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MARCH 2009 : HOKKAIDO
Welcomed by the bear in Hakodate, Hokkaido's southernmost city.
Yep, that's snow...
...in front of a wooden building that wouldn't be out of place in Russia.
Hakodate's former Town Hall, from the outside...
...and within. More tea, vicar?
Another European-style wooden posh folks' dwelling.
A Russian Orthodox church...
...and again from the other side to see if it looks better from there. It does.
Hakodate's cosmopolitan nature extends to a Catholic church, too.
The view from my splendid lodgings, with Mt.Hakodate looming on the right.
Next day, and we are relieved to see that the sun has appeared. Outside the train station I discover this cheerful installation....
Heading north, I find more evidence of the European influence in the shape of the Goryokaku, a western-stlye fort that plaid an important role in the Meiji restoration.
In the background on the left you can see the new viewing tower behind the fort.
Old Vauban would've been proud! (for all you military engineering history buffs out there...)
I believe that's what they call a pergola.
Following in someone's footsteps around the interior of the fort...
Snow: the photogrpaher's friend and the testicles' enemy.
Aha! Corvus corone, or I'm a Chinaman!
After tramping round the interior, the big tower beckons and affords this splendid view, showing the typical shape of old Western forts.
Defying vertigo, I glance down through the glass floor...
...to capture these shots of clipped trees and the frozen moat.
The view to the north of Hakodate.
Now, seeing how the weather's improved, why don't we hoof it back into town and reshoot every photo we took yesterday?
The Papist Den again.
Back to the Russian Orthodox Church...
...the existence of which is not such an outlandish proposition...
...given that we are but a hop, skip and very cold ferry ride from Russia.
Shortly after these shots were taken, a real bearded Russian priest appeared to pay the man from the gas board. I'm not kidding.
Unfortunately there were no robes, funny hats or whirling smoking receptacles...
...or impossibly deep-voiced choirs.
As the afternoon wore on, it was time to ascend Mt.Hakodate by cable car to view the fabled panorama.
Even the ugly fish-processing bits down near the wharf looked good in this light and at this altitude.
To avoid the gathering crowds and kill time before sunset I wandered of along a hiking trail, not realising that this was probably not a good idea with a ton of snow covering everything...
...and managed to fall into a snowdrift. Still, the views and tranquil silence were well worth it.
Back to the ever more crowded viewing platform to take exactly the same shot as before, only with slightly different light. Rinse and repeat!
But those pre-sundown colours, wow!
Still enough time to get a sunset shot round the other side...
...before returning for the main event. Stage One: rather garish.
Stage Two: nearly there! Bloody freezing, though, as the thermometer dropped to -10C, but a quick swig from the hipflask soon took care of that.
Stage Three: The money shot! Amazingly, despite being hemmed in by jostling couples and noisy Chinese tour groups, I was able to get in a few non-blurred shots by ceasing all respiratory functions for a few seconds. Don't try this at home, folks!
Now, how about returning to them churches for yet another photo shoot?
Oh! Something new! A Protestant church that looked crap by day, but rather fetching at night.
Ah, scenic Old Bits!
Next stop, Sapporo, a large metropolis of nearly two million souls. Inclement waether had me retreat from this park into a nearby KFC for warmth and sustenance. Nothing like sampling the local cuisine, eh, lads?
Thank the Deity Sapporo is a great city with plenty going on indoors, because it snowed like a mother while I was there. I did manage to venture out to the zoo, though, to witness this jolly porker...
...and this charming wolf, who split his time between chasing crows off his dinner and attempting to hump his female companion, much to the delight of the onlookers.
When the weather finally let up, I headed out to the nearby port of Otaru, fabled for its picturesque whorehouses, er...warehouses, sorry.
The same view, this time from the canal bridge.
On paper Otaru should not be scenic, but somehow it really is a pleasant little town...
...although it was windy as hell, and as this next trio of photos testifies,...
...bloody...
...freezing!
Back to that nice canal...
One of the many old stone buildings in Otaru (most Japanese dwellings are wood-framed, not brick or stone).
Another example, now turned into an high class chocolate shop.
Municipal housing with a cutesy kiddie statue in front.
Birch trees - very Russian, and not particularly Japanese.
The same colourful building, with real solar flare.
And the same from the other side. This building isn't in any way famous; just a random combination of colours that attracted me as I passed by.
My final stop in Hokkaido was Asahikawa, an inland city reknowned for being the coldest place in Japan, and being home to the finest zoo. Here the penguin parade gets underway.
The most appealing of a number of frolicking seals in the zoo.
Asahiyama zoo gives its inmates better quarters than most zoos - here the seals even get an old boat to fool around in.
Our favourite again.
The awe-inspiring Amur Tiger.
I nearly crapped myself as he paused to stare directly at me, his nose just a matter of a few centimetres away from mine
Next door a lion who looked a bit out of place in the snow, although it didn't seem to bother him.
Dignity intact, our leonine friend ignores the gawpers.
The Amur snow leopard, sadly down to about thirty examples in the wild.
The best-looking of Asahiyama's three polar bears.
Getting a bit sleepy...
...but he still has his eye on me.
The Lesser Panda, ailurus fulgens, is just as appealing as his more famous cousin.
How these African animals can get used to this climate, I don't know.
OK, with this cheeky crop I'm desperately trying to avoid certain un-PC comments...!
How to keep warm on a log. One fellow wants to join, but is a bit wary of the Boss.
An Emperor Penguin, aptenodytes forsteri.
A Humboldt Penguin, spheniscus humboldti. Aren't you impressed with my Latin?
Rumbled! Spotted by the boss...
Next, a day trip out to the town of Biei, famed for its flower fields and general European demeanour. Of course, that means sod all when you go there in winter...Near the station I get a strange flashback to 1940's Poland.
At first there is a bit of sun, so I try hiking out to the rolling hills...
...which provide some fine scenes for the camera.
Even covered hay bales look great!
At this juncture the sky is still easy to separate from the ground...
...but the weather begins to worsen and things begin to get a bit tricky.
By this time it's hard to tell what's what anymore, and it's only the trusty old iPhone's navigational maps that prevent me from getting completely lost.
The weather begins to clear up a bit and I discover a landscape that looks more Norway than Japan.
This sign helpfully tells us which way is up - handy information in a snowstorm.
I decide to return to the safety of the town, as I'm frozen...
...and a bit of blue sky appears once more...
...allowing a few last snaps concluding a very interesting first trip to Hokkaido.
All images © 2009 Andy Lightfoot: no unauthorised reproduction without the author's prior consent. Enquires to that effect should be directed here.
01/2010 : Ujina, Hiroshima
01/2010 : Recent Pictures
09/2009 : Spain
05/2009 : Kyoto, Otsu and Shiga, Japan
03/2009 : Hokkaido, Japan
09/2008 : Britain and France
04/2008 : Chubu, Japan
10/2007 : France
03/2007 : Kyushu, Japan
10/2006 : Norway
08/2006 : Kansai, Japan
03/2006 : Australia
09/2005 : Czech Republic
08/2005 : Tokyo, Japan
03/2005 : Australia
01/2005 : Hiroshima and Kyoto, Japan
09/2004 : Britain, Finland and Germany
03/2004 : New Zealand
09/2003 : France and Switzerland
03/2003 : New Zealand
12/2002 : Hiroshima, Japan, Denmark and Sweden