There were two large revisions we made to our Japan Dec 2019 itinerary in the months of planning from July onwards. Firstly, we decided not to do a round city-by-city loop from Tokyo and opted instead to spend a substantial amount of time in Hokkaido. Secondly, we dropped a 4D3N stay in the Niseko area for the kids to learn skiing as we weren’t sure how well the kids – especially Peter – would take to skiing. In place of the snow-bound activities, we found a place called the Takino Suzuran Hillside Park that was just under 20 km south of Sapporo – i.e. easily reachable – and that was scheduled to open on Sunday, 22 Dec for the winter season this year. After checking to make sure we understood how to get there – basically, take a train along the Namboku line southwards to the terminal station at Makomanai, then head for the north bus waiting area – and catch Bus 106 from Stop 2. The bus takes off for and departs from the park every hour, so you’ll want to plan your timing around that (unless the thought of waiting for a bus is appealing to you).
The journey to the park was smooth enough, and yep, the park was indeed open for its first day of operation. However, as it turned out, none of the activities were open to the public – e.g. tubing, sledding. Reason? Insufficient snowfall in the park. The depth of snow was just about between one to two inches in most places. The staff were doing a test slide, and from what we could observe from their signs and gestures, I think they were saying that at least a foot of snow is needed. The kids were obviously quite disappointed, as it meant that the remaining snow activities they had been looking forward to – especially sledding – would have to be postponed to a next trip. Similarly, other visitors who had arrived with us also looked disappointed and hopped on the next available bus out of the park to their next locations.
Still, some pictures taken in the park.
So, this visit was a bit of a disappointment. We checked out Makomanai Cemetery next!
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