Koriyama, Fukushima

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After a wonderful kaiseki lunch course, I set out to check out the local sites of Koriyama. Located in the center of Fukushima prefecture, it is accessible by shinkansen in a little over an hour from Tokyo. The city itself has many shopping centers and a large park called Kaiseizan-koen (more on that later). Though it is an urban area it is surrounded by mountains and a short 30 minute drive away is Lake Inawashiro.

I visited during Golden Week, a holiday week that lasts from late April to early May, so there were several koi-nobori flying for Children’s Day (May 5th). Also, during this time several beds of flowers were in bloom and a ramen festival was happening in Kaiseizan-koen. Flowers and food? How could my camera and I not check this place out?

I headed there by bus which is the main means of public transportation in Koriyama city. From the train station it is about 15 minutes by bus or if the weather is nice and don’t mind the walk, 40 minutes by foot.

In late April varieties of tulips color the park in pink, magenta, vibrant red and orange. The flowers at the park change based on the season. In early spring Kaiseizan-koen is a popular spot for cherry blossoms, boasting 1300 trees. I also read that in early summer it is known for its roses. All the more reason to go back and check out again at another time of the year.

On the western side of the park is a shrine overlooking the park called Kaiseizan Daijingu (not pictured). But I confused it with another famous shrine in Koriyama, Asakakunitsuko Shrine (below). So I was wondering why it was taking so long for my hosts to pick me up, when I realized I told them the wrong shrine.

I did make up for it the next day when I very much more deliberately went to the shrine I was intending too. (Not that Kaiseizan Daijingu isn’t beautiful, it is! So, please do intentionally go there if you are in Kaiseizan-koen. It’s not pictured only because at the hour I went it was backlit, so I couldn’t get a good shot of it without blowing out the sky.)

After staying at an onsen resort for the night, I took a bus back to central Koriyama and walked to Asakakunitsuko Shrine. Yes, it’s a mouthful to say, but luckily it’s easy to access by foot from the station if that makes up for it. Nestled between shopping streets is a quiet grove of trees surrounding the several shrine buildings on the premises. The shrine was built for the god of agriculture and commerce, making it fitting for Koriyama’s main industries.

I went through and got a few pictures in the morning light before buses dropping off families for a traditional Japanese wedding came in. Respecting their privacy I left to explore the city some more. I didn’t have a clear next destination in mind, but I figured if I just wandered a little bit, I was sure to find something special. Something pulled me north almost in a straight line. After a half hour or so I found a Buddhist temple with reflective glass doors and koi-nobori flying in front.

This temple is Hogenji. It was quiet, almost like it was deserted. I didn’t see anyone on the temple grounds and the only thing I heard was the whipping of the large koi-nobori flailing in the wind. I approached the glass doors which were completely reflective. I have never really seen anything this modern at a temple before. Adjacent to the main building is a cemetery that it services. I quietly took it all in, being respectful of this place of worship and headed to my next destination.

I went back to Kaiseizan-koen for lunch. I was very full the day before from the kaiseki course I had just had, so I wanted to go back and check out the ramen festival now that I had my appetite back.

Shops from all over Japan had stands serving several different types of ramen. How different could ramen be, you ask? Well, a festival like this is a great lesson in the different styles of noodles (ranging from thin to thick, straight or wrinkled), broths (pork, seafood, miso, soy sauce or salt based) and toppings. I bought two tickets and walked through once to check out the different styles on display this time. One caught my attention, an uni and pork based broth. Uni and pork? I could never pass up uni. It’s an acquired taste for sure, but done right it is creamy with the subtle taste of the sea. This ramen did it justice with the creaminess of the uni playing with the unctuousness of the grilled chashu.

And if that weren’t enough I used my other ticket for another tonkotsu based ramen which had three different preparations of meat on it. What I though was really cool was the nori with calcium print on it thanking the customer in seven different languages with the shop name and website included also. That’s really smart at an event like this.

Belly full of ramen, I walked in the direction of Koriyama station, getting on a bus somewhere along the way. Kaiseizan-koen is worth a visit if you are in the area, as there is sure to be something in bloom or some local event. It was a nice little visit, and I will return I’m sure. Now that I covered the city, I would like to check out the mountain and lake region again and capture the uniquely shaped Mt. Bandai.

