post in the meantime: Family Trip To Hokkaido 2008 - Travel / International Travel - Forumosa
Has anyone recently been to any place on this list?
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If you eat seafood, Hokkaido is in a class of its own.
If you like hotsprings, that should also be a priority.
Enjoy!
Guy
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Service is generally poor in Hokkaido at the moment because hotels, restaurants and tourist sites havenāt been able to ramp up their staff enough to handle the influx of tourists.
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Hokkaido is well known for hot springs and I really want to go. Iām wondering, are these mostly private onsens, public, or a mixture of both? I fear the private ones might be too pricey, and the public ones might not allow me because of one small chest tattoo. Does anyone have experience in this area?
When I lived in Japan, yes this would cause problems, as it is associated implicitly with gangsters and their associates.
Following massive global flows of tourists into Japan, I donāt know if this is still an issue. It would likely however cause some elderly folksāeither proprietors or fellow guestsāto grind their teeth.
@DKaoshuing what do you think about this?
Guy
- Sapporo Art Park
Yup, during a blizzard. Awesome
- Asahikawa Zoo
Again, awesome. Polar bears vs Penguins.
Iād eat all the soft ice cream you find, and all the sashimi. The local wines are wonderful. And the hole in the wall ramen places are superb.
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Not a fan of Hokkaido ramen. The corn they dump in there, mixed with miso, makes for a sweetish soupābleah!
Guy
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Tatās are more acceptable recently, and even if its not some allow bad aid cover up for small ones. Here in Baltics, the sauna is nice to warm up from this
Its been cold few days with temps not above 0. On Friday it was 25+ in morning at KHH. ha, no masks here but maybe one is useful just keep the warm air in. No warming here now.
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If youāre interested in cross-country skiing, Takino Suzuran Park in Sapporo is one of the best places to go. Call ahead to reserve rental equipment and to check whether thereās a race that day. You can also snowshoe and do tubing - itās great for kids. Admission in the winter is free, but itās a good place to go in warm weather, too.
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Itās way off the beaten path but the oysters in Akkeshi, Hokkaido are the best Iāve ever had.
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Tragedies in Japan, as one Taiwanese died in a skiing accident in Hokkaido on Monday. Earlier in January, a Taiwanese college student reportedly died after a snow boarding accident in Nagano.
Guy
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Sad to see this. I know a few Taiwan go ski with no lessons at all, not so safe if you know nothing (I seen a few can not stop, going out of control). Helmut is nice (but if fall into the river its not good, disclaimer I never use one either though well aware where I ski)
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I ski in Hokkaido every year and itās like a war zone on the slopes. Beginning skiers from China, Taiwan etc. deciding theyāre going to start at the top on their first day and their bodies littering the slopes all the way down. Snowmobile ambulances going every which way. Itās mind boggling seeing hordes of xiaojies who can barely stand up on their skis falling repeatedly at the start of a black diamond run. Theyāve either got balls of brass or brains of stuffing - or some combination of the two.
I suppose on the positive side of the ledger this could help boost Hokkaidoās medical tourism industry. 
Guy