SeoulSapporoSummer: Part Three - Sapporo

Okay, since it has been a whopping three months since I have posted, it is high time I tell you some of the things that have been happening round these parts. But before I can do that, I have to finish a summer story that I started way back in August. I still need to tell you about my Sapporo adventures. The Sapporo part of SeoulSapporoSummer (I still want a t-shirt with that on it).

Here's the thing about Sapporo though. It was exactly the kind of adventure we needed. Which is to say a relaxing adventure anyplace cooler than Kumamoto. Don't get me wrong. I really wanted to see Hokkaido (the northern most island of Japan, of which Sapporo is the capital) for it's own sake, but more than anything I just wanted to get out of the heat of Kumamoto in the summer. We only went for four days and two of those were spent traveling (when you get the cheapest flights possible it tends to take awhile). We went to relax and see the sites and that's what we did.

I've been trying to think of something profound that I learned in Sapporo and have finally come to the conclusion that, with one exception which I shall divulge in my next post, there wasn't anything. And there doesn't always have to be. So here it is. Sapporo: A Tale in Pictures.

Our first stop was an outdoor history museum called Historic Village of Hokkaido. We planned to only stay an hour or two. If you know me, you know that's not what happened. We were there for four!

The old train station - it now houses the admissions desk

The old government building

Main street!

Laura at the station master's house

You'll notice a trend of East meets West. This was during the Meiji Era, which lasted from 1868 to 1912, and was a time of great westernization in Japan.

This was a famous mansion from the time period. It was very interesting to see how the upper class lived in Japan during that time. 

Notice the two shrines. The large black and gold one is Buddhist and the one on the wall in the corner is Shinto. Most homes had/have both.

The tea ceremony room

Hokkai Junior High School; one of the oldest junior high schools in Hokkaido

Sensei! Sensei! Sensei! Wakarimasen!

An old shrine - established by the government to help with the spiritual guidance of the community

The fishing village!

The fish master! This was his house. He had many fisherman working for him and they lived in his house with his family when they weren't at sea. 

The fishernen quarters. That's a lot of futons!

Fishermen umbrellas! I wouldn't think that would be a thing in a storm on the sea. 

Fire extinguishers were developed in the Meiji Period :)

The fire house! Notice the sled. Winter in Hokkaido is not for wheels.

The trolley horse!

Terrifying mannequins!

Beautiful hibiscus!

We are ready for our trolley ride!

A traditional Japanese inn

More scary mannequins. They were discussing the "new" hotel in town.

Outside the inn, or, ryokan in Japanese

The newspaper office!

Look at all those kanji! Can you imagine! I mean we only had to use 26 characters. They had several thousand characters to put into a printing press. 

Learning to use a printing press!

Sake!

The super creepy turn of the century doctor's office

The pharmacy/chemist/apothecary

I would not want to be operated on here. No way no how.

Urakawa Church, established by missionaries. They still hold weddings here today.

A beautiful and unique communion set

Okay, so this is like if Hokkaido had a KyuGaku in 1870 something. An all boys boarding school. Oh the antics!

This charter was penned by Dr. William Clark when he taught at this school. It is The Covenant of the Fellowship of Believers in Jesus and was signed by several students, some of whom became prominent Christian leaders in Japan. He wasn't supposed to teach Christianity, but he did anyway.

The Dojo! Kendo and Judo were practiced here

Judo uniforms

Kendo gear

Our second stop was for Genghis Khan BBQ with our lovely hostess Okada-sensei. Let me tell you, BBQ'd lamb, so delicious! I didn't even feel bad! But that might have been the beer talking. I must say though, we did smell like BBQ'd lamb for the rest of the night. Why is it called Ghengis Khan BBQ you ask? Because apparently he used to BBQ lamb in his helmet, so our grills were convex Hokkaido shapes. Ghengis Khan BBQ is a specialty in Hokkaido. I have no idea why. To my knowledge, Genghis Khan never set foot in Hokkaido. 

They gave us aprons to keep the smell off and bags for our purses. It didn't work. We reeked of grilled meat for the rest of the night.

The grill at our table.

Beer Hall!

Mutton!

Lamb!

Our lovely hostess, Okada-sensei, a Lutheran pastor in Sapporo

Ah, BBQ. How I love thee!

The next day we went up to Hitsujigaoka Observation Hill. That literally means "Sheep Hill Observation Hill" according to Laura. There is a statue on top of the hill of Dr. William Clark, the American specialist hired by the Japanese government to come help modernize/Westernize Japan. He is famous for the quote, "Boys, be ambitious!" which he said to his students before returning to America. This phrase is famous all over Japan. Another version of it, according to legend, is, "Boys be ambitious for Christ." As you might imagine this second version is not as famous as the first. 

Dr. William Clark

Such lovely summer flowers!

It had a great view of the city

Sapporo Dome

A couple were having their wedding pictures taken by the statue. A little strange I suppose, but there might be an interesting story there. And just look at her dress!

There are still sheep on Sheep Hill Observation Hill :)

After we left Observation Hill we went to Odori Park, located in the middle of the city. It is 13 blocks long and, in the winter, is host to a major snow festival. As it was summer there was a garden exhibition going on.

Sapporo Tower!

Chocolate covered bananas! With sprinkles!

This slide was super awesome!

At the end there was a beautiful rose garden. A bunch of junior high girls were playing tag. It was too cute.

 

That evening we went to an observation point on the top of a mountain outside of the city. What a beautiful night view we saw!

Finally, it was time for our trip to come to a close. We went out to one final onsen (hot springs) stop, which was quite honestly my favorite part of the trip, but for obvious reasons I have no pictures. All in all it was a lovely and ever so relaxing trip to Sapporo, and while we didn't go to many places, we had a lot of fun at the places we did go to. And with that my SeoulSapporoSummer came to a close!