What’s Hot in Japan: An Introduction

What’s Hot in Japan: An Introduction
What’s Hot in Japan: Onboard the SQ A380 SIN-NRT
What’s Hot in Japan: ANA Pokemon Jet to Sapporo Chitose
What’s Hot in Japan: Cross Hotel Sapporo
What’s Hot in Japan: Furano and Asahikawa
What’s Hot in Japan: Lake Toya Onsen
What’s Hot in Japan: A Day in Hakodate
What’s Hot in Japan: Domestic IOJ Service between HKD and HND
What’s Hot in Japan: Ramen in Japan
What’s Hot in Japan: Red-eye on the A330 KIX-SIN

And so the time comes again for the Hari Raya break in Indonesia. Since I was based in Indonesia this year, I had the chance to go for a family trip to Hokkaido and Japan. This time I will be re-visiting some of the sights I visited last year in winter as well as explore the rural countryside of Hokkaido. The itinerary would feature a few days in Tokyo since no visit to Japan is complete without ever visiting this crowded metropolis that shows the modern life of the Japanese people.

From Tokyo, we would board another All Nippon Airways jet to Sapporo where the bulk of the trip takes place. The last time I visited, I enjoyed Hokkaido for the amount of snow and its excellent seafood and onsen or hot spring. In summer though, this island offers a variety of outdoor activities as well as numerous sightseeing spots. And I would also not miss out on the seafood like amaebi (spot prawns) and uni (sea urchin). This trip would also allow me to visit the towns of Hakodate, Furano, Asahikawa and Lake Toya, where I would overnight in a lakeside onsen.

From Hakodate, we would return back to the main island of Honshu back to Tokyo and the return trip would see us taking the trains southbound. Along the way we would visit Yokohama and Kyoto while staying in Nagoya and Osaka. As expected the journey will involve taking the Shinkansen, which is perhaps the easiest forms of transportation between Japanese cities on the main island of Honshu.

I would post some of the highlights from this trip instead of doing a day-to-day journal entry as some of the city sights are similar to what I have covered in my previous visit to Japan in end of 2012. In addition to the highlights of the trip, I would post some food reviews especially since I did have a lot of ramen during this trip.