Travel: Hokkaido dons its spectacular dream coat for snow festival
Marvelling at ice sculptures in the cities of Asahikawa and Sapporo featuring anything from Star Wars characters to Hello Kitty is only one of the highlights of a winter visit
What I probably love most about travelling in Japan is that it is simultaneously foreign and familiar. It’s immediately clear that the Japanese have a different culture, they speak a different language and use a writing system that many foreigners can’t read and yet there’s an unmistakable and comfortable familiarity. While you might think that you could lose your way in such a strange land, there’s much that you know and recognise to keep you in a very happy place. What should have had me worried when I was invited by the Japan External Trade Organisation, a nonprofit parastatal, for a brief visit to their northernmost main island, Hokkaido, in February, was the weather. At the back of my mind I could hear someone saying that February is not a good time to go as it is the coldest month in that neck of the woods. And a further notice from the hosts about the climate in Asahikawa and Sapporo, the two cities we were visiting, should have been ample warning. The average was about -6.5°...
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