Since the 1972 Sapporo Olympics, skiing has been big news in Japan and for decades now, this destination has sat firmly atop even the most discerning skier’s bucket list. The main reason? Snow.
Last week delegates from the Aspen Sister Cities program, along with Mayor Torre and Councilmember Ward Hauenstein, traveled to Shimukappu, Japan for a 30th anniversary celebration that was put on hold in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo taken Thursday in Shimukappu, a village in Hokkaido known for its cold temperatures that can fall as low as 30 C below zero, shows the inside of a dome-shaped hotel where the ceiling, walls, and furnishings such as beds and tables are all made of ice. Guests of the…
You can find some pretty incredible stuff inside Japanese convenience stores, what with their fried chicken-flavor potato chips and teriyaki burger steamed buns. This winter, there’s going to be a convenience store in Japan that’s amazing not just because of its products, but because of the store itself. As Japan’s northernmost prefecture, Hokkaido gets very cold…