insights from frontier Japan

Sapporo Okadama Airport Bldg. Co., Ltd. held a propeller-plane sightseeing flight over the Shakotan Peninsula and Lake Shikotsu in the city of Chitose on November 28, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the airport building's opening, which will occur in February 2022. During the flight, 40 participants enjoyed magnificent views of Hokkaido from the sky.

It was officially announced on November 26 that the 72nd Sapporo Snow Festival will be held in February 2022 for the first time in two years. Those involved in the tourist industry in Sapporo have expressed their relief and hope that the festival will help provide a route to economic recovery in the region. However, due to measures to prevent the further spread of COVID-19, the scale of the festival will be reduced, with the venue limited to Odori Park in Chuo-ku, Sapporo, and no large-scale or citizens' snow sculptures. Some of those involved in building snow sculptures in the past say the decision is “inevitable” but “disappointing”.

The Sapporo Snow Festival Executive Committee, made up of representatives from Sapporo City and the like, announced on September 21 that the installation of large-scale snow sculptures at the 72nd Sapporo Snow Festival, scheduled to be held in February next year, will be cancelled again, as they were this year. The Tsudome venue (Higashi-ku) and the International Snow Sculpture Competition will also be cancelled. The decision was made as an end to coronavirus pandemic could not be foreseen. With regard to the details of the event, a decision regarding a scaling down to small- and medium-size sculptures at the Odori and Susukino venues (Chuo-ku), or to switch to an alternative online event, will be made before the end of the year.

The "All Japan Mamachari Five Hour Endurance Race" in which riders cruise the circuit on bicycles with shopping baskets (commonly called "mamachari-bicycles") was held on September 5 at the Tokachi Speedway in Tokachi region's Sarabetsu Village. Under an autumn sky, approximately 200 participants in 32 teams from around Hokkaido competed against each other for the highest number of laps on the 3.4 kilometer circuit course.

The annual summer drifting-lantern event was held on the coast near the Atsuta River estuary in Atsuta-ku in the city of Ishikari in central Hokkaido, as local residents’ thoughts of the deceased and their ancestors were conveyed. Approximately 700 lanterns glimmered in the dim light of dusk, reflecting on the surface of the sea.

An ‘Ura Otaru Baza-Art’ (the other side of Otaru Bazaart) event　began in Otaru on August 11. Work by the world-renowned artist Nara Yoshitomo is exhibited at the venue, which has been visited by many locals.

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.

Niseko Gravel, a ‘gravel bike’ event using road-racing bikes with fatter tires that can be used on unpaved trails was held in the three central Hokkaido towns of Kutchan, Niseko and Rankoshi for the first time on August 1.

The annual ‘KIRI FES’ (fog festival), an event that brightens up the summer in Kushiro in eastern Hokkaido, took place over 3 days from July 23–25, at the Saiwaicho Park plaza by the Kushiro River estuary, and other venues in the city of Kushiro.