Day 62 30 September Sapporo

 We set foot on Japan today, the third new country we have visited on this trip. Here the pilot boat has come to meet us.

The port of Otaru.

Our tour guide today was an elderly Japanese man, with very good English. He was 79 years old, didn't look it, and was very spry.  He later told us that he had had a stroke last year.  He was planning on retiring, but his recovery from the stroke was so good, he decided to continue with tour guiding.

We visited the Hokkaido Historical Village. It had a lot of historically significant buildings that had been relocated there. This is a reproduction of the Sapporo Train Station (1908) at 4/5 scale (?). It was made in an American style.

This is a replica of the Hokkaido Development Commission (1873). It is a replica because it burnt down in 1879.

They even had a horse drawn tram, and although we had a ticket, we did not have enough time to do it. The ponies are short and muscular.

The Urakawa Subprefectural Government Building 1919, during their "pink" phase perhaps.

The Barber's shop from the 1920s and noted for its Western style.

The Takei Sake Brewery c. 1886 and its vat.

Sake ready to be shipped but no free samples.

Sanmasa Kawamoto Buckwheat Noodle Shop built. c. 1909. The upstairs was used for banquets and parties.

The Mutsuhashi Family residence, which is a typical house c. 1897.

The horse drawn trolley. Japanese horses are short and stocky.

Our next visit was to a Shinto shrine. This is where people first wash their hands to cleanse themselves.  We had also approached the shrine on gravel pathways.  The crunching of the gravel is also considered a way of cleansing before approaching the shrine.

A Shinto priest was blessing some cars which they do for $100 a throw. It is so they are not involved in an accident. Perhaps Mazda could do a 5-year warranty and a Shinto blessing.  (The most popular car dealership in Sapporo looks like it is Honda, with Toyota as a close second.)

A security guard noticed that we, with about a dozen other Westerners, were taking photographs of the blessing and chased us away. It is the first time I felt like paparazzi. He is swinging into action as he is just behind the priest.

When Japanese girls turn 7 and 3, and the boys 5, families often take their children to be blessed at the shrine. There seemed to be professional photographers recording the event.

The weather again was perfect for us.  The day was quite interesting as it turned out.