All day on the trains! Superexpres shinkansen goes only as far as Hatchinoche on Honsiu island. Then I changed a train and we soon entered 53-kms long undersea tunnel between the islands of Honsiu and Hokkaido. After some half an hour in the darkness I saw the snows on the hills of Hokkaido. We arrived soon to Hakodate and I changed the train again…
The area of Hokkaido gives 20% of the area of Japan. But only 5 % of the population live here. The landscape is different, village houses are not as nice as in the south.
Hokkaido until mid-19th century was little known – Ainu people lived here. Later was colonized by Japanese and now it is hard to see Ainu here.
In Sapporo, in the late evening I found the Sapporo house YH, not far from the station. Almost empty place -they charge 3150 yen per dorm bed. One traditional Japanese bathroom for all – it is in the basement. Bring your earplugs – rail track is just nearby and you will count all trains passing by…
It is cold – only 4 deg Celsius – I dream again about the heat of Okinawa…
