747FC

We are traveling in early February to Tokyo (5 nights, 4 days) and Sapporo (5 nights, 4 days). This will be our first time in Japan during the winter, and we are wondering whether the community might have suggestions for special things to do and see in and around these locales--things that are made more special because it is winter. We haven't skied for many years, and won't on this trip. Any extreme sports are nonstarters.

For Tokyo, we will do a day trip to the Snow Monkey Park. Aside from that excursion, are there other day trips or within-Tokyo sights that Winter makes especially interesting?

For Sapporo, we will be there for the Snow Festival. Aside from going to the various Sapporo Snow festival event, we are also planning on going to Otaru for their light path event, snowshoeing at the Art Park, and visiting the historic village of Hokkaido. Any other suggestions?

Thanking you in advance for sharing your insights!

paperwastage

if you get lucky, maybe you get to see some plum blossoms (usually starts early/mid feb)

Pickles

When I read this I thought it was some typo, as Hokkaido is much bigger than a "village", but it turns out such a place does exist: ???????

It actually looks pretty cool, something similar to Meiji Mura in Inuyama, which is in my view one of Japan's underrated attractions.

cowie

If you're into Japanese whisky, the Nikka distillery in Yoichi is not far from Otaru. Free self guided tours with decent English materials. There's also the Rita bar in Otaru town itself that apparently manages to source rarer Nikka varieties (or so I've read -- will be checking it out myself in Feb), and is conveniently located near the light path along the canal / disused railway.

747FC

Thanks for the suggestion. I've just located some sites to keep in mind.

I'll have to check out Meiji Mura on future trips. Thanks for mentioning it.

Sadly, my whisky days have passed. Thanks for the suggestion!

evergrn

If you're not into winter sports, I'm not sure that there is anything particularly unique per se about being in Tokyo in early Feb except to say that I think that is generally a much better time to visit Tokyo than May-Oct when there's higher chances of rain, extreme heat and mugginess, poorer visibility. You'll be able to hang out much more comfortably, weather will be much more conducive to an onsen dip and trip out to see Hakone or Mt.Fuji (although Hakone transport could be affected still by recent typhoon).

In Hokkaido, I would visit an onsen. Jozankei Onsen or Noboribetsu Onsen. Many of the larger onsen hotels have free or cheap shuttle services from Sapporo. I find Otaru to be overrated, but see what you think. In the winter, Sapporo turns into one huge subterranean network, a little bit like Montreal I suppose except a lot more compact and integrated. Too bad you don't ski, skiing is very cush at Kiroro and Rusutsu where most lifts are either gondolas or hooded quads. I'll be there in Feb for that.

sodaisei

As a +6 year Tokyo resident, what we do in winter is eating nabe or hot pot (get some nice Motsu Nabe) and then on weekends I would say ski or onsen trip (or both).

quirrow

Sapporo will be hosting the annual snow festival from 4 Feb to 11 Feb in 2020, so if you are travelling to Hokkaido then better book your domestic air tickets and hotels early as they might get fully booked. Otherwise playing in the snow is definitely one of the nicest things to do in Hokkaido, there are things like snowtubing if you do not ski. The skiing in Hokkaido is pretty nice with gentle slopes in some resorts like Rusutsu and Kiroro that makes skiing more like a fun thing to do for families and not really an extreme sport.

In Tokyo, sunny weather and blue skies would make for great visibility so check out the free observatory in the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Tower at Shinjuku. Views of Mt Fuji is usually possible. Winter is one of my favourite times to visit Japan because there tends to be lesser queues for everything. From Tokyo, you can also consider doing a day trip to Shirakawa-go, the traditional village listed as a UNESCO site. It would be quite a long day trip, but the village covered in snow is a postcard scene that would be unique in winter.

Food wise, dishes like hot pot (nabe), sukiyaki and ramen would be nice in the cold weather. There are also seasonal seafood in winter if you like sushi.

caburrito

Snow monkey park was underwhelming for me, especially considering the cost and time to get out there from Tokyo. The scenery looks like a construction site, perhaps the effect of a recent typhoon that rolled through. It might look nicer with snowfall covering the area, and the more likelihood of the macaques keeping warm in the hot springs than chasing apples thrown about randomly by park attendants. Of course this is all moot if you really like seeing monkeys.

shuigao

I had pretty good luck with plum blossoms @ imperial east gardens a few years ago.

Also if you're up for it, Odawara has a plum festival that's a ~1.5 hour train ride away from Tokyo. The town itself's good for a couple hours to walk around and visit the Odawara castle, and then it's a somewhat semi-challenging bus ride to the festival grounds set among plum orchards.

https://japan-attractions.jp/festiva...aume-festival/

Skip to 9:38 for short clips on the plum trees


p.s. as a bonus you can upload photos / videos to your social media and label them as cherry blossoms and 90% of your viewers won't know the difference.

747FC

Many thanks for sharing your insights. Maybe an onsen experience would be good...particularly in Hokkaido!

Thanks for your suggestions. Nabe will be on the menu, but I don't have the guts to try Motsu Nabe

Thanks for the snow tubing suggestion! And, I forgot about the Tokyo Government Tower observatory! The Shirakawa-go village seems really interesting. I see that there are flights between there and HND, and only 5K UA miles each way. Thanks for that idea!


Thanks for the warning. It just happens to be a bucket list item, but if no snow, no go!

I appreciate your recommendation re Odawara and the the Imperial Palace Gardens. We spent some time in Odawara, so probably won't go there this trip. The Imperial Gardens will be right across the street from our hotel, so we will go there!

evergrn

Onsen facility at Noboribetsu's Daiichi Takimoto is so huge, it'll blow your mind.
They provide cheap shuttle service to/from Sapporo. It does take a couple hours each way, though.

If Daiichi Takimoto is sold out, you could look into Mahoroba (also in Noboribetsu).

freecia

Noboribetsu Grand is also another mega-ryokan alternative.

Daiichi Takimoto's onsen offers a day pass and is the biggest onsen facility in Noboribetsu. https://takimotokan.co.jp/en/day_spa/ It is also one of my top onsen picks. I've stayed at the Grand and day tripped to Daiichi if the price is right.