A romantic snowy scenery straight out of a Japanese drama – Hokkaido, a must-visit once in a lifetime

Text and photos /Annie

I really love Biei, both in summer and winter. Hokkaido has slowly climbed to the top of my list of favorite places in Japan. After visiting Biei for the second time this summer, I returned again more than four months later. The difference is that the scenery before my eyes had long transformed from a colorful patchwork of farmland into an endless expanse of snow-covered land.

Early in the morning at around six, I flew from Narita to New Chitose. The flight arrived fifteen minutes earlier than scheduled. As soon as I got off the plane, I rushed to the JR station to take the train to Sapporo. After arriving in Sapporo, I went to the Green Window to purchase a round-trip ticket between Sapporo and Asahikawa.JR Hokkaido) 
Buying this round-trip ticket is quite a good deal. You can ride on limited express trains, and you don’t need to show your passport when purchasing it. Normally, a one-way limited express non-reserved seat fare from Sapporo to Asahikawa costs 4,290 yen... but this round-trip ticket offers significant savings. Although it's only a non-reserved seat and most of the routes are on local trains, there are surprisingly few people.

After arriving in Asahikawa, I transferred to a train heading to Biei. Most of the trains going to Biei are single-carriage, slowly chugging along to Biei. Along the way, looking out the window, I noticed that National Route 237, which runs parallel to the railway, is the same road I drove on during the summer when going from Asahikawa to Biei.

Biei, I’m back after four months.

Since I wasn’t too keen on driving in winter, I booked a two-hour sightseeing taxi. Sightseeing taxis in Biei can be arranged at the tourist information center next to the station — I asked the staff there to help me book one.
Originally, there were four of us. Worried that four people might not fit into a small car, I had emailed in advance to ask whether we should rent a large or small car, and also how much time and cost our itinerary would roughly require. Perhaps because there were very few tourists in winter, I received a reply in less than half an hour after sending the email. Later, when we arrived at the site and asked about sightseeing taxis at the information center, a Hong Kong (?) couple nearby asked if they could share the car with us. We quickly calculated the fare on the spot and found that even with six people and needing a larger car, it was still 500 yen cheaper than if just the four of us had gone. (＊’▽’＊)

The route we took this time included the Patchwork Road as well as Storm Tree (Five Trees) and Christmas Tree. We spent about two hours, and the average per-person cost was 680 yen. A small car is the usual choice, but this time we ended up taking a larger one.

First, we headed north along the Patchwork Road. The first stop was North West Hills — what a completely different view from summer! There were some stalls near North West Hills. In summer, it’s quite lively, but in winter, none of them were open.

Ken & Mary’s Forest
I was stunned when I saw it — it looked nothing like it does in summer XD. There was a rather lonely feeling to it.

Not far away is Asahikawa Airport. We happened to see a plane preparing to land.

On the bench by the parking lot, there was still a message left by Taiwanese tourists (?)

Seven Star Tree
When we saw the Seven Star Tree in winter, everyone was once again stunned. How different it was from the photos! Especially since I had just seen the lush version (?) a few months ago, seeing the sparse bare branches in winter made it hard to connect with the summer scenery at first.

The temperature in Biei that day wasn’t as low as I expected. Maybe I’m just not very sensitive to cold (don’t follow my example, kids), and because I had to keep getting in and out of the car, I simply didn’t wear a heavy coat. As for shoes, in Hokkaido I always switch to rain boots so that when stepping on snow, I don’t have to worry about the snow melting and soaking my shoes.

Parent and Child Trees
Three trees leaning on each other, like parents protecting their child. Though there were a couple of other trees around adding to the scene...

 
Mild Seven Hills

Storm Tree (Five Trees)
Just from the name, you can tell it’s related to Arashi (a popular Japanese band). A must-visit spot for fans. But in reality, it’s hard to get a good photo angle there — we all ended up lying in the snow while taking pictures.

Christmas Tree I came to Biei specifically for this tree. It’s been on my mind for so long — when I saw it in summer, I didn’t feel much, but in winter, with the snowy scenery, it was truly different! What other tree looks more like a Christmas tree than this one?

I love Biei’s Christmas Tree so much that I took three Polaroids here.

The final stop was Shin-ei Hills. I remember staying at a homestay near Shin-ei Hills when I visited Biei in summer. One night, I came out to stargaze and was startled by this straw ring figure.

The snowy colors of Biei are simply dreamy. It’s a pity we didn’t get blue skies this time — I’ll just have to save that for next time.

Finally, the regular Biei itinerary: a visit to North Workshop Café. This perfectly capped off the trip to Biei~

Annie @ Travel, Food & Fun
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