Hokkaido Trip and Tips

久しぶりですね！It’s certainly been a while (2 months to be exact but who’s counting) and I hope you guys are doing well! A lot has happened in the past couple months but I am sure to say that everything that has happened has been more than amazing. While there is a lot to cover from things like classes, IES Abroad field trips (which I will for sure be writing about in the future) and even just hanging out with friends, I wanted to share about my recent “big” trip that I went on with my friends to Hokkaido and also give you all some tips for travel while studying abroad.

If you didn’t know, February is a big month for students as it’s the month most of the entrance exams for university are held. These entrance exams are intense, multi-day exams and most of the time, universities close their campuses to hold these exams. For Nanzan University, the campus was closed for two weeks to hold these exams and CJS students were given a two week break as a result. CJS students, even those who live in the dormitories near campus, weren’t allowed on campus at all during those two weeks. Trust me, everyone was equally surprised and excited when we heard the news. 

Since we had two weeks of break, many people chose to travel around the country. I know a ton of people who went to Osaka and Tokyo (my friend and I included) and some even decided to travel back to their home countries for a bit. I personally didn’t have any concrete plans until some of my friends invited the IES Abroad people to go to Hokkaido with them, and of course I said yes. It was supposed to be a skiing trip but since I’m from Hawaii, I unfortunately (but not really) didn’t participate in that. Luckily, there’s a ton of other things to do in Hokkaido and I had an awesome buddy to run around Sapporo with me (second blog shout out to Tayler!). 

Now before we even get into the trip, here is where I offer my first tip.

1. Check the weather of your destination before you arrive

If you have never been to Hokkaido or even heard of it, it is the northernmost island of Japan known for its seafood, dairy, skiing and landscape. But, being the northernmost island, it is also the coldest region in Japan. We obviously knew that it was going to be cold since Japan tends to get the coldest in February, but I don’t think we expected how cold it would actually be. The moment we landed, we looked outside the plane window and saw piles of snow. Nothing crazy to us since half of the group are from the Midwest or places with snow in the US. But, the moment we got off the plane and began to make our way to the train station, we realized the snow might be a bigger issue than we thought. Trains were delayed by hours due to the snow and what would’ve taken us an hour turned into a 3 hour commute to our Air B&B. These delays and even train cancellations remained constant throughout our trip and it would’ve been a lot smarter to double check how the weather was going to be to better prepare for the many incidents of needing to book taxis or take last minute buses (if you saw my video I posted on TikTok, you would know that we had to walk 20 minutes in basically a blizzard because we took a bus) due to the trains being stopped. 

Speaking of trains and transportation, these next two tips definitely come in handy if you are studying abroad or even just vacationing in Japan.

2. Take advantage of the coin lockers in train stations

3. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE double check the luggage rules for the airlines you’re using and don’t overpack.

If you didn’t know, most if not all train stations in Japan have some sort of coin locker that people can use to store luggage or any items you might not want to bring during your day travels. These lockers range from 300-500 yen and are particularly spacious. It was really a life saver on our last day in Hokkaido since we had to check out of our Air B&B by 10 am which meant we had to carry all of our luggage with us wherever we were planning on going, which was the Sapporo Snow Festival. Although it was a bit harder to find a big locker for the suitcases some of us decided to bring, there was an “overflow” area for people to drop off their luggage if there weren't enough lockers. This is also why I bring up Tip 3. Surprisingly, the people who brought suitcases on the trip were the guys and not the girls. I will admit, it came in handy especially when my friend and I won large stuffed animals at an arcade, but it was a bit difficult to repack since many Japanese airlines have strict weight limits, even for carry ons, and if your carry on goes over the limit you have to check it in with another fee. As a serial overpacker, I had to force myself to pack less than what I thought I would need which honestly worked wonders for me. It was a four day trip so I only packed two pairs of pants, two long sleeves, a short sleeve and one pair of pajamas. I bought some clothes and souvenirs in Hokkaido so it was very convenient to have the extra space, and I didn’t go over the weight limit. 

And now for my final tip.

4. Just do it

Obviously I feel like everyone who studies abroad says to just do it but I can confirm it’s true. Since I didn’t go skiing, I had a lot of free time to do whatever I wanted and I didn’t have a clear plan on what to do. Because of that, Tayler (who also didn’t go skiing) and I decided to just see where the day would take us. We ended up going to a gorgeous outdoor onsen in Jozankei, which is known for its onsens, and even though it was our first time ever going to an onsen, we knew we would probably never have the opportunity to do it again. Of course, I do not regret it. We also ended up going to the Otaru Aquarium and to another onsen in Otaru, as well as just exploring all of Sapporo. 

I do hope these few tips can help if you ever come to Japan or if you’re planning on studying abroad here! Hopefully next time I won’t forget to write a blog (especially since my trip was in February, whoops!) but until next time!