A Weekend at Dogo Onsen in Matsuyama

March is just around the corner and that means an end to the cold and the ability to go out doors a lot more. Even though it has been pretty warm lately, I’m looking forward to getting a bit more active outside soon. This past weekend I took a ferry with Asuka, Rob and Jacky to the Matsuyama in Shikoku. I went to Matsuyama last year, which was my first trip when I was here in Japan, but I didn’t mind going again as no one else had been. (Picture Below: Me and Rob hanging off a gate)

We took the ferry Saturday morning and arrived in Matsuyama a bit before noon. We went straight to Dogo Onsen area, known as the oldest Onsen or Hot spring in Japan. We dropped off our bags and just explored the neighbouring area.

A big thing in Japan is clocks, don’t’ ask me why, it just is. Not just any clocks mind you, but European type clocks that expand, playing music and having little figures dancing around. Dogo onsen is not impervious to this craze and they have a pretty nice wooden clock that strangely enough has men bathing in an onsen and various figures dancing around the sides. (Picture Below: Me ringing the bell for good luck after a donation)

We managed to also visit a few temples and shrines in the area, including this one that had a huge hike up to the top. Rob and I decide to race up to the top. The temple was pretty much the norm for most Japanese temples, but it looked really nice as it had been recently restored and the colors inside were really vibrant.

We also visited the local park where the Plum blossoms had just bloomed. We spent a few hours playing on the swings and hiking up this little hill where a small castle use to be. We managed to burn ourselves out pretty good and we all looked forward to returning to the hotel and entering the onsen.

At night we checked into our Hotel which is a traditional Ryokan. We took a dip in the onsen in the hotel then sat down and had dinner. Ryokan’s have a set Japanese meal that accompany your stay, so we had our full course meal then pretty much went straight to bed as we were stuffed and tired.

The next day, we went straight to Dogo Onsen and had a soak in the bath. The building was built in 1894 but the onsen water source is thought to have existed for over 1500 years. (Picture Below: The front of Dogo Onsen)

After Dogo Onsen, we made went to Matsuyama Castle one of the last original castles in Japan, it's one of the larger and more impressive ones. In fact, I tend to like Matsuyama-jo more then the better known Himeji-jo. We actually ran into a local Kure JET Hessen and her boyfriend and spent the remainder of the day with them checking out the castle. They are from Canada too, so we had a good chat about things back home.

We had a good time walking around the castle grounds and exploring the inside levels of the castle. After grabbing some lunch, we took the two hour ferry back home. All in all, it was a relaxing weekend trip with good food and sights. Well, it's definitely going to be a busy few months ahead with a lot more travel before I finish up my time here. (Picture Below: The sunset from our ferry back to Hiroshima)

Japanese Factoid #43- As most of you know, I love sweets and Japan is a great place to meet this need, as they love their sweets even more then Canadians I think. Japan has a greater variety of sweets with different types of pastries and cakes. A favourite of mine is Dango. Dango is made from mochi flour and in Matsuyama, they have something called the Botchan Dango, named after a famous book by author Soseki Natsume. Botchan Dango has 3 flavours and colors, one is coloured by red beans, the second by eggs, and the third by green tea. We bought a massive size one and chowed it down in our room.

Sapporo " Yuki Matsuri" in Hokkaido

I just had a weekend up in Sapporo for the annual Snow Festival or “Yuki Matsuri.” The weather was nice and saw a good part of Sapporo city. Me and five fellow JETs left Thursday afternoon and took a 2 hour plane to the northernmost prefecture in Japan known as, Hokkaido. (Picture below: An ice sculpture of Shuri Castle in Okinawa)

We landed in late afternoon and after checking into to our hotel, called the Swanky Hotel. It really wasn’t that swanky, but was near the heart of Sapporo’s entertainment district of Susukino and very convenient. We grabbed a bailey’s and coffee and an ice bar then, took a tour of the ice sculptures on Susukino, most of which were pretty neat and detailed. (Picture below: Krissy, Jackie, Amiee, Vicky, Masato and Me.)

We then went to the main street and walked around for the rest of the night looking at the massive snow sculptures. The Snow Festival actually began in 1950 when six local high school students built six snow statues in Odori Park. In 1955, the Japan Self-Defense Forces joined in and built the first massive snow sculpture, for which the Snow Festival has now become famous. (Picture below: The main intersection of Susukino)

It got a tad cold but wasn’t too bad as the night walking around and buying food at the local food stands was quite enjoyable. The massive sculptures located in the Odori park spanned about 12 blocks with food stalls and local smaller sculptures in between.

