SAPPORO OBSERVATIONS: AN INTRODUCTION

It’s 5:56 a.m. Japan Standard Time, and I’m sitting on my bed (read: bed, not futon) eating an apple and YouTubing Remioromen music videos. It’s easy to forget I’m in another country 13 time zones ahead in a fully furnished, Westernized apartment, even if I’m up at a painfully early time on a Saturday – then I set foot out the door and suddenly it all comes back to me.


our apartment complex (I live in A on the second floor)

Japanese streets are narrow and remind me of American alleyways, only much cleaner and better lit. It’s strange how iconic these streets are. Whenever I watch a Japanese drama in the U.S., I get a little Japan-sick from seeing the protagonist walking or biking on them.

(Ironically, my neighbors to the right have a Shih Tzu with caramel color fur that loves to bark at us through the window as we walk to the MaxValu. My neighbors to the left have a Miniature Schnauzer. What a coincidence - it's like I'm back home. :P)

            one of my neighbors

From our four days of quarantine, Jess, Kellie and I explored the majority of the residential and commercial areas surrounding our apartment complex. When I say “explored,” I mean to say we played on several Japanese playgrounds, shopped at the MaxValu grocery store once a day, visited a Shinto shrine and trekked down to the subway station.


houses along our street


The cat with the eyepatch amuses me. The best part: Rule #1 is to not play golf on the riverbank, and #2 is to clean up after your dog (see image).


We walked a little farther and - suddenly - we could see Sapporo Dome through an empty space between some buildings.


Tsukisamu River (the same name as our town)

SAKASHITA PARK (around the corner from our apartments at Riverside)


PARK RULES:
1) Everyone, let's play well together.
2) Let's take care of the trees. (Lit: Let's grow the trees carefully.)
3) Let's try not to do things that bother others.
4) Let's stop throwing balls.



I think I found the world's longest slide. I got stuck a few times on the way down.

This is what quarantined college students do when they're bored.

Shrine gate





Somehow, I think the vending machines, although convenient, don't fit in with Stonehenge and Buddha.


The coolest bench I've seen in, oh, 20 years.

Sapporo has a different atmosphere than any other Japanese city I’ve been to. Half the city is the typical Japanese prototype: squeezed-in skyscrapers, bus and subway stations galore, big chain supermarkets mixed in with small Mom and Pop restaurants.

Yet because we’re in Hokkaido, most of the roads lead to a set of mountains on the other side of Toyohira River. There’s no gradual separation of mountains from the city, so a ten-minute drive across town can take you to the base of the mountain for numerous skiing and hiking opportunities.

The city itself has no building code, apparently, so skyscrapers are mixed in throughout the area instead of being built closer to the center.





From near the base of the mountains, you can even see the ocean when the sky is clear. The three of us plan to hike up the mountains sometime for the gorgeous view, but we’ll have to buy warmer clothes first because the wind and cold is already uncomfortable at the mountain bottom.

Shivering Kellie, Sarah and Jess say, “Until next time! じゃまたね!”