While we were staying at the ryokan in Yamanouchi we met an Australian named James. His job was to travel around the world giving snowboard tours to people who would hire him (Australians are the coolest). He had just arrived to the ryokan at the same time as our group and said that he just flew in from giving a tour in Sweden. I asked him where his favorite place to go skiing is, to which he quickly replied “Japan for sure”.
Remembering what he said made me consider what our skiing options were in proximity to where we were staying in Sapporo. the Bankei Ski area was about 25 minutes by subway and bus from our hostel. I was surprised how easily it was to get to and how lucky we were to visit on a Wednesday morning since it wasn’t busy at all. The cost was $85 for skiis, boots, poles, hemlet, googles, snowpants, jacket (I brought mine), 4 hour lift ticket, and it came with a meal (ramen, soba noodles, or curry rice). I thought it was an excellent deal especially regarding the snowpants.
I’ve been skiing since I was 10, but I haven’t gone in probably 6-7 years. I started worrying the entire time up the chairlift which felt like we were on for a really long time. Fortunately, my muscle memory kicked in and it was like I never took a break. Joanna primarily snowboards so it took her a few runs to get comfortable with skiing again.
The reason why the chairlift felt like it took a long time was because we accidentally took the longest lift in the park. I probably should have looked more closely to the map but I’m glad we went up because the view was awesome and the trail down took a while which we enjoyed. The one thing that really made this park stand out for me was that it blared oldie classics on the speakers throughout the entire park. They played music by Elton John, Queen, Beach Boys, REO Speedwagon, and the list goes on. Man these Japanese really have a good taste for music :p
Eventually the park was swarmed with elementary kids and so we took a break for lunch. I’ve mentioned how much I love Japanese comfort food. Getting the curry with rice was so warming and filling after being out in 20f weather for 2 hours. It beats a soggy cheeseburger at the chalet in Hyland park for sure.
We went out for another hour or so and called it a day. Joanna’s mittens froze solid and my face and toes were getting numb. This was a risky decision to go skiing in Japan because we could have gotten injured or whatever but we did great and I’m really happy that we decided to go for it.
The next destination after Sapporo is a ryokan in basically the middle of nowhere in Tochigi prefecture, about 2 hours north of Tokyo. I booked it through Japanican and did a poor job figuring out our transportation to it prior to making the reservation. I sent an email to the website asking for assistance with getting a driver once we arrived to the nearest bus station but I wanted to call the ryokan directly to make sure that we were good to go the next day. Here’s how the conversation over the phone went:
Reception guy: Moshi moshi? (something else in japanese)
Me: Hi, do you speak English? I have a question about our reservation.
guy: Anata wa nihongo o hanasemasu ka? (Do you speak Japanese?)
me: iie gomenasai(‘no sorry’ in Japanese, ironic i know)
At this point I’m frantically trying to think how I can communicate with him.
guy: Reservation name?
me: oh yes! Andrew Loo
guy: hai! Roo-san
me: I take Sapporo Shinkansen at 6am, come Nasushiobara at 14 o’ clock, bus to Shiobara at 15 and arrive at 16:06, I need a pickup at Shiobara.
guy: Hai! Hai! Wakarimashita, no problem!
me: *whew* arigatou gozaimasu
guy: arigatou gozaimasu Roo-san
If we get there on time with no issue it means I’m amazing at Japanese lol
Last night in Sapporo was just us eating eating Gengis Khan and Hokkaido ice cream again, our 7th ice cream between the two of us in 3 days. I looked up a restaurant nearby to the hostel that was highly rated called Daruma 6.4. I liked that they used hardwood charcoal and that it was all locals in the restaurant which meant that it was a good choice. In the end it was kind of meh, the dipping sauce, seasoning, portions, and quality of meat were better at the Sapporo Beer Garden but this meal was still pretty good.
The trip up to Sapporo was a big success. I got to see a ton of snow, eat awesome food, and explore a new region of Japan that I would be happy to revisit in the future. We have just a few more days left in the trip before coming back home. I’ll have to do my best to soak in every moment before my first day of the spring semester in exactly 7 days *ick*.
