Second stop was Asahikawa[旭川] in the heart of Hokkaido, probably the coldest city of Japan.

In the morning it got close to -20C. But I still had a good time here. After I arrived I went straight to the Otokoyama Sake Brewery. At their museum you could see how Sake was made back in the Edo period. Afterwards you got a glimpse at how Sake is made today, which is far less glamorous. Of course there was also Sake tasting included in the tour. I liked the sweet Winter sake the best.

On my second day I went to the Asahiyama Zoo, which is the second most visited Zoo in Japan. Highlight for me were the many underwater windows where you watch penguins, seals and polar bears swimming & playing.

Asahikawa also has a Snow Festival, but compared to the one in Sapporo it’s very very small. This year the festival’s 55th anniversary fell together with Transformer’s 30th anniversary. So the main stage and a lot of the statues had a Transformers theme. As a Ghibli fan I really liked the Totoro statues. The kindergarden kids especially enjoyed the Neko bus ice slide. There was also a 150m grown ups ice slide and you could take a banana boat ride.