Sapporo, Hokkaido, Dec. 7 – 8, 2024
City in Snow, Cheer Squads on the campus and Zangi Fried Chiken
I visited Sapporo to walk and see around the campus of Hokkaido University in winter. I like the campus since I got there first time in fall two years ago during the covid pandemic. I was fascinated with the large and quiet campus in the northern mainland.
It was cloudy when I arrived at New Chitose airport in the morning. I found it turned to snow when I hit Sapporo and got out of the exit of Odori subway station. Woo… it is way cold. It used to snow in December even in Yokohama some three decades ago. It rarely snows now a day in December. Anyway, I started walking from Odori Koen towards JR. Sapporo station. There was an event called “Sapporo Munich Christmas Market” held on the park near Sapporo TV tower. It is giving a festive mode on this snow white city under the dark sky with the color of green, gold and red. People were coming to shop and dine. I decided that that is not my thing and headed to Sapporo station to grab something for early lunch.
I entered a restaurant “Zangi Honpo”, a Zangi Deep-fried chicken restaurant across the street from the north exit of the station. This restaurant specializes in Zangi Deep fried chicken, a Hokkaido’s specialty. On the menu, there are a large variety of Zangi dishes. I ordered a set menu of Zangi with tartar sauce, rice, soup and a side dish of boiled quail eggs. The chicken is freshly fried and steaming hot, good enough to warm my cold stomach after the walk in the snowy cold streets.
Hokkaido University’s campus is just one block west from the restaurant. Sapporo was planned by western style city planning like New York City. The streets are planned gridlock. They are divided by North, east, west and south. It is easy to locate where you are once you got the system. I never got lost in the city. I entered the campus from the main gate this time. It was a Saturday afternoon. There were a few students. I turned right at the statue of Dr. Clark who was the first principal of the Sapporo Agricultural School and walked through the main road. When I reached a Seico Mart, I noticed the sounds of a drum and a trumpet is coming from somewhere. I walked toward north following it. At the north end of the campus, I found a group of Oendan cheer squad practicing in front of an old barn house. Some were wearing a Boro haori, or tattered coat, a symbol of Bankara students who show off being a kind of barbaric in the Meiji era 1868 – 1912. Many are bare-footed in this snowy cold day. They are Hokudai Oendan, the famous cheer squad of the university. They are known as a group of Bankara, old school scruffy guys. I really moved by their enthusiasm in the world where people would appreciate money, or something materialistic more.
The barn house is one of the school’s important property since the era of the development some 150 years ago. The school was always a centerpiece to experiment American style farming to spread across Hokkaido. I walked back and headed toward the statue of Inazo Nitobe (1862 – 1933) near the row of Poplar trees in the campus. He was one of the alumnus. He entered Sapporo Agricultural College, now Hokkaido University, as a second generation student and learned agriculture. He later served at Taiwan Governor-general’s office as the manager of Sugar Industry bureau and make efforts to expand the industry. He was once served as a vice president of the league of the nations in 1920. His name is widely known as the writer of Bushido, the soul of Japan.
It begun to snow a lot after leaving the campus. I decided to enter the Sapporo Clock Tower to take a refuge, which I had come to take pictures many time but never entered before. The Tower was originally elected as the demonstration hall of the Sapporo Agricultural College and the clock was placed later. I learned later it is one of the three disappointing sightseeing places after Harimaya bridge in Kochi and Oranda zaka slope in Nagasaki. I like the tower, the way it is merged in the middle of the beautiful modern city. The hall was used for ceremonies like graduations, and physical educations. I wondered what those young students thought about their futures there.
I walked down to Fairfield Hotel near Nijo Ichiba market in the snow after buying some snacks for tonight at a Seico Mart in front of the tower. The Sapporo Classic Furano Vintage is sold only in Hokkaido. It has a good flavor of fresh and sweet hops. I stayed in the room after taking hot bath and relaxed watching the concert video from Akina Nakamori’s concert recorded in 1991 on NHK with the snack and drink. I am deeply touched with the song she sang at the concert : “Mizu ni sashita hana”, flowers arranged in water. ” ♪ From the crescent moon a platinum light leaks out….♪What a beautiful but sad song…. “The next morning, after buying some souvenirs and an Ekiben box lunch at Sapporo station, I moved to the airport early as I was afraid of possible train disruption by snow. I spent time until boarding at the lounge eating the Makunouchi lunch box, which have variety of side dishes, and watching snowy tarmac and airplanes through the window.