Sapporo aka: 札幌

Ski all day, tabehodai crabs and cheese; nomihodai Sapporo beer; and a big bowl of ramen before it’s back to the hot springs. Sapporo is a winter wonderland.

Sapporo is a nice place to go if you want to be away from tourists and just be surrounded by the Japanese. It’s not as culturally vibrant as someplace like Kyoto, but it’s still very nice. And the snow festival in Feb. is really something to see.

I studied abroad in Japan and lived in Sapporo for a year. It’s not abig tourist city, but if you can you should definitely go for the Snow Festival in February. It’s amazing! The city gets packed, but you can see some of the most beautiful snow and ice sculptures around!