Roger and Stephen in Singapore: Sapporo, Japan

Work commitments took us to Sapporo in Japan. Sapporo is located on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido and is the fourth-largest city in Japan. Arriving at the airport we were greeted by large amounts of snow. Sapporo city is a gateway to many people taking skiing holidays in Japan as some of the best snowfields are about 40 minutes from Sapporo. Sapporo is a young city and is laid out in a grid pattern making it easy to navigate and has a underground railway network to take you to all areas of the city. Sapporo is well known for its annual snow festival in which huge sculptures are carved out of the snow. Singapore had a team this year which came 5th in the competition. We were unfortunate to miss the festival by a week.
Temperatures during the day were around -3 to -7 degrees Celsius and clear blue skies. As there was fresh snow falls it was easy to walk around and it was harder in areas where snow had been cleared and the snow turned to ice which made it quite slippery.
Sapporo was gearing up for the Japanese Doll Festival or "Hinamatsuri", which is celebrated on the 3 of March. Tiered platforms are set up in homes and hotels covered with a red carpet and are used to display a set of ornamental dolls representing the Emperor, Empress, attendants, and musicians in traditional court dress. It is a day to pray for a young girls health and happiness. Many of the department stores had complete sets for sale and they started around $2000.