It’s always good to leave room for seconds.

Kaiseki in Koriyama, Fukushima

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Kaiseki is the traditional Japanese course consisting of a seasonal ingredients prepared in a variety of different cooking methods. The emphasis is on fresh ingredients and the cooking methods only highlight the natural flavors. Originating and still popular in Kyoto, now kaiseki can be eaten all over Japan, typically in ryokan or at banquets.

For years I had talked with my friend about going to her parents’ kaiseki restaurant in Koriyama, Fukushima. Fukushima was the only prefecture I had left to visit in the Tohoku region, and how fitting, I thought, it would be to visit a very local restaurant serving some very local ingredients. But for whatever reason, our schedules wouldn’t align quite right, until this past Golden Week. It was almost spur of the moment, deciding only a mere three days before, but we finally figured out a good Sunday. So I packed my camera and headed up to my friend’s place for a special kaiseki lunch.

The name of the restaurant is Ichiyoshi. During lunch they typically serve teishoku of sukiyaki nabe or yakiniku. During the dinner hours they serve kaiseki courses. I arrived mid-morning and was greeted at the station by friend, Satomi and her mother. They drove me to the restaurant and we took a break with a cup of coffee. The restaurant has only a few tables and a very at home feel with photos of famous spots in Fukushima taken by restaurant patrons line the walls. The restaurant is reservation only and run just by my friend’s mother running the front of the house and her father doing the cooking. They set me up with a room all to myself and the glorious course began.

A typically kaiseki will start with otoshi and a zensai, or appetizer. An otoshi is typically a small dish that acts like a seat-charge at most izakaiya in Japan, however at the start of a course like this it is more equivalent of an amuse-bouche in a French cuisine, hinting at what’s to come. This otoshi consisted of hotaru-ika, baby squid, topped with a vinegar miso sauce.

The zensai was a plate that consisted of a trio of items including a cooked turban-shell, a small glass of yuba and a fiddle-head topped with miso. Yuba, is fresh tofu skins, typically skimmed off of the top of a batch of tofu. Silky and smooth, this one was topped with a dab of wasabi.

Still in the first course was a nigiri of lightly seared Sendai-gyu. Sendai (Miyagi Prefecture) is famous for gyutan or beef tongue, but I always wondered how a place becomes famous for just the tongue of an animal. What happens to the rest of the meat? Well, now I know. It goes one prefecture over where the delicately marbled meat is placed on top of rice for a particularly luxurious sushi.

The clear soup in the red bowl was, maybe, my favorite part of the whole course. It was stock made from a whitefish, called kochi. Though clear it had a beautifully rich and deep flavor. I think of anything, this simple o-wan, or bowled dish, showed just how skilled my friend’s father was as a cook.

After the appetizers and soup, was the tsukuri, or sashimi course. It is typical of any kaiseki course to have at least one dish of sashimi, but this time there were two.

From the raw preparations we move into the cooked main course, the first is the grilled preparation of two different types of fish. The fish on the left was a piece of cured kinki, a type of rockfish that had a rich, buttery taste. The other was a piece of madsuna-katsuo, cooked in the saikyo-yaki style. Saikyo-yaki is the fish being coated in a sweet miso from Kyoto before being grilled.

And the main was a small sukiyaki nabe with Sendai-gyu cooked right at the table. Sukiyaki is a special sweet soy-based nabe that consists of vegetables, tofu and meat. What makes this nabe unique is that the cooked items are dipped in raw beaten egg before eaten. This is a mind over matter thing again, and one that may take some getting used to, but once you do it is a delicious combination. The sauce from the nabe with the egg creates a savory mixture that can be poured on rice to soak up the flavor and be eaten as TKG.

After the grilled and main dishes there was tempura of tara-no-me, a type of tree bud which was a lot like aspargus, but with more texture, and ebi. And then the final course was dessert which consisted of fresh fruits, ice cream and chiffon cake, that Satomi’s mother proudly claimed as something she baked. It was light and spongy as any chiffon cake should be.

All-in-all it was quite a lovely, and incredibly delicious meal. They spoiled me. So I hope that in return I can share Ichiyoshi here through pictures. And if you do find yourself in the Koriyama area, be sure to look them up.

