Hokkaido in December | Japan Family Photographer
Early in October 2023 we started planning our winter holiday. We are not a family of active skiers or snowboarders, so we were not aiming to go to a ski resort, but after discussing for couple of days we came to a decision to maybe try to book our holiday in Hokkaido. We never been to Hokkaido during the winter months and all of us kinda longed for a snowy white December. So, we booked our flights from Osaka to New Chitose Airport in Sapporo, booked a hotel for one night in Sapporo and then an airbnb in Furano.
Since me and my husband don’t know how to ski or snowboard we wanted to try to enroll our daughter to a ski school in Furano. But, unfortunately almost all 5 different kids ski schools that I called were all booked for the period we were staying in Furano. Bummer!
So since the hotel, the rent a car, the flights were booked we just decided to anyway go ahead with our holiday even tho we did not find available ski school and see how things unfold once we reach there.
We left Osaka on the 16th December and reached Hokkaido the same day, obviously. The flight was around 2 hours, and beside the snowstorm warning and the announcement that the plane might return to Osaka due to the weather warning we still landed in Sapporo, luckily.
We stayed in Sapporo one night in a hotel near the city center, rented a car the next morning and then drove to Furano. And… the weather warning was right, we drove through massive snowstorm that day. From Sapporo to Furano it takes around 2 hours by car.
Driving to Furano to my surprise was easier than we thought. Except for the last 20 minutes before we reached, it was stressful and tensed, it was snowing a lot and we could barely see the little red arrows pointing to which side of the road we should stay and drive. But, we made it. We checked-in at our airbnb and stayed there for 5 nights.
Furano is a little town, with not as many hotels as Niseko, Hakuba or other ski resorts around Japan. But we loved it, it was quiet, with mostly locals and some tourists. We were there the week before Christmas so maybe that was the reason why we didn’t see that many tourists. We were told by some of the locals that most of the tourists arrive the day before Christmas.
Since we didn’t manage to get our daughter into ski school we decided to rent a pair of ski for her and a snowboard for me from a local rental shop. The ski slopes were not that crowded and we thought if we at least learn how to strap skies and snowboard and stand without falling in these 5 days here, we are good to go! I always wanted to learn how to snowboard so I thought why not. My husband on the other side decided to stay safe and sound and wait for an opportunity next time when we have a trained professional with us to try.
To my surprise getting the skies every day to the slopes made my daughter pretty comfortable and confident on them and seeing all the kids around her in the ski schools trying to ski, she decided to give it a try. And since most of the ski instructors spoke English around us, she could hear them and she followed what they were saying to the other kids so one day she just decided she wants to go down by her self, and she did it. She started skiing and she had a blast. Me on the other hand, I learned how to strap my snowboard and to stand on him, and that’s all.
While staying in Furano we ate mostly at our airbnb, because we had a little kitchen so we could cook. We ate at home for breakfast and lunch, but went out couple of times for dinner. One restaurant that I can wholeheartedly recommend in Furano is Lounge Furano 1909 Restaurant and Bar their food is amazingly delicious and the staff working there were very very friendly and accommodating. My recommendation is the ‘miso cheese tofu’.
Except skiing, trying to learn to stand on the snowboard and shoveling snow out of the driveway every day we visited some places around too. We went to the Alpaca Farm near Furano which was great, if you have kids give it a try - its fun. The Furano Cheese Factory - their pizza is the Best, and the Ningle Terrace next to Prince Hotel - it’s so dreamy at night!
After 5 nights in Furano, we went back to Sapporo where we stayed 2 nights before heading home. We got to visit the Sapporo Munich Christmas Market and most of the city center.
Hokkaido is absolutely magical in winter, if you are planning to visit make sure to check all their events schedule before booking your flights and hotels because they have different Winter Festivals going on from December to March for limited days.
Sanïa Spiri is a Documentary Photographer based in Hyogo, Japan.
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