Into the unknown Japan... Hokkaido

Even to Japanese people "Hokkaido" has quite a magical ring. Hokkaido is the empty Japan where nature thrives and life is still slow. Travelling North the Shinkansen (bullet train) line does not go any further than Hachinohe. From there on it's slower train business. As a matter of fact the Japanese are building the Shinkansen line to Hokkaido as we speak so in a couple of years you will probably be able to get to Sapporo without too much delay.

Shinkansen bullet train - to get there fast!

The present train-line, riding through the longest train tunnel worldwide, has some mayor pluses though. On the Shinkansen you sometimes tend to pass bye places well worth stopping at. One of these places here is definitely Aomori where my visit was lucky enough to coincide with the yearly Nebuta festival. Now if you want to see what a "happy Japanese person" looks like, go to such a festival and see them jumping about, cheering, dancing, singing, making music and throwing little presents at bystanders.

Between some Aomori dance/jumpers.

Aomori was packed when I arrived. The wonderful girl at the tourist information tried to help out but even finding a spot for my backpack in a locker and a capsule to stay overnight proofed impossible. In the end I parked my bag at a local green grocer lady - who parked bags as a side-business - and reserved a seat on the overnight train to Sapporo to solve my accommodation problem. I was not really planning to travel onwards so quickly but since I already had a Japan Rail pass, staying on an overnight train was a fantastic free option.
As said, the train to Sapporo is a slow train which gave me just enough time to have a proper nights rest, from about 10.30 pm till 6 am and after thoroughly enjoying the festival and a few drinks with the locals I slept really well that night. Should I add that the previous night I had slept on a secluded beach and the sun rises amazingly early in the land of the rising sun, so I had woken up around 4 am?
Sapporo is partly famous because it is a beer brand. Some Japanese local ruler once (1876) travelled to Germany and brought back it's golden brew that is all too popular nowadays. Mental note; write about Drunk Japanese soon. Since I arrived too early in the morning to enjoy the Sapporo drink I just wiled my time at the train station, waiting for the Starbucks to open and had a large Cappuccino. On my way back south I would probably have a reversed schedule and spend an evening here.
The Northernmost tip of Hokkaido that can be reached by train is Wakkanai. On the train from Aomori to Sapporo I met a group of South Koreans who travelled all the way from Tokyo, in one go, (even I had a stop over) and I met them again on the train to Wakkanai. There they would have 1 hour before they would take the train back to Tokyo. Distance, 1600 km one way. Wakkanai is nothing as a destination on it's own. But it sure has a magical ring to it and does give you that end of the world feeling. From here it is possible to take the boat to Russia, with the right visa.

The name sign IS a destination in it's own.

On the train I also met a bicycle. Standing in a corner of the carriage. And an English white girl. Sleeping beauty deep down in dreamland. After a couple of hours she woke up and chatted along with me and one of the South Korean girls. Her plan was to take the boat to Rishiri island and circum-cycle it before cycling all the way back to Saporro where she worked as an English teacher. The plan of cycling round the island seemed totally appealing to me so of course I tagged along. If you don't have a plan you can tag along with anybody else's, is one of my main travel philosophies anyway.
Hanging out with Kim proofed lots of fun. She is the one who taught me all my Japanese chat up lines. After her long sleep she had so incredibly much energy that she nearly double timed mine.

Pro-biker in front of Rishiri San volcano

Admitted, the bike she used to cycle round the island was so much better than my "momma-cherry" bike but still. She camped outside and had to put up her tent in the storm, hardly slept that night when I spent mine in a hostel. So she had already cycled for some hours before she decided to come and wake me up at around 9am.
Rishiri Island and nature reserve is an awesome place! The dormant volcano in the centre gives spectacular views from any direction and the pace of life is nice, nice and slow. A mayor pass time of the inhabitants this time of year was to collect seaweed from the ocean floor and lay them out to dry. Compared to all the rest of Japan only here did I experience a last remnant of old Japan. The slow world that I had been looking for I had finally found. Unfortunately when I travel I myself always seem to be in a hurry so the next day we sailed back to the mainland where I could continue my explorations.
Somehow I forgot to mention the outdoors Onsen (hot spring bath) we visited, (separate sexes), the most beautiful cloud ever just hanging over the island for some hours and bloodily wrecking my big toe when running up the hostel stairs, causing my thread to go limp for over a week. Also moving house to a very local hostel where inclusive food an accommodation were good and cost the same as just the one mattress in the official hostel. And of course the worst sun-burn since the boatride from Battambang to Siem Reap in Cambodia but that would be side tracking for which I sincerely apologize.

Awe some cloud!

The more I write about Japan, the more I remember and miss it. Maybe that's the whole purpose of writing? And I do solemnly vow, that I will be back some day.

How am I ever going to visit all the world if I need to go back to all places I have already been?

Will dig into that question some other time.
Good travels.
Good readings.

Thanks.