Thank you, Satomi.

Senso-ji Temple, Asakusa

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Chances are if you visit Tokyo, you will undoubtedly visit Asakusa and the very colorful Senso-ji Temple. And though it is crowded, it features a look and feel of a Tokyo that got stuck in time. It is quaint. It is bustling. And it has a little bit of everything for a traveler to experience.

I got the chance to shoot Asakusa myself through a promotion for work. I went there with our web designer to get a few shots worthy enough to appear on a landing page to promote tours to the area. For the first time ever, I felt the pressure to perform and produce results. And it did take a couple hundred shots to come up with even one I was satisfied with. But if I have learned nothing else taking pictures, it’s that photography is patience.

Waiting out some overcast weather, the sky opened up right around a golden hour and gave me a very brief window of time to run through the temple for the third or fourth time that day to get these shots.

There are two sets of gates leading to the main temple, separated by a long strip of shops called Nakamise. Inside the temple grounds are the main hall and five-story pagoda. The temple was built to enshrine the goddess of mercy, Kannon, after two brothers fished a statue of her out of the nearby Sumida River in the 7th century. Initially they threw it back in the river, but it returned to them, signaling to them that they should probably build a temple there. The current buildings are all reconstructions due to them being destroyed in the war.

Today guests can get their fortune or o-miyakuji taken by paying a small fee and shaking a metal box until a numbered stick pops out. That number stick corresponds with a wooden drawer that contains a paper with a fortune on it. Good fortunes are kept, while bad fortunes are tied to a rack.

Leading up to the steps of the main hall of the temple is a large urn with burning incense. Guests bathe in the smoke given off by the incense by waving it towards their head. This is believed to have a healing effect and a way to gain wisdom, which is why many students will go here to wave smoke on themselves before a big test. The manji symbol on the side of the incense is a very common Buddhist symbol in Japan, emphasizing the harmony in the opposites of light and darkness, heaven and earth.

On the main temple grounds is a beautifully ornate pagoda. It’s not a feature of the temple that can be entered, but it is nonetheless something to be marveled at.

A popular activity in Asakusa for both Japanese and foreign visitors is to dress in kimono before sightseeing. Rental shops are available for such guests who are looking to add something a little special to their posed photos.

After getting the above shots, the clouds blanketed the sky once more. I hoped that once the sun went down I could make them move a bit with a few long exposures. Patiently setting up my tripod in a few different spots, I felt relief and excitement as the following shots came out. Patience pays off.

Though it took quite a few tries throughout the day, I came out with some pictures that we would be able to use for the promotion page. The results of that effort are featured on the final landing page here.

Asakusa really needs no introduction and is almost obligatory as a must-visit spot in Tokyo. But I am glad I get to introduce it here anyway. It has the tradition and old charm that you may expect from temples in Kyoto, while being very accessible from the city center. It is a popular spot, but definitely deserving of a visit.

Hiraizumi, Iwate

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Last stop of this five day journey was Iwate. After delicious seafood in Hokkaido, apple blossoms in Aomori, I had one more mission to seek out a golden temple. But first, noodles.

From Hirosaki, I took a direct bus to Morioka, the biggest city in Iwate. I was only spending the night there before heading a little further south to Hiraizumi. As with any new place, I thought it best to seek out the meibutsu while I was there. So after a few quick long exposures along the river, I went to eat ja-ja-men.

Ja-ja-men is a cold noodle dish, originally a Chinese dish taken and modified to fit Japanese style. How does a Chinese noodle dish become famous in a small mountain city up north? I have no idea, but what I do know is that it is delicious. Topped with spicy miso paste and sliced cucumber it was a nice light dish after a day of travel.

The next day I left Morioka to go to Hiraizumi which is famous for many temples and shrines tucked away in a forest. Usually a 45 minute train ride from Morioka, furious wind caused the train to stop several times making the trip at least double that. Along the way I got plenty of good looks at Iwate which is a lot of farmland and mountains.

When I arrived at Hiraizumi, I walked towards the forest path to see Chuson-ji, the golden hall. Entering the forest was a Buddha statue, setting the tone of the peaceful walk in the woods ahead. Despite the wind it was a beautiful blue day. Light poured through the trees illuminating several arched temple tops.

