The indigenous people of Hokkaido - AINU

In one of the recent posts, I told you about the Akan National Park and Lake Akan, where the biggest population of Ainu people is living. I'm sure, you heard this word before, but what exactly is Ainu?

The Ainu are the indigenous people of Japan, more precisely of Hokkaido (and also the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin). The word aynu means human in Ainu language, though nowadays there is almost nobody who can still speak this language. This is because the Ainu were suppressed and discriminated for many decades. They were stripped off their land, customs and language by law, in an attempt to assimilate them to the Japanese culture. By the time this law was lifted in 1997, Ainu culture was already at the brink of extinction, and it took many more years for the government to officially recognize the Ainu as Japan's indigenous people (2008). With the new law of recognition and support passed in 2008, the Ainu culture is making it's way back up.
Now, there are many institutions and museums where you can learn about Ainu culture.

 

A great place to learn about Ainu culture is the Ainu Museum Porotokotan in Shiraoi, approx. 2hours by train from Sapporo station.  This is a small outdoor museum at the shore of Lake Poroto with traditional houses, a small indoor museum, animal barns and daily performances on Ainu culture.

 

 

 

 

Another Ainu village is Ainu Kotan at Lake Akan. It's bigger than Porotokotan, but quite far away. I wrote about it in a recent post.

 

Many museums in Sapporo and Hokkaido also have displays on Ainu culture, such as the Historical Museum of Hokkaido or the small museum on the grounds of the Hokkaido University Botanical Garden, that has a small collection of Ainu artifacts.

Whatever place you choose, the Ainu culture is definitely worth exploring! 

 

To the official website of Khaosan Sapporo 

Written by Irene

Rainy Sapporo - what to do?!

Just when the cherry blossom started, the weather changed and it's pouring down。So, what to so? Don't worry, there are plenty of things to do indoors and I will show you a couple of them in this post.

The obvious thing to do is visiting museums, and there are some great ones around town!

My favorite museum/factory is the Chocolate Factory. I wrote about it last month (you can read the blog here).

A very popular spot to go to is the Beer Museum. It is rather small, but I have never seen a cuter way to explain how beer is made! And you can have a cheap and delicious beer tasting at the end. Definitely worth it! (More information here)

Another museum dedicated to alcohol is the Sake museum, where you can even taste sake ice cream! And what’s great too is that it’s for free!
For free is also the Former Court of Appeals, that has been turned into a little museum with a history exhibition room. If you want to learn more about Hokkaido’s history, the University Museum or the Historical Museum of Hokkaido are great places to explore.

At the Art Park (which is a great place, though it’s outdoors) there is a small museum with changing exhibitions. At the moment, there is a great one about Attack on Titan! (You can read more about it here.)

Another obvious thing to do, is to enjoy a nice cup of coffee in one of Sapporo’s great cafes! The Brown Book Café is one of my favorites!

It’s such a cozy place. You can just read one of the books there or bring your own. Another really cozy place is the Hammock Café just close by. Be careful though, you might just fall asleep there! High comfort level!

Another great café is DxM, that used to be a factory, but now serves delicious coffee in a nice atmosphere. It’s just behind the Sapporo Factory, so you might want to check out this nice shopping mall as well.

Shopping is in general a good thing to do to kill your time and, other than the Factory, Donki (Don Quijote) is a great place to explore (even if you’re not buying anything).

If you want some more action, then Round1 is just the right place for you! It has Bowling, Billiards, Karaoke, and the “Spo-Cha”, standing for Sport Challenge. It offers about 40 types of amusement, including Mini-Bikes, a batting station, bubble soccer and a kids’ corner, that’s fun for adults, too! 

Or you could always just relax in our cozy living room, chat with fellow travelers and learn how to make Origami. The staff can provide you with paper and instructions ;)

So, don't be afraid of rainy days - there is heaps to do!

To the official website of Khaosan Sapporo

Written by Irene

Ice Princess, Girl on Fire, 'Da Man', and Me. The Staff of Khaosan Sapporo Family Hostel

Hi everyone! It`s me, Naoki again! This is the second part of the staff introduction, but this post is a special one because i`ve got the chance to tell about myself, no actually Irene will write the part about me lol.

So here are the rest of the staff:

Rina Saeki

The ice princess. No, she is not Elsa from that movie and she doesn’t cast magic either. But ice hockey is her hobby. She joined a local league in America as the only female player in the team where she won the second place in a tournament. Majoring in economic, she did a lot of traveling even in her busy days as a student. She won’t be able to build you a magic ice castle but she can definitely share some interesting stories during her travel with you! And of course she would love to listen to yours too! Oh, and don’t forget to ask her anything about Sapporo city; it`s her hometown!

Hobbies: traveling, playing ice hockey, watching movies.

Irene Kremer

The girl on fire. Why? Because when I looked at her profile, that is hanging at our reception, it says that one of her hobbies is to play with fire! I don`t really know if there have been any casualties due to her hobby, so if you are curious about it, please ask her directly! (No, seriously, she is just lighting POIs on fire for fire dancing, no buldings or anything like that). She is an active and adventurous one; another reason why she is the girl on fire, she has a lot of energy. She did a lot of hiking during her traveling; from the European mountains to the mountains on the other side of the planet too, maybe on the other planets too...who knows because she`s been to a lot of places during her travel. Click on her name to find out more about where she`s been and what she`s done.

Hobbies; traveling, playing with fire, reading, snowboarding, and hiking.

