insights from frontier Japan

It’s 3:15 p.m. ‘The glow of the firefly’ is played through the speakers to signal closing time at Asahiyama Zoo, and the wolves begin to howl in deep, sharp tones, as the breath they exhale turns white in the cold. The howls and barks come from the timber wolves.

At the Asahiyama Zoo in Asahikawa from February 11 to 13, the closing time was extended five hours to 8:30 p.m. for the winter tradition "Asahiyama Zoo by Snow Light". The event was again held at a reduced scale in line with last year for COVID-19 pandemic measures. In the hushed atmosphere of the evening zoo, visitors enjoyed observing a side of animals not normally seen during the day.

The first Asahikawa round of the ‘Snow Duathlon Hokkaido 2022’ series of races – in which the times of cycle and cross-country skiing legs are combined to determine a winner – was held at the Tomisawa Cross-country Ski Course in the city of Asahikawa on January 30. Approximately 30 people competed in the races on the snow-covered field, to determine the first champion.

On January 20, traditionally the coldest day of the year according to the calendar, the Kamikawa region experienced freezing temperatures, with ‘mid-winter days’ in many places.

At the JR Asahikawa Operation Center on December 6, JR Hokkaido revealed the new snow clearing wedge plow train "KiYa 291" to the press. Currently, JR Hokkaido clears snow in Hokkaido with 12 wedge plow trains inherited from the now defunct government-run Japanese National Railways. However, due to train aging, JR Hokkaido has purchased its first new wedge plow train since the break up and privatization of rail services in 1987. The train is slated to operate between Asahikawa and Shirataki on the Sekihoku Line from January 2022 onward.

The ‘Asahikawa Machiakari (town light) Illumination,’ and event in which 140,000 light bulbs illuminate the city center of Asahikawa, is currently being held. The silver-white world of glittering lights can be enjoyed in four areas, including Heiwa-dori Shopping Park and Showa-dori Street.

A strong cold front entered the skies above Hokkaido on October 17, bringing the first snow of the season to Wakkanai, Asahikawa and Abashiri. This was the season’s first snowfall on the plains, in the whole of Japan. As of 11:00 p.m., the coldest temperatures of this season were recorded at 141 of the 173 observation points in Hokkaido.

‘Rice-paddy art’ is a huge picture created using six types of colored rice plants, with the rice paddy as a canvas. Members of the executive committee, made up of individuals from the Young Farmers Division of the Taisetsu Agricultural Cooperative and the like, produced the rice paddies in the Higashitakasu 7-sen 18 district of the city of Asahikawa, and the rice harvesting was held on October 12th to conclude this season’s activities.

An artwork exhibit for sculptor Yasuda Kan (76), who hails from Bibai but is based in Italy, began on September 1 in Gallery She’s in Asahikawa and the community complex "Centpure 1 and 2" in Higashikawa, a town situated in the Northern Hokkaido Kamikawa region. Works displaying Yasuda's unique curvaceous beauty in bronze and marble are drawing in visitors.

It’s late July in the Furano basin in central Hokkaido, where the purple of the lavender fields and the green of the paddy fields are dazzling. There, JR Hokkaido's special sightseeing train ‘Furano Biei Norokko’ passes at a leisurely pace.