Last Day in Japan | Farewell Japan & Final Thoughts
Snow Festival. Aspirin. Where’s my aspirin? ICE RINK! Oh, yep. Yep! It’s our last day of our Japan trip. Oh, yeah~ Ooh, there’s a festival going on there. Wow, on the last day, we’re lucky the weather is in our favor, so we’re going to make the most out of it. So we can’t go in, right? I think that’s the snow sculpture. It’s a Pikachu. But as impressive as the icy Pokemons were, we weren’t drawn to the crowds. We just took our free photo and we got a free chocolate. There was still so much of Sapporo we haven’t seen. Whoo~~ Such a beautiful day. Oh, I’m so happy. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s a coffee. How do you feel? Nope. I don’t want to go back. I don’t want to talk about it right now. Don’t ruin my trip! I still want to enjoy the last bit of my trip Don’t remind me to work. You need to pee again. Here. This is snow there Make some yellow snow. The Maruyama Park wasn’t even on our radar. We’re here for the Hokkaido Jingu. The Shinto shrine tucked right within the heart of Sapporo. Hokkaido shrine. And we only came because the Shiroi Koibito Park, the white chocolate factory, was too far for a half day trip. Okay, let’s go through a very big park. So huge. Big, big park. Why you sound like Trump? so big. Huge. China. But as soon as we stepped into the park, we knew we stumbled onto something special. Wow. Now I’m happy. The trees, the snow and the golden morning light came together like a winter postcard. Feels like Nakajima Park, but more lively. We wanna think we stepped into a park that only locals visit. But we were so wrong. Maruyama Park was actually a well known spots among tourist An honest and humble dream of Chinese citizens The writings on the trees are obviously the works of fellow Chinese tourists. Makes us feel right at home. Okay. We’re not allowed to curse right now. You know why? Heh~ You know why baby? Remember the first lesson we learned when we first got here? we overheard tour guides from another group saying that cursing is not allowed in Shinto shrines. This reminds me of the Meiji Jingu in Shinjuku, but covered in snow. And of course, where there are a lot of tourists, there are a lot of snack stands. Okay, so now we’ve been to the Meiji Jingu and now the Hokkaido Jingu. Well, aside from the shrine looking like an actual samurai helmet, we enjoy the park more than the shrine itself. Despite we came here for the shrine and not the park. But you can tell the entire park was designed with a Shinto aesthetic. Simple, serene and perfectly in tune with nature. Okay, that was a pretty good surprise. I thought it was just some kind of temple that nobody comes. And we’re the only one that’s coming. Tash always likes snowman. She’s either trying to build one or on the way to look for one. But our time’s ticking. Our next stop is Jyogai market. All right, hold on. Let me look at… one of the last chance our Hokkaido seafood redemption. Alright! Seafood market here we come! Okay, this seems pretty local. Jeeesus! We’re going to eat some seafood~ This way. Just keep going. Then we finally arrive at the Jyogai market uhhh Tash that’s not even the driver’s seat It’s a wholesale seafood market. Well, many stalls have simple seating. So much less touristy than the Tsukiji Market It’s a smaller and quieter version of the Tokyo’s Tsukiji Market. This is the last redemption meal we’re having for the disappointing seafood we’ve had. It can’t go wrong. We have to get the best this time. It didn’t take long before we explored the whole market. and we didn’t want to go to a proper restaurant because that’s not what we’re here for. So we backtrack to the first alley we saw when we first got here. It comes down to a few stalls that have decent amount of people, and we just picked one and walked right in. I don’t have a delicate palette My food philosophy is simple. It’s edible. Yes. Does it taste like cardboard? No. Then I’m good. Tash, however, wasn’t fully convinced. She thinks Hokkaido has set the bar too high for its seafood. Or maybe we just suck at picking restaurants. Well, we have food. It might not be the grand farewell feast we hoped for, but it was fresh. Don’t even wanna talk I had good food. I think it was good. It was satisfying. So it seems like we always have good surprises when it comes to places and attractions. But we have bad surprises when it comes to food. Feel like it’s… too expensive. Way too expensive for the money I pay, I’ll expect…you know better quality Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I agree. she’s not, she’s not satisfied. And we’re back downtown for one last stroll of the streets of Sapporo. It’s cloudier than the morning, but we still managed to picked off the final spots we have marked on the map and rushed past before. Nice~ Very cool. and took one last stroll through the snowy city. Then, just like that, it was time to grab our bags. Head to the airport. Leaving for the airport now. All right. Good bye, Sapporo. Just when we thought a luck at food isn’t bad enough, we tried to get the famous Hokkaido-specific ice cream at the station that we pass by every day, but never thought of getting. But… where is it Ice creams are sold out! Yep! The curse is real multiple times, multiple days It’s our daily routine, but we never thought of buying the ice cream here. And just like that, our time in Japan comes to an end. It feels like only yesterday we landed in Tokyo. Wide eyed and jetlagged stare in Mount Fuji as the fireworks lit up the night sky. That’s a real welcome. Set the tone for everything that follows. That was exhausting from the buzzing streets of Shinjuku and Shibuya to petting owls and otters in animal cafes. Tokyo was a whirlwind of contrast. One moment we were surrounded by neon lights and noise, the next we were quietly admiring century old shrines tucked between high rises. Our flight’s in 12 hours between giant Gundams, anime shops Link! and glimpse of traditional Japan. The city gave us a little bit of everything chaotic, curious and endlessly captivating. Hokkaido brought an entirely different rhythm between the snow covered streets, to frosty countryside. Everything was blanketing white. A peaceful kind of stillness. We rarely get to feel. The volcanic lake and sulfuric valleys showed us just how unique and otherworldly nature can be. There were good surprises that led us on unexpected adventures, and not-so-good ones that still make for a great story. We didn’t see it all. And maybe that’s the point. We with full hearts and mind full of moments, we’ll replay for years to come.
Our Japan adventure comes to a close in snowy Sapporo.
On our final day, we set out with no big plans—just a walk through Maruyama Park, a surprise encounter with a winter wonderland, one last seafood feast at Jyogai Market, and a farewell stroll through the city.
As we fly back to Tokyo and prepare to return home, we reflect on the contrasts that made this trip unforgettable: from the chaos of Shibuya to the silence of Biei, from lantern-lit streets in Otaru to sulfuric steam valleys in Noboribetsu.
We didn’t see it all—but maybe that’s the best part.
Watch until the end for a personal recap of our favorite memories across Tokyo and Hokkaido.
Thank you for coming along for the ride.
AloJapan.com