Messy but classy — this is how I would describe Sapporo in three words. In my opinion it has the highest concentration of retro aesthetics in the air among all major Japanese cities. Modest Toyota Crown Comfort taxi cars that are slowly disappearing from Tokyo and Kyoto are in abundance here and take you back to the 90s at every traffic light. Same thing with the trams that run in a ring through the city center: they are an extremely rare sight for Japan and add to the grand nostalgia.

It's surprising how quiet it is outside when it's snowing heavily. There are hardly any people on the sidewalks and almost no private cars even in the normally busy commercial district. Taxis took over all the transportation tasks of the city, but I decided that no blizzard can stop me from walking to my new hotel and taking a good look at Susukino area. Right beside posh love hotels and boring apartment towers I found these charming old buildings.

The trip to Niseko wasn’t easy. First we got stuck in the middle of nowhere with our old rental car’s engine refusing to start. When the battery problem was fixed by a “rescue” mechanic it was already quite dark and we almost hit two tanuki raccoons that jumped out of a snowdrift on the side of the road. Then we spent nearly three hours digging this house out of the snow and two more hours dealing with the dead bugs, dirty futons and the mold inside but it was definitely worth it. Japanese interior + snowy mountains outside is a majestic combination.