There were so many temples and shrines hidden among the trees that it was often hard to discern if they were all a part of the same temple or their own. Below is the Main Hall of Chuson-ji, but very separate from the gold hall I was expecting. Inside its walls is a large golden Buddha statue.

Further down the path I finally arrived at Konjiki-do, the golden part of the temple. Anticipation grew as I approached this fabled temple covered with gold leaf and mother of pearl. I paid admission and took a few pictures at the base of the steps leading up to the temple, which from the outside didn’t look very golden, I thought.

As I entered I found that Konjiki-do is a temple within a temple, the larger part protecting the very old and ornate one. Excited that I would be able to finish a great trip up north with pictures of this temple, I learned quickly that photography was not allowed. The gold leaf clad temple was behind glass and smaller than I was expecting. I disregarded my brief disappointment and took in the small details of the Buddhas and other enshrined deities.

Though I had made it to the golden temple, there was still so much more of this path to go. There were bamboo forests, ponds and more shrines than I could count. I switched to my wide angle lens and wandered deeper through the woods.

After seeing what I came to see and satisfied with the pictures I left with, I had one more thing to do before leaving Iwate. There was another noodle dish I had to try, this was wanko soba. Soba are buckwheat noodles dipped in tsuyu, a dipping sauce of shoyu and dashi. Wanko soba is a version of this except the soba comes portioned out in multiple small bowls. The challenge is to see how many bowls you can complete in one sitting. A challenging meibutsu like this, I could not pass up.

If you travel up north to Iwate, I definitely recommend Hiraizumi as a must stop. It is serene, quiet and the gold, I found, was the light illuminating the temples and shrines. Visiting places like this makes me wonder if the temples made this forest so beautiful and peaceful or was it the forest being so already that prompted the building of the temples there? In either case, it is a walk that can ease the soul.

Aomori

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Aomori, the blue forest, is located on the very top of Honshu. It’s famous for apples and of all things, miso curry milk ramen with butter.

I crossed the Tsugaru Strait from Hakodate by ferry and arrived in Aomori City late in the afternoon. Before heading to Hirosaki for the night, I went for a quick post-journey ramen. I had received a recommendation for a miso curry milk ramen with butter from someone who had lived here. I had to search out and try something this whacky and weird combination for myself. It was definitely full-flavored and definitely as heavy as it sounds. But for a weary traveler it certainly hit the spot.

Moving a little slower to Aomori Station, I missed my train to Hirosaki and had to wait about an hour for the next one. I arrived after dark and checked into my hotel. I was staying near Hirosaki Park, famous for a castle which I intended to see in the morning, but when I woke it was a little rainy. It seemed it would clear up so I killed some time by checking out the Neputa float museum.

Hirosaki (and Aomori in general) is known for a summer festival called the Neputa Matsuri. This festival happens in early August where giant lantern floats are paraded down the street. The tradition started as a way to ward off drowsiness of tired farmers working long summer days. Aomori City has its own version called Nebuta, so both spellings are correct depending on which city it is taking place in. I will definitely have to go back during the festival and is something I would like to cover on this blog (eventually).

Across the street from this museum is the famous Hirosaki Park with Hirosaki Castle at its center. The park is famous for sakura, which I had just missed in full bloom. They have another festival here during this season lighting up the cherry blossoms. Another place I would have to come back to and see another time. If only there was another flower in bloom while I was there.. Something I wouldn’t have to plan to come back for..

And, oh wait, there was! Not cherry, but apple blossoms.

I had seen on the news the night before that the apple blossoms were in full bloom at Hirosaki’s own Ringo Park. I was unaware of apple blossoms until I went and saw them for myself. All the various types of apple trees had flowers of different sizes and colors. Aomori produces half of all the apples grown in Japan, so I got lucky seeing this very Aomori activity.

In the Ringo Park is a visitor center selling many apple related souvenirs and specifically for this apple blossom festival they had a stage set up and many food trucks. It was a wonderful thing to see families out enjoying the weather and apple trees in bloom. For me, I was happy to take pictures of these blossoms and try the local food as always.

