Okinawa - Churaumi Aquarium

Two-fer this week because I missed last week (apologies, again). Next stop of my Japan trip was Okinawa and one of the must-see sights was Churaumi Aquarium at the north end of the island. I'm not usually one for zoos and aquariums but this one is one of the largest and most famous so it seemed like it was not be missed. Churaumi Aquarium is a part of the Ocean Park Expo, a large park that was opened in 1975 during the World's Exposition. Besides the Aquarium there is a history museum with a planetarium, a botanical garden, a mock traditional village, and an arboretum. The whether is the polar opposite (or should I say tropic opposite) of Sapporo, so it was warm and breezy. Very easy to spend a day here. 

The grounds:

The aquarium:

The museum:

The beach:

And my favorite part, the whimsical animal shaped topiary stationed all throughout the grounds:

Sapporo - Part II

Part two of Sapporo is going to focus on the little port town of Otaru, a short local train ride from Sapporo station. First off, the train ride in itself was a wonderful journey. Snow everywhere plus the waves crashing right along the rocks just below the rail road made it so very exciting. And the snow covered trains and platforms were also an awesome sight to see.

 Otaru is a very touristy sightseeing spot because of it's old town charm mostly seen through the well preserved architecture that boasts a highly European influence, being as it was a prosperous port city. I think I've mentioned snow about four thousand times in the past two posts, but it just added to the wonderful scenery. I realize that it is one month past Christmas, but I'm going to use this phrase without any shame - it was like walking in a Winter Wonderland.

Highlight of the trip for me was probably the Otaru Orgel Museum - basically a little wooden building that housed hundreds, actually probably thousands, of music boxes. It was like walking into Santa's workshop. Little wooden trains traveling on little wooden tracks, little wooden robots and monkeys riding bicycles and doing flips - and it seemed like there was music coming out of every toy and wooden box. Though there was nothing very museum-y about it, it is a great place to pick up a very special souvenir.

Hokkaido - Sapporo

Apologies for the unannounced one week hiatus. Although I finished my work assignment at the end of December and I am back in the States, I will continue adding to this blog to finish outlining the rest of my amazing year in Japan. Thank you again for all of you who have continued to read along for all this time.

Before I left Japan I was lucky enough to go on a nation wide, island hopping tour to see more of the country. My irst stop was Sapporo in Hokkaido. Brief explanation of Japanese geography for those who are interested, the four main islands in Japan are Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku. Hokkaido is the northernmost island, very near Russia. As such, it is also the most wintery and snowy.

The climate is really is the coolest and most unique thing about Hokkaido. It's Japan, but Minnesota, but it's actually Japan, which is basically two of my favorite things together and a very welcome sight right around Christmas time.

There are some really cool old buildings in Sapporo city, the beauty of which were augmented by the Christmas lights and the snow falling. The Clock Tower and the Former Government Office are two such buildings, pictured in that order below:

Odori Park is a long walkway stretching through the center of Sapporo town and during the winter months, many of the alcoves are illuminated, much like a central park would be in the States. A special treat was the Munich Christmas Market, a long line of "wooden" food and craft stalls with German trinkets and delicacies to showcase and sell. Between the tinkling noises of music boxes and the amazing smell of sugars cookies and gingerbread it was a perfect way to get into the Christmas spirit, very reminiscent of home.

Another thing that Sapporo was very good at, which reminded me a lot of Minnesota, was enclosed shopping malls, like the Sapporo Factory which was like the newborn baby brother of the Mall of America, without the roller coasters. Though the size is nowhere near comparable, there were lots of really nice stores and restaurants throughout the large complex, which even had Christmas tree in the middle of the main atrium. 

And a blow-up Santa figure climbing up the chimney!

Though I really appreciated the similarities between Sapporo and Minnesota, I'm really glad that there were still distinctly Japanese things that hadn't changed as well. Hokkaido Shrine is a few subway station stops outside of Sapporo and being able to see such a beautiful wooden shrine while it was lightly snowing outside was definitely an unforgettable scene. 

I'm going to end this post with a quick culture lesson. I learned last year that a normal Japanese family will get their Christmas dinner from KFC, the ever popular fast food chain, as opposed to the traditional turkey or ham present at family gatherings in the States. According to the Smithsonian Magazine, in 1974 a group of foreigners, having failed to find turkey for Christmas dinner in Japan, opted instead to make do with fried chicken. KFC jumped at the marketing opportunity and started an advertising campaign to associate Christmas with Fried Chicken with a special Christmas Dinner for the family. Apparently it worked, because most Japanese families are still enjoying this unique tradition today. The full article I just paraphrased is here if you are keen to learn more about it.

I'll leave you this evening with this picture, taken outside of a KFC in Sapporo. I hope you all enjoyed your holidays, whether or not there was an finger lickin' goodness involved in it!