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A Sapporo retrospective article here. My wife and I decided to spend a month in the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido back in the summer of 2014. It was the right choice because the rest of Japan is stiflingly humid in the summer; whereas the summer weather in Hokkaido can be hot, but it can still be comfortable.
My Flipboard feed turned up an article on ekinaka at nippon.com. It was not a new idea me because I’ve seen such ekinaka first-hand on my visits to Japan. However, the term is new to me. Ekinaka literally means “inside the station.”
Continue reading ““Ekinaka” – Shopping complexes at Japanese train stations”
It’s been exactly one year since I flew off to Sapporo, Japan to spend 1 month there. Not only were there great memories from my month in Japan, but I also started a few new friendships while there. In the age of the Internet, it’s easier than ever to stay in touch with everyone. I’m now in touch with people in Japan, Malaysia, Australia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Montreal. It was a lot of great memories and a lot of great fun.
I’m a little jealous of those who are actually returning this year to Sapporo and the Hokkaido Japanese Language School (JaLS). I know of at least a couple of people going back. I even see photos of other schoolmates who are travelling in Japan again. They’re not necessarily going to Sapporo, but they are visiting other parts of the country.
Here are some photos from last summer while I walk back down memory lane.
A post because we need a change from the everyday from time to time. I hope the song and video brings a little Happy to your day. Continue reading A little “Happy” for the Day
Happy Friday y’all. Here’s more Japan-love in video form. This time, Aaron Grimes creates a unique blurred motion video with a unique technique. Continue reading Tokyo “In Motion” – video
I am a bit of a Japanophile and love watching any videos with Japan as the focus. Here’s a cute Vimeo video by Takuya Hasogone to brighten up your Thursday before the Easter long weekend. If you like the song, it’s available on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/bo-en/miss-you Won’t be posting until next Tuesday again. So enjoy the Easter weekend. Continue reading A Slice of Life in Tokyo [video]
This may (or may not) be the last entry in Eating my way around Hokkaido. This time around I look more at some of the last of my random meals across this northern Japanese island.
Sukiya is a “fast-food” Japanese restaurant in the same vein as Matsuya and Yoshinoya. Sukiya is best known to me for their beef rice bowls. My wife had an obsession to eat at these type of restaurants while we were in Sapporo. It’s not fancy food by any stretch, but it is filling and economical to eat at Sukiya. Just look at the side dishes that came along with my simple beef rice bowl. Tasty, cheap and quick.
Eating my way around Hokkaido continues with another round of meals. It’s a review of things eaten within my fourth and last week in Sapporo.
After our onsen day trip up at Jozankei, we had returned to Sapporo and hopped off the bus in Susukino in search of dinner. We had wandered for quite a bit looking for food when we stumbled upon a place serving Genghis Khan BBQ, or jingisukan, as it is known in Japanese. It’s basically mutton grilled on a large convex dome grill along with other veggies and meat. Mutton, though, is the primary ingredient in the set up.
Rainy Otaru – maybe rainy is an understatement for what I experienced on my last Saturday in Hokkaido. It was a downpour. We had always planned to visit Otaru because of the Ushio Festival that happens every summer. The festival is one of the events we had planned on visiting even before coming to Japan. However, we did not anticipate the heavy summer rains that would last almost all day in Otaru.
We couldn’t have picked a better day to end our 4 weeks of classes at Hokkaido Japanese Language School. It was our last day and we would be going to see fireworks in the evening. However, along with fireworks, comes yukata. Yukata are traditional Japanese clothing similar to kimono, but they are much lighter and less complex to put on. However, to us, the uninitiated, we needed help to put on these wonderful traditional pieces of clothing.
metro babel 