Sapporo, Japan

A major city in the island of Hokkaido Japan, Sapporo is well known for it’s glamorous and spectacular Winter Festivals!

Held during the first weeks of February, the festival features a mayhem of intricate ice/snow sculptures and ice projections! Not to mention several food selections converging here to showcase unique Japanese street food and cuisines!

But before I forgot, just like to thank Quadro Camisa Co for printing me custom shirts for my trip. I’ll post the pictures in my Kyoto blog as wearing it here would be suicide! To all interested buyers for custom design shirts that define who you are, visit their site here and choose from an array of template designs as well.

Rediscover our next stop, Sapporo!

IMPORTANT NOTES

1. For tourists visiting Japan, the first thing you could check out is having a Japan Rail Pass here. This will give you free access to almost any major train line in Japan.
2. The next thing to take note is this site (http://www.hyperdia.com/en/). This will give you exactly what time a train leaves and arrives at a certain station. With this, you could plan your trips and time your schedule depending on where you are at Japan. Alternatively, you could download the hyperdia application for Android users when you reach Japan (or use a Japan proxy and download it).
3. Secure a mobile wireless router at the airport. This will be the most vital tool during your trip as you would largely depend on the internet (hyperdia) if you aren’t familiar at Japan.
4. Bring a credit card, some establishments do not accept cash. And as you expect, it could save you in case you overextend your budget a little.

HOW TO GET THERE

1. Well, first things first – you have to reach Japan right? So if you followed my notes above, wherever airport you may be, there will always be a close by train station and use your hyperdia application to guide you. It’s not difficult, you just need not to be intimidated if you could not understand any signs at Japan. But it’s always good to ask whenever you’re really in a pinch.
2. Now, you’re final destination is to reach Sapporo, Hokkaido. If you used your map, it’s a long way north of Japan so you would probably be using a bullet train to get here (unless you fly from Korea and directly to Sapporo airport).

WHERE TO STAY

Well, since Sapporo is quite a touristy area, you won’t have any difficulty in finding a hotel. Prices are cheaper if you purchased them ahead of time. Anyway, Japan embassy requires you to place your hotel bookings on your itinerary for a Visa so finding a hotel will be the first things to do before even coming to Japan.
To give you guys an idea, we booked our hotel 4 months before and stayed at Hotel Yamachi. (Here is their Japanese site).It’s near the subway station and also near Kotoni Station (just 2 stations from Sapporo Station). If you are in doubt on where to stay, you could always check Rakuten Travel or Booking.com for a “Pay at the Hotel” service. Just be careful to read their cancellation policies to avoid unwanted fees to your credit card (if they require you to place it).