Japan Attractions Day 7 - 16th Apr 2009 Sapporo – Narita

Japan Attractions Day 7

Sapporo White Illumination

Sapporo Snow Festival

Today being the seventh day we are in Japan, it is also the last day that we could use the Japanese rail pass on the JR trains for our Japan sightseeing.




Just before we left our hotel room, we saw that it was lightly snowing. The Sapporo weather forecast was indeed accurate. We were glad that we managed to see quite a bit during this Sapporo travel despite only having two full days here and fortunate in having friends bring us on a few tours of Sapporo including various restaurants for us to try the food as well especially the
Mongolian bbq grill.

Mongolian BBQ Grill...

We checked out of Keio Plaza Sapporo at 0745 hrs and walked to the JR Sapporo station in a light snow to catch the 0825 hrs rapid express train to Chitose Japan where Sapporo Airport is located. As we were early, we managed to do some shopping at the Shopping World before clearing security.

Sapporo Airport, Chitose Japan

We then boarded the plane bound for Tokyo Haneda Airport which departed on schedule at 1045 hrs. We arrived Tokyo Haneda Airport an hour and a half later at 1215 hrs.

Sapporo Airport, Chitose Japan On the runway

Taking off

Tokyo Haneda Airport ...

Baggage carousel at Haneda Airport, where luggages are placed neatly on the carousel with handles facing outwards for easy retrieval

We were now faced with two choices. We could either catch the JR train to Tokyo and change trains to Narita station since our Japanese rail pass was still valid or hop on a limousine bus which would bring us direct to Narita Japan Airport. We decided on the latter as it would be faster although it set us back by JPY3000/person.

Upon arrival at Narita Japan Airport, we had to wait approximately 45 minutes for the next shuttle bus to our hotel, International Garden Hotel Narita, as we had just missed it and as it was a non peak hour, the buses only ran hourly.

Wiating for the Limousine Bus ...

Flowers to brighten up Narita Japan Airport

It would have been better if we had made the airline reservation for a flight from Sapporo direct to Narita Japan Airport which would have saved us some travelling time. However, we did not due to certain circumstances arising at the time of making the flight reservation.

The journey to International Garden Hotel Narita took approximately half an hour. After checking in, we immediately took the next shuttle to the train station. We proceeded to the JR Narita station and took a train to Tokyo station.

Along the journey in Tokyo

Japan train travel

From there, we began our short sightseeing on foot by walking to Mitsukoshi Department Store in Nihonbashi, one of the city districts of Tokyo, to view the carriage that the Emperor and Empress rode in on their wedding day fifty years ago which was on display. We were fortunate as the exhibition was on only for a week and we were just on time to view it.

Nihonbashi

Kashiwamochi, special rice cakes wrapped in oak leaves with various fillings

Mitsukoshi Department Store in Nihonbashi Tokyo Japan

We had dinner at Yoshinoya, a small shop serving Japanese food, which is considered as one of the leading Japan fast food chains. Its motto is “cheap, quick and yummy”, thus you can get a delicious beef bowl (gyudon) at less than JPY400 (USD4.10).

Beef bowl (Gyudon)

Pork instead of beef

After dinner, we caught the JR train back to Narita station, thereby making full use of our seven-day Japanese rail pass, and then took the shuttle back to International Garden Hotel Narita.

Lots of space in the bedroom ...

Personal fitness at the gymnasium

Huge spacious lobby area

Area for relaxation

Souvenir shop in hotel selling soba noodles

Just across the International Garden Hotel Narita is a quaint little hotel, the Hotel Chapel Christmas. As the name suggests, it is time to enjoy Christmas all year round and gives it the festive look and feel.

Japan Attractions Day 6 - 15th Apr 2009 Sapporo

Japan Attractions Day 6

Red Brick Building Also known as the Former Hokkaido Government Building

Today is our second full day in Sapporo and we were excitedly looking forward to viewing more of what tourists on Sapporo travel and Sapporo tours go for. At the same time, we shall be giving some Japan travel advice on how to go on a cheap Japan travel. We even managed to see the site of the Olympic Ski Jumping games.

We started off the day by taking a short walk to the Clock Tower which was first built as a Sapporo Agricultural College drill hall in 1878 and was transformed into its present structure equipped with a clock in 1881. It has been ticking away for more than 125 years and its collection of materials relating to Sapporo’s history is open to the public for a small admission fee.

Clock Tower at night

The Clock Tower

From the Clock Tower, we proceeded to Odori Park, less than five minutes away by foot. Extending 1.5km east and west in the city centre, this is the main venue for the Sapporo Snow Festival in winter. During the months of May to September, the Odori Park is adorned with flowers, greenery and fountains.

The Odori Park is also the venue for various other events including the :-

• Sapporo Lilac Festival held in late May Yosakai Soran Festival held on June 10 – 14


• Sapporo Summer Festival held in late July to Late August


• Sapporo Autumn Festival which features Hokkaido food held in mid Sept – early Oct and


• Sapporo Light Illumination, where approximately 400,000 festive lights adorn the city, held in late Nov - mid Feb.

Odori Park

Fountain in Odori Park

Even the birds enjoy the park

Look out for the Sapporo TV Tower which is Sapporo’s landmark and located in Odori Park. For a small fee, you can enjoy an exquisite view from the observatory 90m above the ground.