Naturally, this place was famous for apple pie, but not just any pie. This place made Kyodai Apple Pie and their motto was “Challenge the World”. Apparently, they compete in world competitions for the largest apple pie. They may not make record-setting caliber pies everyday, but I had to try a piece or two of the rather large pies that they bake daily.

I got my piece of apple pie and found a spot looking out at the orchards towards Mt. Iwaki. This volcano overlooks the city of Hirosaki, and was hiding behind clouds when I arrived at the Ringo Park. Just before I got up to leave the clouds broke so the mountain could reveal its shape.

Aomori while quiet and certainly off the beaten path is a beautiful prefecture. Mountains, forest, apples and miso curry milk ramen make it quaint and worth a visit. Its festivals alone made me want to return and spend more time there. So, it is a place that will, I’m sure, be covered again.

Hakodate Asaichi

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Seafood for breakfast? When it’s this fresh, of course!

With Goryokaku Park and Mt. Hakodate the night before, I was already thoroughly satisfied with my time in Hakodate. I planned to leave Hokkaido by ferry and cross the Tsugaru Strait to go back to Honshu, but before leaving I couldn’t say no to another serving (or two) of fresh uni.

The best place for fresh seafood is Hakodate’s own fish market, Asaichi, literally “morning market.” As with any market I passed through a couple of times inspecting the stalls to see what looked good. I saw one vendor selling uni right out of the shell. I couldn’t resist and got some of the beautiful glowing orange sea urchin roe for myself. As I ate the creamy roe a Chinese tour guide with a microphone came up to me asking how I liked it, so I could tell his crowd that this delicacy was in fact delicious. Which I gladly did.

Also from the same vendor were scallops grilled in butter in a half shell. It looked way too good to pass up.

Not knowing when I would be back in Hokkaido, I decided to have one more donburi, this time a sanshoku-don at Kikuyo Shokudo. Sanshoku means three colors, in this case those colors were represented by scallops, ikura and more uni.

Asaichi not only has several shokudo to eat at, but also has several shops selling all sorts of fresh and dried seafood, and other locally grown produce. Hakodate is also known for melons. There are also several other attractions including katsu-ika one of the main market buildings.

Katsu-ika is part activity and adventurous eating rolled together. Crowds of people surround a pool of of squid, each participant waiting their turn to fish one out for themselves. Once a squid is caught, it is prepared immediately to be eaten. What makes it katsu, meaning lively? Well, these squid are so fresh that the tentacles are still moving even when cut. I didn’t have it this time as I was full from my two breakfasts, but I have had something similar in Busan, South Korea except with moving octopus legs. So I will say, it is totally a mind over matter thing. It is like eating any other fresh sashimi, but yes it may squirm a bit between your chopsticks.

Hakodate was very good to me and redeemed a Hokkaido trip that started out a little underwhelming. I headed to the ferry launch and waited for my ferry to cross the strait to get to Aomori. Following my three day trip to the northernmost main island of Japan I would travel to another two prefectures up north, Aomori and Iwate.

As the ferry headed out of Hakodate Bay I watched Mt. Hakodate passing by, saying goodbye for now.

Mt. Hakodate

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After seeing Mt. Hakodate from Goryokaku Tower, I headed out there to get a view of the city on the isthmus below. My plan was simple: go out there and get a good spot for when the sun goes down. But as this is one of the top three night views in the world, the others being in Hong Kong and Monaco, I knew I had to stake out my place early and wait. I went up the mountain by ropeway at just before 17:00 when the line going up was still short. I walked around the visitor center, got a nice view of ships heading out to the Tsugaru Strait in the west and headed to the lookout that faces north.

I found a spot at the railing and set-up my tripod. The sun was to go down at 18:45, and I was waiting there in position at 17:15. Shivering and patient, I took shots incrementally as the sun went down.

As the light lessened I could expose for longer and longer; from three seconds to eight to ten and eventually a whole 30 secs. As I was busy focused on increasing my shutter speed, the crowd of people there for the view also was getting bigger and bigger.

I stayed at my spot protecting the legs of the tripod from being bumped during the long exposures. In the sweet spot of 15 minutes at dusk, the clouds appeared a beautiful deep blue. I was thrilled at how the shots were coming out. I continued until I got to one that really satisfied me:

I came and got the shot I hoped for. The one that would definitely prove that indeed I had been to and conquered Hakodate.