Michiko Nonami

She is ‘da man’! She is our lovely manager, she is the one who takes care of us, making sure we are all well-fed and well-rested, so that every staff here can do the best to support you during your stay! She`s been traveling to the Philliphines, Hawai, Korean and Taiwan for years before finally got married in Australia and settled down here in Sapporo. Hokkaido is her home too so you can ask her anything about it! One of her hobbies is laughing! So anything that can make her laugh; movies, books, pictures, or also your stories will be appreciated so much by her! And maybe she will make you laugh harder!

Hobbies: traveling, drinking, laughing, and drinking again!

Naoki Higuchi (written by Irene really, i didn`t write this by myself)

Half Indonesian half Japanese, Naoki speaks both languages and feels comfortable in both cultures - especially when it comes to food, which is one of his three big passions. After studying food technology in Indonesia, he went on an adventure to Australia and New Zealand, where he worked (oh, you can guess!) at restaurants and hostels, before coming to Hokkaido to live and work. Never far of reach is his camera, as taking pictures is Naoki’s other big passion. And he is truly good at that - if you have seen the other posts he wrote, you will agree! Which brings us to his (quite new) passion number three: blogging for Khaosan!! Check out the articles he wrote and you will understand ;)

Hobbies: photography, food, blogging, guitar, watching movies 

That`s it for now! You can see that we have many staff from different countries all with different background, passions, and hobbies that are ready to support you here in Khaosan Sapporo Family Hostel!

This is Naoki writing,

Over and out!

To the official website of Khaosan Sapporo

The Tales of Sea-man, Kitchen-man, and Handy-man

Hello! This is Naoki again!

As I promised you in my previous article, today I will introduce you to some of the staff who work at Khaosan Sapporo Family Hostel! The staff here are very kind and helpful; we want to hear your stories, we want to help you to have good times in Sapporo, we want you to have good food in Sapporo, so come to the reception and talk to us! 

Working in a place carrying the title of International Guesthouse, we have staff from many countries! As of now, we speak total of 8 languages; Japanese, English, Korean, Russian, Luxembourgish, French, Indonesian, and German! Here is the breakdown;

Sven Balthasar

He is the one, the man who contributes the most to the number of the languages spoken in this hostel. He alone, speaks Luxembourgish, French, Japanese, English, and German! He loves the sea (more than Romeo loves Juliet probably) he studied marine biology /tourism management and worked as a diving instructor in Australia before finally met the love of his life and moved to Sapporo, Japan.

Hobbies: Scuba diving, soccer, kite surfing, snowboarding. 

Joonmo Kang

The cooking master. Learned from the masters of cooking for years in the land of the Hobbits, he got the enlightenment in cooking that not many can achieve. He loves cooking  (more than monkeys love bananas probably). He worked as a chef in several restaurants in New Zealand before finally met the love of his life and moved to Sapporo, Japan. Sounds familiar? Lol yes, the man of the sea and the man of the kitchen shared a similar fate in life. Oh, he is Korean but he can speak Japanese!

Hobbies: Cooking, snowboarding, watching Japanese drama.

Amane Naito

Handy man! He can do everything better beyond expectations due to his experience in surviving in wild desert in Australia with kangaroos and snakes for years, making him a tough can-do-anything man. Just kidding! It is in his nature that he does everything so well. Studied in Australia for years, he speaks perfect English (and Japanese of course) and has an open mind. Came back to Japan and worked in one of the hotels in the world famous ski resort of Niseko before finally met the love of his life in Sapporo, Hokkaido. Yes, the handy man too.

Hobbies: Skiing, snowboarding, swimming, sailing, hiking, and drinking.

That it’s for now, now you know a bit about some of the people who are ready to assist you in this hostel! I will write about the other staff in the next articles!

This is Naoki writing,
Over and out!

To the official website of Khaosan Sapporo

Akan National Park - a magical place in Hokkaido

Akan National Park is a marvelous place to explore! Designated in 1934 it is (with Daisetsuzan) the oldest National Park in Hokkaido, and rather  big too. It covers 905 km² of thick forest, mountains, volcanoes and lakes - the most famous being Lake Akan (Akan-ko), Lake Masshu (Masshu-ko) and Lake Kussharo (Kussharoko).

Lake Akan is famous for it's Marimo and the biggest population of Ainu, living in Ainukotoan, a small village next to the lake. We told you about it in our last blog entry.

The most famous lake in the National Park is the caldera lake Mashu-ko.  It is one of the deepest lakes in the country and one of the clearest in the world. Often covered in fog, Mashu-ko,  it's considered by many to be Japan's most beautiful lake. When we were there though, it was totally clear!

With a circumference of 57km, Masshu-ko is the biggest lake of the area. It is popular for fishing, kayaking, cycling and onsen. You can even make your own little hot bath by digging a hole into the sand at the lake shore!

At the Southern end of the lake, the Wakoto peninsula offers a very nice outdoor onsen and a walking train around the peninsula. Halfway through the walking trail you will see the steam rising up from the shore of the lake, as there are some sulfurous vents at the tip of the peninsula.

A lot more steam can be seen at Iozan, which translates to "Sulfur-mountain".This active volcano is located just outside of the mall town Kawayu-Onsen. A beautiful 2,5km walking trail connects the onsen town with the volcano.

To explore the National Park, it's best to have your own four wheels. The lakes and Kawayu-Onsen can be reached by public transport, but there is so much more to see! My advice: rent a car and take your time to explore this magnificent place!

To the official Khaosan Sapporo website

Written by Irene