Last winter I went to Hokkaido for the first time in 15 years and I’ve just booked a flight back there again for this winter. Biei (美栄町), Furano (富良野市), Ashikawa (芦川市), and most of central Hokkaido was deep in snow and bitterly cold. It lived up to expectations – it really was a winter wonderland.
Perhaps too much of a winter wonderland if the truth be told. There’s only so many snow-covered trees you can get excited about and I’m happy I got the inner Michael Kenna out of my system.
It was wandering around Furano at night or finding tiny train stations in the middle of nowhere that got me excited, so this time I plan to take trains instead of renting a car and visit more fishing ports and small towns. It was terrifying driving on solid ice in the centre of town.
If you’re heading to Hokkaido this winter to do landscape photography don’t forget to save some time to explore the more urban areas as well.
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