Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan (February025)

Finally, our travel group made a trip to Japan in February 2025. In 2023, we traveled to Patagonia, and in 2024 to Morocco. Originally, we had seven members, but one member got sick and had to go through a medical procedure so she canceled out. Initially, the Yoons and we arrived, and the Kims arrived a day later. Without the Kims, therefore, four of us walked around Odori Park the whole day to see the snow and ice sculptures on display for the Sapporo Snow Festival, one of three world festivals along with Germany's Octoberfest and Brazil's Rio Festival.

Some of the snow sculptures were small...

But, there were also several huge sculptures like these...

Korea's famous ramyun, called Shin Ramyun (meaning spicy ramyun) was among the sponsors. I learned that Korean ramyun was very popular in this ramen country. 

There were children-friendly sculptures, too.

Sapporo hosted the 1972 Winter Olympics. So the Olympic emblem is still on display. 

For a snack, we made a stop at a bakery and the crepe was delicious. 

One of the Sapporo icons is the Nikka sign. Nikka is a whisky brand that is from Sapporo and one of the most respected whisky distilleries.

The Yoons hosted a fancy crab dinner at Kani Shogun, meaning Crab General, one of the most iconic restaurants in Sapporo. The hairy crab, Sapporo's specialty, was used for making all cuisines. 

Along with the hairy crab, Sapporo is also famous for Lamb Jingkiskan B.B.Q. For an experience, we tried out this cuisine, but we enjoyed it only a little.

Here are some photos of ice sculptures.

We also visited Clock Tower which is currently used as a history museum. 

We also visited the TV Tower, another iconic structure of Sapporo. The scenery of Odori Park located at the center of Sapporo was panoramic. This park is the venue for all festivals that take place in Sapporo. 

The Odori Park view would have been like this below at night.

Mr. Kim is missing from the group photo above because he caught a cold and was bedridden to take some rest. - Jeffrey