[GPGT] Hokkaido in Winter

[RyanJ]

Sharing some photos of a very recent trip to Hokkaido in December 2023, not in any particular order.

***

- Car rental
Rented an Xtrail ( Compact 4x4i SUV ) from Nissan at New Chitose Airport.
Came with GPS navigation but I mostly used Google Maps and load waypoints created in My Maps for navigation. Waze was used secondarily to double confirm the route against Google Maps.

- Itinerary ( second time visiting so some areas I did not revisit )
Sapporo
Collected car, checked in in evening, went to Tanuki Koji
Explore Sapporo - Odori Park, TV tower, Ishiya, Clock Tower, Sapporo Zoo.
Drove to Noboribetsu, Hell valley, Date jidaimura theme park, bear park was closed.
Otaru canal, morning market breakfast, Tenguyama
Asahikawa
spent the late afternoon exploring - Heiwa Dori shopping street walk till Aeon Ekimae
Biei and the trees, Furano Farm Tomita, Ningle Terrace
Asahiyama Zoo, Alpaca Farm, Shirogane Pond and Shirahige waterfall ( if want to catch light show can try catch near the evening / sunset )
Sounkyo Kurodake Ropeway , Ginga and Ryusei Waterfalls, Kitakitsune Fox Farm,
Asahidake Ropeway, Hike abit, Onsen nearby, went back to Asahikawa Ramen Village
Back Sg

- Mobile Connection - Bought Mobal eSIM from their website. 50GB 16 days for 3900 yen is pretty much cheaper than the rest. I activated the eSim in Sg a day before flying. While you can do manual entry for eSIM settings, android and iphone can also simply scan the eSIM QR code provided. Upon landing in japan, Iphone 15PM could get connection right off the bat, my Pixel 7P needed the APN amended ( Mobal provides a pdf document on how to do it )

- Camera gear
Sony A7r, Sony HVL-F60RM flash, Sony 24-105 f4, Sony 16-35 f4, 50mm macro, 50mmf1.2. Peak Design CF tripod, Lee GND filters.
Unfortunately AF broke down so the 16-35 f4 fell into disuse. Should not have brought the 50mmf1.2 along.
Pixel 7 Pro, Iphone 15 Pro Max.

***

There are several iconic trees in Biei. Unfortunately not much opportunities to shoot with clear skies.

1. "Another Mild Seven" A new set of trees used for advertisement by tobacco company Mild Seven.

The iconic trees in Biei can be located via google map, though some roads may be closed in winter but Google/Waze may be unaware.

2. "Seven Star Tree" A famous oak tree that was pictured in a Seven Star tobacco advertisement in the 70s. Lots of tourists

3. Another take. Snow was heavier plenty of snow spots on front element..

4. Former "Mild Seven" trees originally first used in advertisement of Mild Seven tobacco cigs, but many of the trees were felled since.

5. The road ahead, tougher to drive at night with no street lights.

6. Shirogane Blue Pond. Blue in other seasons, but freezes white in winter Light show starts sharply at 5pm ends at 9pm.

Big crowd by 430pm setting up tripods at favourable spots but actually it is near dark by 430pm, there is not much diff going at 5pm or 8pm since the huge flood lights there will keep cycling between blue and white.

2 second exposure, off camera flash manually strobed 3-4x upwards to "catch" snow.

Direction of strobe can determine the pattern of lighted snow. I find that lighting the snowfall in front starts to obscure some details of the trees.

Far easier to adjust strobe output to control snow brightness than to tweak camera settings which affects overall exposure. Fired at 1/64 power on a HVL-F60RM with no diffuser.

7. long exposure but if continuous lighting were used - snow streaks.. messy. Cheap chinese made led panel used.

8. Without strobbing with flash snowing was not perceptible at the settings used, the snowfall was not too heavy that night

 

[freshvibes]

Looks beautiful! Thanks for sharing~

 

[deathan9el]

stupendous shots bruhhh

 

[Laguna123]

Nice photos, x-trail nice to drive and comfortable for long distant travel?

 

[orpisia]

So white ..

 

[ballastic90]

Jin nice scenery

 

[Atrina_Boy]

Very nice lei

 

[iammole]

So white ..

u mean 超级white?

 

[addict951]

Wah Rao, ts
You overzhnged the pics until Macam rike AI generated

 

[RyanJ]

Nice photos, x-trail nice to drive and comfortable for long distant travel?

Not much choice of vehicle selection but wanted a higher clearance vehicles for the more rural roads

Wah Rao, ts
You overzhnged the pics until Macam rike AI generated

Didn even do any stacking just single shots.

9. Heavy snowing but not stopping selfies

 

[ajcc1987]

Very nice TS!

did u drive there? Lots of snow , easy to drive on snow grounds? Planning a trip to snowy place but scare no experience to drive on snow

 

[Spike]

Is tyre skidding a problem in winter? Curious.

 

[RyanJ]

Very nice TS!

did u drive there? Lots of snow , easy to drive on snow grounds? Planning a trip to snowy place but scare no experience to drive on snow

Is tyre skidding a problem in winter? Curious.

Not my first time driving in winter, did previously in finland, norway, germany, austria, but this time round was probably the most uneventful ( which was good )

There were a few things I could summarise from driving in winter in japan :

- Upon arrival at new Chitose Airport we headed to the rental department where all the various companies congregate their counters. No one at Nissan counter but a landlined phone was there to call for assistance. Nissan drove a mini bus to pick us up from the airport to their rental, which was <10 min bus ride. Upon returning the car, they will similarly have a minibus to ferry us back New Chitose airport. If car is ETC enabled, I believe have to pay the fees incured via ETC toll before leaving.

