Hanami

It's cherry blossom season and the parks are overflowing with Hanami picnics.

Temples are quieter areas to view the blossoms without crowds.

This man sells baked sweet potatoes to viewers.  The open fire in the back of his truck is fired with wood timbers.  Scary looking but the potatoes are delicious.

Olivia is visiting from Palo Alto and consulting on Jex's photography.

Taiyaki

On a cold day these fish-shaped pastries are perfect.

They come filled with sweet potato or bean paste.

The 'fish' are baked over hot coals and served piping hot.

…mmm

Back in Tokyo

Locals are obsessive about their favorite restaurants and stores.  They will line up for hours, rain or shine.  Our line up limit is 20mins so obviously we're not very 'local'.

The 'Flying Tiger', a Scandanavian dollar store a few blocks from our apartment , has such long line-ups that security guards are required to police the line-ups.  The store has been open over three months and there's no sign of line-up abatement...

At the gym each piece of equipment has a towel attached to it so that you can wipe it down after use.  

Even the homeless have neat rows of structures and half of them have potted plants on their doorsteps.

Last skiing Post

Lots of wind and stormy weather in Niseko...

…hence lots of fresh powder

Many of the lifts were from a different era.  Some were wooden, single seaters and this one had a conveyor belt to speed up the loading.  Likely a precursor to high speed quads.

Smashed into the Hirafu gondola: Jex, John, Michele, Dirk, Kida, Marin and Linda.  
11-77, not a bad age span!

Hot drinks from the vending machine always gave us energy for that extra hike… or snow angel.

Light Festival in Otaru

Otaru has repurposed an abandoned railway line for a one week 'Yuki Akari no Michi' (Snow light festival).

Inverted, hollow snow buckets are lit by small wax candles.  Dozens of volunteers light hundreds of candles at 5pm each evening with blow torches.

The simple snow sculptures are beautifully detailed with berries frozen into clear ice blocks.  Handmade wax globes inlaid with leaves and flowers (presumably in the summer) also line the old railway line.

The intimate scale of this event is a welcome change from the masses of tourists at the Sapporo Snow Festival.

Locals offer free roasted potatoes and grilled meat to add to the welcome atmosphere.

The second site in Otaru is the canal at the waterfront, lit by hundreds of floating candles.

Kida's nose was about as cold as this ice ball by the end of the evening.