I turned around to find a crowd thick with people. I tucked the legs of my tripod together and headed to a couple more spots before lining up to go down the ropeway.

After a wait, I finally got down Mt. Hakodate and walked my way to another spot, the Kanemori Red Brick Warehouses. As Hakodate was one of the first ports in Japan, it has many western influences including this section of warehouses on the water. Now it is a popular tourist spot filled with shopping and restaurants.

I arrived to what seemed like abandoned streets of warehouses, as many shops had closed for the day. It was quiet until I saw a German style bar with lively music almost like an Oktoberfest. So there were still people here, I thought. Still ecstatic from my successful trip up the mountain and wanting to take more long exposures I set up my tripod again and caught some light trails of cabs going by.

Very hungry after hours of long exposures, I was in the mood for something easy and fun. Luckily right across the street from these warehouses was a local burger chain called Lucky Pierrot. I had seen one earlier in the day and looked like a whacky interpretation of a western restaurant complete with a clown mascot. I was intrigued and it is in a way an obscure meibutsu of the area, so I decided to check it out.

Lucky Pierrot is decorated like an old 50’s burger stand. It felt familiar like an American style restaurant, but there was something off, yet uniquely Hakodate. I ordered a Chinese Chicken burger, a fried chicken burger with a sauce with an Asian twist like the perfect product of a port town situated between east and west. It made sense to me and hit the spot after a long day.

Hakodate gave me that truly great day in Hokkaido. I don’t know why I didn’t expect much from this place. Perhaps because of its location on the very southern tip and taking the least amount of effort to get to of anywhere in Hokkaido, I thought how Hokkaido could it be? I was pleasantly wrong. I realized how very Hokkaido it is and that it may have been the best part of my trip. It has a unique mix of east and west, fresh seafood and a beautiful night view.

Hokkaido, well done with a side of chili fries served in a mug.

Goryokaku in Hakodate, Hokkaido

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Hakodate is located on the southern peninsula of Hokkaido and the terminal point for the new shinkansen that connects Hokkaido with Honshu. I had changed here the other day and worked my way back down after a couple of nights in Sapporo and Otaru. My plan was to return to Honshu via ferry from Hakodate the following day. Before then I had a couple of meibutsu to find and places to see in the city, so I headed to Goryokaku.

Goryokaku is a star-shaped former fort, now a park lined on all sides by cherry blossoms. I was just at the tail end of the sakura season, so I hurried to the park to see what was left. But first, lunch.

When you think Hokkaido ramen, most people would think of miso ramen. I had some the other day in Sapporo, but I am not really a big fan of miso based ramen broth. To me it has the tendency to be too heavy. So I was surprised to find out that Hakodate has its own ramen style and it wasn’t miso. They are actually famous for shio ramen. Shio based ramen soup is typically the lightest of the ramen broths and one I was not so familiar with. When I arrived in Hakodate I looked up shio ramen stands near Goryokaku. To my luck there happened to be one of the best, called Ajisai, right across from the famed park.

While I waited on line, I saw on the window written “When in Hakodate… Shio Ramen. Oh yeah.” Loving the tone and the enthusiasm, I knew I was getting off to a good start in this city. I ordered their shio ramen with chashu and it was fantastic. Maybe it was from being so hungry from my travels, but it was one of the best ramen I’ve had. It was so rich, yet so well balanced that it still felt light. Full, I wanted to order another bowl right there, but decided it would be best not to. I left the ramen shop and crossed the street to go up Goryokaku Tower to get a bird’s-eye view of the park.

On all five sides of the tower were great views of the city from Hakodate Bay in the west, Mt. Hakodate in the south and mountains to the north. Just being up there gave me a real feel for the city. It is a quaint little harbor town with Mt. Hakodate as the southern point of a peninsula with the city sandwiched by water on either side it. On the opposite side of the tower is the former Goryokaku Fortress, originally constructed in 1855 and reopened as a park in 1914. Looking below I could see some people getting in some late hanami from under the cherry blossom trees.

I decided to head down there and check out the park for myself.