- Unfortunately my car was not ETC card equipped ( they told me they ran out of the ETC ?card ) Please do try to get ETC enabled vehicles - much more convenient than paying cash manually at non ETC gantry ( While most gantries have a non ETC gantry, saw one small entry into the expressway that only accepts ETC enabled cars..

A non ETC toll "一般"

A non ETC toll machine for payment. Depending on where you enter from, sometimes a toll is to collect ticket and on exit another toll to make payment, sometimes a singular toll may just be for payment without tickets. During work hours many non ETC tolls are manned and you can ask for credit card payment options if cash is running low.

- Snow/winter tyres are essential. Chains not compulsory, I have never tried driving with chains on although there was ever one european trip the company provided a set in the boot.

- Make sure car came with ice scraper / snow brush. Always give ample time, sometimes clearing snow over the car can take a good few minutes of workout before road worthy. Have ur vicom help clear internal misting / fogging . There was one morning the freezing was inside the car windscreen.

Clearing snow at a private carpark near Tanuki Koji.

- Cities largely follow a grid layout, so driving is simple even if you miss a turn you can easily make a turn further. But the grid layout also means extreme numbers of traffic lights .. The grid layout in Sapporo with the green Odori belt was apparently planned by an American.

- Braking distance is increased, really no tailgating, even with what I thought was adequate spacing, nearly hit the vehicle in front on a gentle downslope if not because I veered into the turning lane beside.

- Roads can be slippery esp in mornings with black ice.

- In central / northern areas where snow piles higher than vehicles beside the roads, creating multiple blindspots. Do not do quick turns only to realise a pedestrian was crossing. Not an issue in Sapporo as they clear the snow more rigorously, but likely the norm in Asahikawa and other northern / central towns.

Walls of snow by the side of roads.

- Because roads are pratically snow covered, look for blue signages and pedestrian lights to have an idea of where to brake before red lights.

- Japanese traffic lights are on the whole pretty self explanatory, there are way more discretionary right turns than locally in Sg. Larger busier junctions usually are equipped with right turn traffic lights to help direct traffic, the smaller ones have to exercise judgement, especially when most of them have a pedestrain crossing as a first thing to encounter when you turn.

A head scratching traffic light that I encountered at a crossroad junction at Otaru, but it was just one off.

- Roads can be closed in winter but Google Map / Waze may be unaware.

- A higher clearance 4x4 is recommended, else can be especially bumpy on certain roads , or covered roads during heavy snowing.

- if concerned with slipping / losing traction / bumpy rides, try to follow the tyre tracks of cars on roads.

- On a two way road, the center divider has heap of snow which can be slippery when trying to change lanes for overtaking, apply more caution doing lane changing / overtaking.

- Avoid the urge to swerve or make large corrective turns on the wheel when the car loses traction as it might spin the vehicle.

- Self explanatory, avoid entering a corner at excessive speed, especially if downhill. But was one night while driving back we got smoked bya small white hatchback drifting at hairpin loops down a mountain pass, and assuming it was a cheaper front wheel drive vehicle, it was serious skillz with marbles of titanium, probably a local.

- Street lights are almost non existent outside township, you will be lucky if there are reflector markers, need to turn on high beam but be courteous and dip lights with oncoming traffic

- Parking in private gantried carparks, no standardisation but some comes with individual physical barriers that lifts with payment, some have cameras etc. Multistory carparks can be rather tight. Alot of money can be spent on parking fees, so best seek out Airbnbs with parking lots and save the pain hunting for carparks at the end of the day. In Sapporo, there were nights my carpark was just across the street, but there was a night my carpark had to be a 0.5km walk away.. Their parking fees make our MBS parking look reasonable . Some manned multistory carparks have complicated cheaper ticket fares that needs to be physically redeemed from the carpark attendants upon parking (* quite silly and inefficient ) , remember to read up google reviews of manned carparks u are parking so as not to miss out on cheaper ticket redemptions. Parking at convenience store car parks seem to be more expensive since the ones I came across continues to charge by 30min slots even past midnight.

A private parking. 满 = full, 空 = empty. Understandably parking rates steeply increases near points of attraction.

Parking payment booth. Cash is king, remember to have plenty of coins, there was a machine could not accept notes. Credit card payment options are far and few, only the one at Ishiya could my cc be accepted.

A carpark with individual gantries. Most of the time there is only one gantry at the entrance/exit.

 

[EDMW-Hates-Me]

Jin artistic.

 

[andyhtc]

It looks super cold.

 

[RyanJ]

10. Asahiyama Zoo. Definitely worth a visit. Carpark was huge but almost near packed by 1030.

11.

12.
Everyone flanking to wait for ..

13. Penguins

14.

15.

Unfortunately in the middle of trip my old mirrorless Autofocus died, back to full manual focusing. Tedious shooting animals on manual focusing.

Also the A7r seemed to malfunction and locks up settings adjustment when temperature hits lower than -5, which is unfortunate since my old 5d/5d2 could function at -30 previously ..

 

[RyanJ]

Good meal at Sapporo Kaniya Honten

Ordered a crab kaseiki and a sukiyaki set

16.

17.

18. Hida beef

and many other assorted accompaniments in the set. Offhand their miso soup was good.

 

[Taolun]

Reminded me of the guy in edmw icekosong (?) who like hokkaido too. Where is he now? Dont seem to see his postings now?

 

[tazzycorner]

nice photos and tips
thanks for sharing

 

[begintoend]

Brilliant so far
detailed in composition
not as lazy in captions and description

jus curious
would you have experienced / captured anything bad abt the trip...