New years day in Sapporo then off to Furano
Day 17 of Japan 2017 trip
Maruyama Park in Winter
New Years Day in Japan is one of the most important times of the year for the Japanese people. Many use this time to go visit their ancestors and pray for good luck.
Late morning considering the large journey we had the previous day. The Hokkaido Shrine is meant to be one of the biggest pilgramage sites in Japan for Hatsumode (first shrine visit) during the New Year. As many as 800,000 people visit Hokkaido shrine in Sapporo during the New Year.
Torii at entrance to Maruyama Park
The Hokkaido Shrine is located at Maruyama Park and so we took the subway to go check it out. Due to the large amounts of people attending the shrine, they closed off roads and also made the path to the shrine one way. So we had to go basically follow the huge mass of people around the Hokkaido Shrine circuit they've set up. First part of the circuit is you had to wash your hands and purify yourself at this well. Many also take the opportunity to have a drink too. Next part was to go inside the temple grounds and purchase some trinkets/wishes and also to go visit the shrine.
The 'Hokkaido Shrine'
Due to the New Year crowds they had set up this large barrier at the entrance of the shrine where people can say their prayers and wishes and throw money into this essentially large pit formed by the fenced up barrier. It was absolutely packed, so you had to be patient as you worked your way up to the front.
After the shrine visit we took a walk through the rest of the park where they had set up market stalls for the pilgrims. I ate some takoyaki which actually turned out to be pretty decent.
Fried Potato Mochi Stand
Potato Mochi
Takoyaki Stall
As we were leaving, we walked through more of the park and walked past many children making snowmen in the park.
Crowds at Maruyama Park
Giant snowman
Snowmen being built at Maruyama park
We got our bags from our accomodation then headed off to Sapporo Station for lunch. Like other Japanese cities, Sapporo station also has a ramen city like setup going on where there's a collection of ramen shops all in one area. Seeing as it was New Years Day, it was absolutely packed. There was basically almost no restaurant available to eat at. We settled for waiting in line for “Ramen Republic” which seemed like it had the smallest line. It was still a half hour wait unfortunately. Not to worry though as we'd already ate a few snacks already at the park.
Kinotoya Cheese tart from Sapporo Station
Line at Ramen Republic
Mini miso ramen
I ordered a mini miso ramen due to lack of stomach space. It was decent enough. After lunch we went to the arcade and played the sequel to Point Blank.
Off to Furano
We were off to the town of Furano in the afternoon to go skiing. We took the bus there as it was the fastest option surprisingly vs the train.
Our for dinner we ate at a restaurant called Sanjin where I ordered the pork tonkatsu set menu. I found the pork to be quite average with the breading basically falling off and generally loose. The set meal as a whole though was very satisfying.
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