There are series of stone walls that can be entered, or climbed for a better view. Surrounding the park on all sides is a very angular moat which tourists can enjoy by boat. In the center of the park is Hakodate Bugyosho, a former government building that had been demolished, but now restored. It would make a well protected center of government, but now it welcomes tourists with a chance to learn a little local history.

I moved up, down and over the walls until I made my way all through the park. Most of the blossoms were just past full bloom and starting to fall. Pink petals floated on the surface of the moat. On my way towards back to the entrance of the park I did find a few spots still mostly full.

Hakodate made a statement when I first arrived. Goryokaku is a worthwhile stop in a really cool city. I imagine it must be beautiful in the other seasons as well. It is a place I would be happy to go back to and walk through again.

After the great ramen, a view from the tower and a stroll through a park I was already impressed, and now eagerly excited for what Hakodate had to offer next. My plan from there was to go check-in, drop off what I didn’t need and take the ropeway up to the top of Mt. Hakodate with my tripod and wait for the sun to go down.

Otaru, Hokkaido

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About 45 minutes northwest of Sapporo by train is the small port town of Otaru.

About 100 years ago it became a point of trade for Hokkaido with Russia and the United States, the easternmost part of Russia being just across the Sea of Japan. Due to this very practical reason several western style warehouses were built along a canal so smaller ships could unload their cargo directly into them. While the warehouses are no longer used for this purpose they have been restored and now give Otaru a personality all of its own.

Restored in the 1980s, the Otaru Canal warehouses are now a popular tourist destination filled with shops, restaurants and even a microbrewery. I arrived in Otaru from Sapporo welcomed by a rainy day. I bought a foldable umbrella and walked from the station towards the canal. Along the way are covered shopping centers and remnants of the first train line that ran between Otaru and Sapporo. I was determined to get my pictures, so I grabbed a beer and sat on the stone ledge of the canal waiting out the rain.

As the rain got lighter, I snapped a few shots and wandered up and down the canal a few times. After this I headed towards Sakaimachi Street. As Otaru is in a unique spot where east meets west it is famous for a few things that are very European, such as glass blowing and music boxes. Apparently there is even a music box museum, I did not go, but I did check out an old European style hall that is lit only by gas lanterns, called Kitaichi Hall. Here guests can have coffee, cakes or as I did, the local Otaru brew.

It provided a quiet retreat on a rainy day. I reconciled that no matter what I would have to make the most of the poor weather on this trip. I prayed to the photography gods to let the rain stop, even for just 15 minutes at sundown, for I had bought and brought a tripod specifically for the Hokkaido night views.

I went to check in to my lodging for the night, where I was greeted by two elderly obaa-chan running the place. I asked them for dinner recommendations. Seafood is, of course, fresh, delicious and famous in Otaru so I hoped for some good sushi. What I was recommended was again a combination of east meets west at Wakadori Jidai Naruto. This is a restaurant that is known for its sushi and chicken, of all things. When I was seated I ordered their main set of sushi and fried chicken.

Who am I to argue? Sushi, good. Chicken, good. Together? Sure, why not? The seafood was fresh and the chicken was juicy. Full, I checked the time and saw that the sun was about to go down. If I was going to catch this canal at twilight I would have just a 20 minute window.

I left Naruto and headed to the canal once more, raindrops still falling. It seemed to get a little heavier and I thought about cutting my loses, turning around to go back to the station and calling it a day. I didn’t do that and made it to the canal, set up my tripod, adjusted my settings for a long exposure and just then the rain seemed to let up just a bit. I pressed the shutter button and waited 11 seconds.

I was elated. Waiting in the rain, lugging a tripod around had all became worth it in that moment. I moved a couple spots down the canal, set up again and took a few more shots.

By the time I had made it to the second bridge the sun had gone down further and with it the sky darker, almost black. During my last shots rain started to fall again, I held my umbrella very still over the camera. Satisfied and feeling very lucky I went back to my room for the night.

Otaru is very unique. This is the Hokkaido I had expected to find, the crossroads between east and west and a culture all of its own. I was glad it allowed me that small window as the sun went down to capture it with a few long exposures. I was glad that I didn’t give up, because I realized that my initial disappointment had shown me what I really was:

A photographer.

