The weather was dismal when I got off the bus at Nozawa. It was raining/snowing, I couldn’t tell which; I had enough on my hands battling strong gusts of wind that threatened to veer me off the uneven slope. While Zao had been bright, cheerful and calm, Nozawa […]
It was March 2015. Snow was on the agenda, as was skiing and ice monsters 樹氷 (Juhyo in Japanese). But for that to materialise, we needed good weather. And good weather, we were blessed with. For a while. Getting to Zao 蔵王 was straightforward. From Tokyo, we took […]
Final Destination The bus journey from Shiretoko-Shari station 知床斜里駅 to Utoro ウトロ was one of the most scenic rides ever. For the most part, that 60-minute ride brought us close to the coast and we were able to get a good view of the beautiful Okhotsk sea. I […]
the typhoon wrecked all my plans. maybe it was fate. i saw it coming but i didn’t expect it to come all the way to hokkaido. days earlier, we watched on tv how it battered kyushu and brought massive rain to the southern regions. but hokkaido was bright and sunny, that […]
the last word 