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Cars waiting for spring time, Hokkaido
Mt. Io-zan, HokkaidoEast of Hokkaido (I)
"Off the beaten path"
Hokkaido, the big island of the north, is a popular tourist destination in Japan. The low population density, exotic wildlife and large natural parks are a big contrast with the usually overcrowded Honshu (main island).
The weather is colder than the latitude might suggest, so the best time to visit is in summer. Wanting to avoid the crowds and with a big sense of adventure, I went in March. Moreover, I spent most of the time, three days, in the eastern part of the island, a region rarely visited (Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido, is more than five hours away by express train). I wanted to go where nobody goes, get off the train at the most remote stations and look around, and I got it!
The only way to do this economically was by using a "free pass" (JR doutou furii kippu), a ticket that allowed me to use the trains of the east region for one week without paying and included the return trip from-to Sapporo.
"The Sekihoku line"
From Sapporo to Abashiri it's a 374 km journey on limited express train, more than five hours. Most of it, from Asahikawa to the end, is on the Sekihoku main line. I spent the time looking through the window at a snowy landscape that was giving me the impression, more and more, of entering into a different country.
The stations didn't look just functional, like in the rest of Japan, but charming and inviting. I wanted to get off at all of them!
"Abashiri"
Finally, we reached Abashiri around noon. It is a small town and I just walked around and took some pictures for an hour before catching the next train to continue on the Kushiro line.
I guess the local children don´t go to the park in winter!
These schoolgirls were very surprised when I asked them if I could have their picture taken. It was snowing, the wind was chilly and they were wearing those mini-skirts at minus 2 degrees: I couldn't resist showing it to my friends!
The school uniform is the same throughout the country regardless of the latitude, it seems.