There were about eight massive sculptures, up to a couple of stories high. A few of the sculptures were of advertisements, which included a new anime movie called Freedom. There were also huge Disney snow sculpture and one for Hokkaido milk. The remaining sculptures were of Hikone Castle, a Thai Palace, Aquarium and an arctic scene.

Along with the big sculptures there were lots of little sculptures complete by various volunteers and groups around Japan. A lot of famous cartoon characters and actors had carvings. I knew most of them, but a few still left me wondering what the hell they were. (Picture below: A Thai palace)

There was also a snow sculpting competition that had entries from around the world. The sculptures by Hong Kong of a dragon won the grand prize. The Canadian entry was shocking as it pretty much looks like two hicks doing their ahem…business. Masato and I dutifully re-enacted the scene to the horror of Japanese onlookers. The sculpture was named Klondike dance which is supposedly a famous Canadian myth, which I don’t have the slightest clue about. Everybody that walked but the sculpture had a chuckle and all the Japanese were saying “dangerous” as gawked at the statue. Boy and I proud to be Canadian.

The next day we made our way to the Sapporo beer Museum, one of the oldest brewery’s in Japan. While walking to the front entrance, I heard a familiar voice and when I turned to look I was shocked to find it was one of my friend, Maria from high school. (Picture below: Maria and I outside the Beer Museum)It was just crazy to run into her there of all places and we were both surprised to see each other, there of all places. I knew she had just moved to Tokyo and I was planning to visit her soon, but didn’t know she was in Sapporo. Small world isn’t it?

We spent some time catching up and then went out together again to see the snow sculptures and to walk around Sapporo. I met some of her co-workers from Tokyo and we had another night gorging ourselves with street vender food and then went spent the night in the entertainment district. (Picture below: The winning ice sculpture by Hong Kong)

We ended the night at a place called the Ghetto club, which needless to say, was pretty ghetto but still fun. All in all, it was a great day and nice hanging out in Japan with an old friend. We’ve known each other since 8^th grade and it’s ironic since she use to help me with Japanese in High school, when I was just terrible at learning the language and now I know more then her. (Picture below: It looked like a middle finger so....)

The next day, Masato, Jackie and I decided to sample what Sapporo is known for, which is crab. We went to this huge chain which has a large mechanical crab moving on a 7 to 8 storey building. We definitely splurged a bit as we got crab tempura, sashimi, nigiri and basically 10 different dishes with crab in it. It ended up being about 50 dollars a person, which was well worth it as we had a great time savouring the food and eating the different local delicacies. If you like Crab, it’s a definite must if you are ever in Japan. (Picture below: Part of out set Crab course)

We then met up with my friend Jeffery and went to a famous chocolate factory in Sapporo. Sapporo is famous for this Chocolate wafer cracker and we just toured the local factory viewing the making process and interestingly enough, the history of chocolate. It wasn’t anything too special, but the building was traditional European design and we sampled some of the chocolate desserts. Masato and I shared this Chocolate Valentine cake which I made sure he didn’t get any funky ideas with the way I separated the cake.

The next morning was our last day in Sapporo and we decided to head to this huge open air historical Museum about the history of Hokkaido. The area was huge and consisted of 40 buildings from all areas of Hokkaido, in few acres of isolated land. We only had a little over 2 hours, so we spent a lot of the time just glancing over some of the buildings. The best part of being there was the snow and warm weather, as it was a bright and sunny day while we walked along the paths and entered the various buildings. The place was covered with snow too, which made snowball fights during the our excursion a regularity. (Picture below: Jeffery and I)

There were a lot of traditional buildings and even one of the first Junior High school’s in Hokkaido on display. All in all it was a nice way to wrap up the trip as we had a great day out in the snow and just viewing the different types of buildings while joking around with friends. We luckily ended up seeing most of what the Museum had to offer and it was a great experience. (Picture below: Outside the Junior High School)

So that knocks Hokkaido and the Yuki Matsuri off my list to do before I leave Japan. It’s getting a bit sad to think I only have a few more months in Japan, but I have a few more trips, along with a few crazy schemes planned to wrap up my time in Japan with a bang. Well back to school on Tuesday and only a few more weeks until Spring Vacation where I’m planning a road trip around Kansai! Check my msn spaces for more pictures of the sculptures http://brandongaijin.spaces.live.com/

Japanese Factoid#42: The act of gift giving is really important in Japan. The custom of obligatory gift giving actually occurs quite often. The way it works is every time you go on a trip you are expected to bring a gift back from your family and co-workers. So since I was in Sapporo at the chocolate biscuit factory I brought a case back to give to my teachers and a few friends.

It's a really nice gesture that's really appreciated by your peers. What's also nice is that you always get little snacks a few times a week as teachers go on business trips quite frequently. This custom actually provides tons of money for the economy as ever city no matter how small, has their "local" known snack.