Sapporo TV Tower ...

Japan travel advice:-

There is a common discount ticket to both the Clock Tower and the TV Tower, if you would like to go inside, which would help to save and make for a cheap Japan travel.

Interesting sights

After strolling through Odori Park, we made our way back to the hotel to wait for our friend to pick us up. She brought us to Okurayama, equivalent to Mt Okura as ‘yama’ stands for mountain. This is where the Okurayama Ski Jump Stadium and the Sapporo Winter Sports Museum are located.

We were unfortunate not to be able to go up to the Okurayama Ski Jump Platform as the chair lifts were under maintenance for that week. It was a pity as we were looking forward to going up to get some panoramic, breathtaking views and fresh crisp air.

Okurayama Ski Jump

However we did manage to see the Ski Jump Stadium which hosts world-class competitions. Top ski jumpers from around the world gather here, the venue of the 1974 Olympics ski jumping games, to set new records. In fact, the Okurayama ski jump is a popular attraction what was specially constructed for the Sapporo Olympics as a 90 m-class ski jump site.

Okurayama Ski Jump

Adjoining Okurayama Ski Jump Stadium is the Sapporo Winter Sports Museum. This is an experience-oriented museum-type facility. In addition to the collection of winter-sports-related items on display, winter sports simulations are also available. Experience the thrill of figure skating, bob sledding, speed skating, cross country, etc…

Okurayama Winter Sports Museum

For lunch, we went to Node 43 at Grand Hotel Sapporo. It was quite crowded and we realized that it was because of a discount in the buffet price as the hotel is celebrating its 75th anniversary. The buffet lunch cost JPY2,100 with special prices for children and senior citizens aged 65 and above. Or you could go for the fruit and dessert buffet from 2pm - 4.30pm which cost JPY1,500.

Lunch buffet prices

Car lift for parking

Grand Hotel Sapporo Lobby

We ordered fried rice with beef steak and the king prawn and scallop which was served with bread. They all tasted good and fresh and should be on the ‘must-try’ list. The chocolate cake and baked cheesecake were a little heavy though.

Lunch at Grand Hotel Sapporo

After lunch, we walked around the area and did some shopping at the arcade known as Tanukikouji Shopping Arcade as well as Daiso.

Fresh seafood at Nijo Fish Market

Tanukikouji Shopping Arcade comprised of six streets and stretched for approximately one km. You can shop at Tanukikouji St which is covered most of the way and find some interesting items there.

Tanukikouji Shopping Arcade ...

Daiso is also generally known as the 100 yen shop, one of the more popular shopping places especially for tourists on budget travel, where majority of the items cost JPY100 excluding 5% tax. So if you are on a budget and looking for gifts and souvenirs, this is a good place so as to keep within your budget and make it a cheap Japan travel. For us, this is the place where we did the majority of our shopping to pick up some lovely presents for the folks back home.

In fact, we found that this Daiso covered five floors and had a wide variety of items to choose from. The actual 100 yen shops do not have as wide a range but are good enough to pick out simple gifts, souvenirs and presents.

We also passed by the JR Sapporo Station and found that you could spend hours shopping there as well. And if you are looking for food and do not know what to order, do not fret as many shops display the dishes so you can just point at them.

JR Sapporo Station

For your Sapporo travel, you can also go up to JR Tower’s Observatory “Tower 38” for a panoramic view of Sapporo’s cityscape from a height of 160m.

Another interesting area to visit is the Jozankei Hot Springs, a village located amid tranquil gorges. This is one of the more popular onsen Japan has. A tourist attraction, Jozan Gensen Park and Jozankei Hot Spring Resort are popular amongst both citizens and tourists as a retreat on the outskirts of Sapporo. It was a pity but we did not have the time to visit this popular Japan attraction.

The best season to travel to Sapporo is winter, when the city is covered with a blanket of pure white snow. You will be able to view the internationally famous Snow Festival which exhibits the beauty and warmth of the season as well as the White Illumination where thousands of brilliant white lights are lit giving the place a more fantastic atmosphere.

We met up with some colleagues for dinner at Nan En, a restaurant serving Cantonese cuisine in the basement of the hotel we stayed in, i.e. the Keio Plaza Sapporo. With a modern and stylish interior, we enjoyed the various dishes and caught up on old time. Most of the colleagues were old timers and thus there were lots to catch up on.
Hot Soup Meat dish

Some dim sum

And not forgetting the sakura jelly dessert This was something that we had not tried before and it tasted very light and refreshing.

Japan travel advice:-
If you are travelling in Sapporo, do take advantage and try the onsen. Japan is famous for their hot springs due to the wondrous healing effects of the water. When in Japan a visit to an onsen is an experience that shouldn’t be missed. The water of a Japanese onsen is rich in a variety of minerals and is naturally heated by the earth with water temperatures exceeding 25 degrees Celsius. A visit to a Japanese onsen is relaxing and rejuvenating but it can also offer relief from some of your ailments.

This Sapporo travel turned out to be an exciting time even though we did not manage to visit any onsen. Japan is well known for these hot springs. If you are looking for cheap Japan travel, yet wish to be able to get some pretty souvenirs and gifts, look for Daiso or any 100 yen shop.