The hotel featured several lounges, and they had a welcome bar where you could fix yourself a drink and enjoy some ice cream while relaxing. It all made for a good pairing with our burgers. We returned to our room, opened the big window, and fell asleep to the sound of the river.

...So we left to find something cheaper at a small burger shop nearby, waltzing in just 15 minutes before they closed. I was worried we might be too late, but the owner graciously took our order and crafted some truly photogenic (and tasty!) burgers for us, which we took back to our hotel to eat.

Basically nobody takes any of these claims seriously, but it does make for a fun curiosity for tourists like ourselves who otherwise would have little reason to visit the area. Finally, we worked our way down to Yuze Hotel Resort, a lovely hotel straddling a river. The offered an expensive dinner.

We then hit up a nearby cafe that touted an excellent apple pie. I’m not a pie person, but Laura is. So, she got her slice, and I enjoyed some shaved ice while looking out at the lake. Next, we headed for the small village of Shingo, where some claim that Jesus is buried.

We stopped for ramen at the south side of the lake, and it may have been the best ramen I’ve ever had? I don’t really seek out ramen, but I’ve had enough to know my preferences. Garlic tonkotsu is a pretty safe bet, and this one had nothing but toppings I like, plus excellent broth and noodles. A+

The road to Lake Towada was a winding road following a river. The stream meandered through a gorge, and cliffs on both sides provided waterfalls that added to the flow. The river alternated calm, clear water and churning white rapids. The sound of the river is one of the 100 Soundscapes of Japan!

June 3: Lake Towada and the Tomb of Jesus Christ We awoke to find ourselves still smelling a bit sulfurous. The smell would chase us through the day, whispering into our noses a little less with each passing hour. Luckily, we spent a lot of time in the fresh air.

I was there in early June. It was a little too early for most of the flowers, but still a lovely place. I'll have to go back some time.

When Laura and I ventured into the baths, it was just us and like three other Japanese gentlemen. The baths were quite hot and smelled of sulphur, but it was as relaxing as baths usually are. I left the baths basically just as the women-only time was about to start.

Dinner was traditional Japanese fare of fish, rice, pickles, miso, and salad. I ate what I could, loading up on rice and their local apples. Most Japanese baths are segregated by gender, but this place proudly offers a place where everyone shares the same baths–except during the women-only hour.

We arrived in the early afternoon, so we explored the surrounding area. Trails near the resort led up the nearby mountains, but it was hot and sunny, so we stuck to some closer sights: a botanical garden, some fumaroles, a pond, etc. Lots of other people around were wearing their anti-bear bells.

Unlike the trip from Oma, my motion sickness medicine worked perfectly on this trip. I wasn't tempted to nap and miss the ferry experience. We didn’t really spend any time in Aomori, except to stop at a soup curry restaurant. Which was pretty good, if I remember correctly.

Laura fell asleep in an open room she claimed all to herself while I claimed a window seat at a table to sit and draw. I also explored the ship and went outside to enjoy the view as we entered the bay, surrounded by mountains. I saw several pods of dolphins while enjoying the fresh air up there.

Unlike the day we arrived in Hokkaido, the sky was clear and the seas calm as we departed for Aomori. It was a longer trip and a bigger ship than the one from Oma, with many seating options–open floor tatami-style rooms, hallways with tables and chairs at each window, and deck benches outside.

Japan Trip 2026 - June 2: The Mixed Bath The ferry has limited food offerings–just snack machine and Cup Noodle, basically–so we popped into our best option for a quick breakfast that was open at the time we needed it to be: McDonalds. It’s exactly what you expect it to be.

For some reason GPS-san took us on a wild route back to Hakodate. Blindly following her directions probably cost us some time, but on the plus side it took us on a route a bit closer to Mount Yotei. We rolled into Hakodate late and went to bed quickly in anticipation of our early day.

We couldn’t leave Sapporo without visiting the Sapporo Brewery Museum. (Well, Laura couldn’t leave without that.) But first we went to the Sapporo Pokemon Center. Each center is different, with its own dedicated mascot Pokemon. Sapporo’s mascot seemed to be Alolan Vulpix, which seemed appropriate.

Japan Trip 2026 - June 1: Goodbye Sapporo We had planned for another full day in Sapporo, but unfortunately the ferry we were hoping to take around noon the next day was full. Laura was really looking forward to the place we’d be staying at that night, so we had to book an 8am ferry instead.

We tried a yakitori restaurant again. It had a lot of good reviews. We started with the "chef's choice" set and, man, it was an adventure. Gizzard. Heart. The host pressured us to leave reviews before we left. Which is probably why they had so many, but I didn’t really appreciate the pushiness.

We stopped at a rest area for a late lunch before we continued on to Ningle Terrace, a cute arts village where a variety of craftsfolk make and sell things in little forest cottages.

We then continued on to Shirahige Waterfall, upriver from the pond. There was a bridge across the gorge that allowed for a great view of the falls and the nearby volcanic peaks from which the water flowed.

Next we visited Shirogane Blue Pond, a weird man-made pond that turned blue when they added aluminum to help prevent mud slides. I’m not sure how it works, but it did create a pretty photo spot. So they set up a paid parking lot and a souvenir & soft serve shop for it. The blue ice cream was tasty.

Usually after a week in Japan I start craving pancakes. Something sweet and bread-like is a big comfort after days of rice and fish and hamburger steak. Denny’s treats pancakes like dessert--technically correct, but I’m nevertheless offended at the suggestion. Jonathan’s is less judgmental about it.

The major family restaurants are American diner-esque Denny’s, Jonathan’s, and Cafe Gusto, as well as Saizeria for Italian fare. (Denny’s is related to the American chain, but is really its own thing.) I’d tried most of them, but I’d never tried Cafe Gusto before. It’s my new favorite.

Japan Trip 2026 - May 31: Biei and the Blue Pool We decided to try out Cafe Gusto for breakfast. Japan has a handful of widespread “family restaurants”–often open fairly early and late, usually good group seating, with a fairly big menu and a self-serve drink bar.

Mostly, I just explored capsule shops, looking for things I might like. I found a few featuring shows I enjoy, and the capsule gods were good to me. Crane games are a harder sell for me. I'm bad at them, so it has to be a REALLY good prize to tempt me to try. Luckily, nothing called to me.

We barely had time to make a circuit of the village and return to the entrance before they closed. There were old family homes, municipal buildings, western-style farmhouses and barns, breweries, a silkworm nursery, and more. You could probably spend an entire day there. Perhaps I will some day.

The museum offered a joint ticket to also see the Historical Village of Hokkaido, so we hopped over even though we’d only have an hour before they closed. Sure enough, there was far more there than we could reasonably see–it was an entire recreated town with dozens of buildings, each with exhibits.

Hokkaido's infrastructure was built in a short amount of time thanks to forced labor of political prisoners, Koreans, women and children. Again, the museum didn’t shy away from this information, despite vehement denial in some circles that Japan had ever mistreated Koreans. It was a good museum.

Hokkaido wasn’t fully colonized until well after Japan had opened its doors to the West, so the island has far more Western influence in its design. Japan specifically developed Hokkaido to be a breadbasket: covered in farms for crops and livestock.