Sapporo

Posted on Jun 20, 2010 in Japan, Odds and Ends

We flew from Tokyo to Sapporo last night.  It was immediately cooler, and foggy.  They picked us up at the airport in a medium-sized bus.  I immediately staked out the backmost seat and curled up in the corner.  We drove through what looked like woods for a long time, and I finally couldn’t stay awake anymore.

So we’re here in the hotel for the day.  All I know about Sapporo is that its North, we’re on a different island, and there are bears on this island.  Since we got here last night and I was basically asleep the entire walk to my room, I woke up and remembered only that someone had said something about bears being in the vicinity.  I didn’t even know there were bears anywhere in Japan.  So I opened my window hoping to see trees and anime-style bears with giant heads hanging around with girls dressed like sailors and maybe a few robots.  But I only saw a a city.  So I went out this morning to take a look around, and sure enough there were a whole lot of backpackers in the lobby.  Going looking for the bears and robots, no doubt.

This city is really pretty, and there is a big park/campus near the hotel.  These bicycles were parked on the street next to that park, and I thought they looked rather peaceful in the cool morning air.

I should also mention that the instant I took this picture a twenty-pound crow smacked me in the back of my head with his wing.  On purpose.  Then he sat on a branch above me, yelling something.

Morning in Sapporo