Also in Hokkaido we visited an Ainu museum. The Ainu are an indigenous people to the northern part of Japan. At the museum we learned about some customs of The Ainu, and about their history. Above is a large statue from the museum.
That evening was the Sapporo winter festival, something that we planned our trip around seeing. There was a lot there. Above is a large ice sculpture of the new bullet train that will come to Hokkaido, as well as some of the attractions it will pass. Also pictured is the Sapporo TV tower, and below a man in a suit dressed as the TV tower.
I saw four snow sculptures of snoopy when I was there, as well as a number of Darth Vader masks.
We also went to the Sapporo zoo. Next to the bear enclosure were some confusing holes. I think that they were for smelling the bear, as they had a warning about when not to smell.
Hokkaido is known for its seafood, so that evening we went to a restaurant where we grilled as much meat and seafood as we could eat. The restaurant we went to was a little expensive, but it had some very tasty crab. That day I ate more than I intended to.
