Woah!  That’s a REAL zombie on the right!  I have the last of a wasabi ice cream cone in my mouth- fighting the heat.

The Squirtogether competition was excellent with great matches in each round.  Some established champs fell early and it got tense when Sue-san (who had been killing it in practice) came up against Toru-san in the quarter finals ~ A perennial winner. Toru went on to win that by only a half second and finally won the championship. Hiro took third with a smooth and consistent performance.  It was a tight competition overall-  where even one missed drop would cost you the contest.  A fun aspect was that Doris and my mom randomly chose the competitors matchs by blindly selecting their paddles to signify each match up.

It seemed to be over fast and we made our way to Hokkaido the next day.  Taiki picked us up at Sapporo/ Chitose Airport and took us to a serene lake inside a caldera for our first night’s camp. This shot gives you an idea how nice that was:

Way off to the left a bevy of swan boats await riders:

Taiki admires a difficult butterfly photograph captured by my mom’s husband, John.

  In the foreground is a gifted bottle of fine Sake with real gold flakes in it! Thanks Michiyo!

That’s a real volcano on the other side of Shikotsu- Toya lake!  Easy does it!

The highway department spends a LOT of money making things unique- like these street lights. And in the background? Another smoldering volcano!

And this town park at a huge caldera lake:

Decorating the already beautiful:

This volcano erupted promptly at the end of World War II-  the government tried to keep it a secret for a few years.  It’s a park now.  Full of stilled suspense.

We took a “ropeway” to a better vantage point:

To see where the fog embraces the topography near the lake:

Oh boy!  our first stores carrying Ainu art was at the bottom of the hill! The Ainu are the aborigines of Hokkaido and the last remnant of the world’s oldest religion- a Bear Cult.

Actually this one looks more like it came from India.   I like him though.

This lamp is all from one piece of wood:

And check out the owls and bears in that tree in the background!

And here’s mama bear defending her cubs on a shelf:

YOW! BEHAVE!

You talkin’ to ME?

A shelf of fine hand carving from India:

The Ainu like to carve bears in trees. And they do it well. Check the monkey in the background too!

And a bit of the sublime....

Classic Ainu craftsmanship:

Classic Ainu craftsman:

Then we moved on to an Ainu interpretive center. I think this guy was a king.  He ate well in any case:

They had a few of the legendary brown bears in cages.  This one is waiting for a treat to roll down that tube:

Their traditional huts are biodegradable-  way ahead of their time...

Inside the hut we got to see some traditional dances:

OK-  this is a terrible shot-  but it shows how the ancient Ainu women would tattoo their lips blue to keep out bad spirits:

This lady showed us how to play their Jew’s harp-  awesome sounds-  very textured and intricate:

This Ainu gentleman explained how the Ainu really dug their canoes:

The frayed sticks symbolize spirits. This particular shape is the canoe spirit and rides on the bow.

Ah!  So that’s how they carve the bears!

Our next camp was a small quiet plateau between to small cold clear creeks.  Taiki stayed up late and watched foxes catching these giant moths which were everywhere:

Mom got in a lot of quiet contemplative moments at all the camps.  She really enjoyed them!

Then on to the famous Daisetsu-zan National Park where serious hikers come from all over the world to explore the beautiful wilderness beyond the great mountain.  We were into serious bear country now.

Then we drove up this crystalline creek to where Taiki said we could see a beautiful waterfall:

Wow! Check out the big geological intrusion!

On the way to the waterfall Taiki pointed out the plant that the Ainu use to make poison for their arrows- to kill bear.

The falls were beautiful beyond words. Gentle but dramatic:

Then the Mighty Taikster drove us to another beautiful falls.  This one was roadside and had a lot of tourists.

That night I sampled some of Hokkaido’s famous Ramen-  cho oishikatta desu!  And then we drove into a rainy night to our campground near a still lake- with this warning sign:

It says a bear had recently been seen in the area and we should be careful.  Taiki took 5 minutes to look everywhere (even up in the trees) with his flashlight and we parked the car unlocked near our tents for a safe haven in case of attack.  Mom was still ready for the bear. I wasn’t-  so I drank a beer and went to bed-  listening to the rain on my tent....

In the morning Taiki found another sign saying how bear scat had recently been found in the area and that if we meet a bear, and survive, we should call this certain number to report it.

The camp was by a stunningly beautiful misty lake. It had a memorial  possibly for the many Korean and Russian prisoners of war who died in camps in this area.  My mom said she felt it was a statue of a Buddhist god who comfort those left by lost children. We could all use a bit of comfort- and we are all a bit lost- so I could really relate to this place.

Driving again! This time to the northeast corner of Hokkaido. Did I mention the Highways Department likes to spend extra money making things look nice?

These little “angels” live in the drift ice that comes down from Russia and create a feeding frenzy in the open sea.

In Japan they still clean your windshield at the gas stations... as well as empty your ashtray and stop traffic for you to get back on the road.  Of course the gas is over $6 per gallon....

Then we ran into this amazing house with handcarved beams near an Ainu village:

We had a lot of fun getting our last minute shopping in-  and even met some Ainu artisans.  And then we got a room in a hotel in Chitose to get ready for our flight home the next day.  We had an all you can eat and drink dinner at the Asahi brewery and then so soon- as if waking from a dream-  we were on our way home-  and the worlds we left behind.

We couldn’t thank Taiki and Hiro enough. And we had new friends to remember.  We did a lot- but had a lot of peaceful time as well.  We learned about the Ainu culture and how they’ve reclaimed their pride. And we made it home no worse for the wear.

And then we started thinking about our cats and chickens!  But we knew our friends Attila and Ann had them all taken care of.  So-- we just enjoyed everything!!   Thanks everybody!!

[Home] [About] [Paddles] [Customize Your Paddle] [Ordering] [FAQ] [Why RivrStyx?] [Short Reads] [Contact]

Copyright 2008 Jim Snyder