Sapporo, Hokkaido

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Now it’s time to go to Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan and largest prefecture. It has a culture all of its own, one of myth, of legend and, of course, delicious food.

I took the recently opened shinkansen that connects the main island of Honshu to Hokkaido under the straight of Tsugaru. From Tokyo to Hakodate on the southern penisula of Hokkaido is a four hour bullet train ride and from there to Sapporo is another three and a half hour express train journey. Next time, I would fly, but for the adventure of it, I had to go up by train. So after such a long journey and high expectations I arrive in the biggest city of Hokkaido, Sapporo. 

When I stepped out of the station after a nearly eight hour trek, I found just a city. I realized I became so used to taking a train journey across Japan and instantly being charmed by character. And it made me realize how lucky I have been in nearly all of my previous trips. But, OK, maybe it is a place that is more than it appears at first. To really get to know somewhere you have to eat what’s famous there. So I tried the first of three meibutsu, miso ramen.

Sapporo Ramen is topped with corn and butter that melts into the already rich broth. I would say miso broth is my least favorite soup base compared with tonkotsu or even a basic shoyu broth, so it would have to do a lot to impress me. It was good, a bit salty, but not the epic, best-ramen-ever I had heard of, but I will admit I may have not gone to the right place.

As the sun went down I went to Mt. Moiwa, a mountain overlooking Sapporo. It is lauded as one of the best night views in Japan. So I hurried up before sunset to stake out my spot with my new tripod. I shivered in the cold waiting for the sun to go down. It was a bit hazy and the wind made having a tripod for a long exposure virtually ineffective. “OK. Let’s redeem this with dinner and call it day,” I thought. I turn around to see a long line for the rope-way that winded up two flights of stairs. I waited.

I hopped on a tram to get back to the city center, Susukino. I knew it was famous for a neon street corner, like its own Shibuya Crossing Jr. I thought about setting up my tripod again, but only just trying it for the first time on a trip that day and not wanting to get in the way I hurried to find a Genghis Khan place, the second meibutsu of this stop.

I found the famous Daruma a small hole-in-the-wall restaurant in a back alley of Susukino. At that time of the night there was already a line. As had worked out so well for me in Kyushu, I knew for the best patience was key. I waited again.

I waited two hours to get a seat. It was a small restaurant with 14 seats at the counter. Seated in front of you is a hot plate resembling a shield, from this the grilled dish gets its name. Genghis Khan consists of grilled lamb, onions and peppers. A piece of lamb fat sits at the top and slowly melts to grease the hot plate steadily as you cook your meat.

It was definitely good, but not sure if it was worth the wait. This was really the first time traveling in Japan that I felt this way. I went back to my hotel, hoping to have better luck for breakfast where I would search out the third and my most anticipated meibutsu of Sapporo, uni. For a fresh bowl of uni on rice may have been perhaps the whole reason I came to Hokkaido.

In the morning I checked out of my hotel and headed to Jogai Market, the fish market of Sapporo.

As far as I could tell Jogai Market was one street with restaurants and shops selling seafood wholesale on either side. Many of these places are famous for donburi dishes with slices of fresh fish, shellfish or glowing orbs of roe placed on top. After walking Jogai Market twice through I picked an eatery that looked good. I opted for nishoku-don or the two color donburi, half and half with uni and ikura.

With this breakfast my spirit restored and if for nothing else, a bowl of soft and creamy uni redeemed Sapporo for me. Uni is wonderful. It has a sweet and subtle flavor of the sea that when fresh melts on the tongue. This was the first of a few times I would be having uni in Hokkaido. It is expensive, but for me, totally worth it.

Before leaving Sapporo I went back to Odori Park to see two famous landmarks, Tokeidai (Sapporo Clock Tower) and Sapporo TV Tower.

Dodging rain drips on the way out, I got a few pictures before leaving by train.

After initial disappointment I am willing to give Sapporo the benefit of the doubt. I do look forward to visiting again and by no means do I discourage anyone from visiting. It just wasn’t the city I had heard it was. It was a good lesson in curbing anticipation when traveling. You never know what to expect, but at the very least search for a meibutsu (or three) and let the place speak to you and let it tell you what it’s all about.