In 神様`s country

It was the Emperor's birthday yesterday (he turned a sprightly 65 - Banzai!), so us common people were given a holiday to celebrate his Imperial Highness's continuing good health and fortune (double Banzai!!). It was also a nice(ish) day here so I decided to skip my usual jog and head for places higher - Muroran dake.

Initially I was thinking of doing the classic Gaynor door-to summit-to door route, but then my inner-55-year-old-self told my outer still-thinks-I-am-35-self to cop the f*** on. It may be a nice day, but it's still winter.

So instead I drove up to Danpara ski-jo and then stomped the two kilometers to the top. I didn't bother with snowshoes which meant I had to posthole through deep snow in a few places. My inner-55-year-old-self should have warned me about that too.

 

It was a tad windy though some of my fellow summiteers were saying it was a far better day than yesterday. There were in fact a fair few people hiking/snowshoeing/skiing/snowboarding up and down the mountain. Muroran-dake's relatively low elevation (911 meters) and its location on the Pacific coast side of Hokkaido means it gets a reasonable amount of sunny weather in winter and not so much (relatively speaking) snow. This attracts a lot of hikers who want to get their winter trail fix in but without going to the extremes. 

And at 55 years of age I have (partially) listened to my inner self and no longer go to the extremes.

Nightlife

 

Haven't experienced it in a long, long time. Primarily due to three main factors:

(1) Living in Muroran

(2) Being a father

(3) Being a 55 year old father who has (unintentionally) conditioned himself to get incredibly sleepy at around half past nine at night.

Yesterday evening we were in Sapporo meeting some family friends for dinner. We stayed until about 9:30pm (or "my bedtime" to use the correct technical term), and then drove back to Muroran (Cian had to work today). Even though I shotgunned a Red Bull before starting the drive back, I was still yawning for most of the two hour journey. Red Bull should put a warning on their cans: "May have no effect whatsoever on anybody aged over 50".

In between the yawns I was trying to recall the last time I was in Sapporo city centre after dark. And for the life of me I couldn't remember. And that's principally due to factors (1) and (2) above.  Not much nightlife in Muroran. Though the Hokkaido Shimbun did report on a brothel being operated in the town a couple of months back so things aren't completely moribund.

Anyway, Sapporo on a Saturday night in February was both cold and absolutely humming. As I tried not to slip on the step smoothed snow, I looked around and saw, nay, felt the youthful vitality coursing through the streets and alleys. So this is where all the young people in Hokkaido have gathered. They are certainly no longer in the ageing, wheezing towns and villages flyspecked across the island's inaka hinterland.