TRAVEL

The nation experienced severe cold weather Friday with temperatures dropping to record lows at 38 locations in the morning, the Meteorological Agency said. From Tohoku to Kyushu, temperatures hit their lowest records in 16 prefectures, including the town of Kusu in Oita Prefecture, where temperature fell to minus 14.7 degrees. In Mashiki, Kumamoto Prefecture, it was minus 8.4. Of 927 observation points, over 90 percent, or 874 sites, marked temperatures below zero early Friday, the agency said. The lowest figure observed was minus 32.6 in Esashi, Hokkaido. The agency said the cold air mass that led to blizzards in several Sea of Japan coastal areas has now passed over the archipelago. (Japan Times)

The City of Sapporo will be hosting the 63rd annual Snow Festival this month. The event is considered a "must see" for tourists and about 2 million people visited the festival last year. The main draw is a collection of sculptures created entirely out of snow and ice. This year, organizers say that 222 sculptures will be on display. The festival is held at three different sites in the city. The main site is at Odori Park, which is in the middle of downtown Sapporo. The site will feature 136 sculptures, and stages that will host a variety of performances scheduled to take place throughout the week. (Japan Times)

A 74-year-old retired police chief has been arrested on suspicion of paying two 16-year-old girls for sex in Sapporo, a Hokkaido police spokesman said Thursday. Keiji Kato, who retired 15 years ago from the Hokkaido force, was arrested Wednesday for allegedly paying ¥6,000 each to the two high school girls to engage in sexual acts simultaneously in a Sapporo hotel Nov. 19 in violation of the law banning child prostitution, the spokesman said. Kato, who lives in Sapporo, also allegedly paid one of the two girls for sex at another hotel in the city on Dec. 3, the spokesman said. The police quoted Kato as saying, "I didn't know they were minors." (Japan Times)

A decades-old territorial dispute that has prevented Japan and Russia from signing a peace treaty is showing no signs of improving following talks between the two country's foreign ministers here, but as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov leaves Japan Sunday some progress has been made in bilateral economic and security cooperation. Relations between Russia and Japan have been clouded due to a heated territorial dispute regarding four islands off the coast of northern Japan's Hokkaido island. The dispute over sovereignty is largely concerned with the somewhat ambiguous San Francisco Peace Treaty between the Allied Powers and Japan inked in 1951, which states that Japan must give up its claims to the islands, but recognition of sovereignty over the islands was not given to the Soviet Union either, and therein lies the conflict. (China Daily)

After being scared off by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident, Chinese tourists are visiting Japan in record numbers again, generating much-needed business and optimism for the nation's struggling retail and tourism sectors. During the Lunar New Year holiday that sent millions of people traveling across Asia and beyond, tourists from mainland China thronged popular destinations in Japan, from ski slopes in the northern island of Hokkaido, to electronics stores in Tokyo, to ancient temples in Kyoto. That's quite a change from last spring, when tourism in Japan ground to a virtual halt amid radiation fears following the March 11 nuclear accident. In December, the number of Chinese visitors rose 32% from a year earlier to a record 80,000, following a similar increase in November. Anecdotal evidence suggests another surge in January. (Wall Street Journal)

Business has been lean over the years for many of the horse breeders in Hokkaido, Japan's leading region for producing thoroughbreds, as the popularity of racing declines. But breeders now see a ray of hope in China, where an increasing number of wealthy people are aspiring to own their own racehorses and thus acquire a new status symbol. "The Chinese public is showing growing interest in racehorses," said Han Guocai, vice chairman of the China Horse Industry Association, who was on a visit to a horse ranch in the Hokkaido town of Shinhidaka in December. "Gambling on horse races is banned in China, but that ban could be lifted in the future," he added while taking a close look at the sinewy bodies of some thoroughbreds. (Japan Times)

At least seven magnitude 9 earthquakes have occurred along the Pacific coast from Hokkaido to Tohoku over the past 3,500 years, generating huge tsunami that inundated the coastline, a new study by a Hokkaido University professor says. Kazuomi Hirakawa, professor of natural geography at the university, drew the conclusion after analyzing deposits believed linked to tsunami at more than 400 sites from Nemuro in Hokkaido to Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, in Tohoku's Sanriku region. (Japan Times)

Wild and remote, cold and barely inhabited, Hokkaido is unlike any other place in jam-packed Japan. Most of the country's northernmost island consists of wilderness, hot springs, forests and national parks, all contributing to a palette of striking mountain and coastal scenery. The island's capital, Sapporo, began in the 19th century as an administrative centre designed to discourage foreign incursions, but American and European advisers helped chart its future economy. Possessing few ancient historic relics like Nara, Hiraizumi and Kyoto do Sapporo instead has wide streets, mostly modern architecture and lots of parks, gardens and scattered green belts. But it's mid-winter, when the greens shed their colour and up to 6m of snow tumbles down, that Sapporo really shines, attracting two million visitors to the glittering Sapporo Snow Festival. (adelaidenow.com.au)

Members of the Ainu indigenous ethnic group launched a political party in Ebetsu, Hokkaido, on Saturday, resolving to field 10 candidates in the House of Councilors election. The Ainu Party of Japan, headed by Shiro Kayano, decided at its inaugural meeting to fight to regain the rights of Ainu people and bring about a multicultural society. (Japan Times)

We wanted to make a ski & snowboarding video this year. This is our journey traveling from Osaka to Hokkaido by train, to make it happen. Luckily, some cool guys up in Niseko & Sapporo helped us out. Grand Hirafu in Niseko. This is an international playground of skiers and snowboarders. Amazing talent constantly just coming down the hill. Sapporo Kokusai. We got some sick local & national snowboarders. A super cool group of guys who endured a light blizzard, then rocked out on the kicker non-stop. (Chibi Moku)

The Bank of Japan cut its economic assessment of seven of the country's nine regions as a global slowdown and the yen's gain threaten the nation's recovery from the March earthquake. Conditions in Hokkaido, Hokuriku, Kanto, Tokai, Kinki, Chugoku and the Kyushu-Okinawa area have deteriorated from October, the central bank said today in its quarterly Sakura Report on regional economies. It left its evaluation of Shikoku and the eartahquake-stricken region of Tohoku unchanged, citing reconstruction demand in the disaster area. (Bloomberg)

There is nothing quite like the adrenaline rush of hurtling down a steep, untracked slope of knee-deep powder. It is an uncomplicated pleasure, pure and exhilarating; carving turns into the untouched snow and sending up white plumes in your wake. Fortunately, Japan gets masses of feathery powder, and many resorts turn a blind eye to off-piste skiing and have refined the art of Zen and grooming - taking a minimalist approach on selected runs. Having been raised on the icy slopes of New England, where deep powder runs are akin to Loch Ness monster sightings, Japan has been a revelation. In New England there are about 20 different words for icy conditions, and you get your money's worth out of your ski edges. Here, conditions are incredibly good and, unless you ski in Hokkaido, it's not nearly as cold. (Japan Times)

I am barefoot and naked padding along a stone path in the depths of Japanese winter, surrounded by snow-laden pine trees. I slip into a hot pool fed by natural underground springs. Huge, slow-moving snowflakes gently settle on my hair. In the dusk I can see just a few vague figures across the pond-size area - other women barely visible through the steam. Earlier that day I had been communing with the snow in a more conventional way, skiing my way through deep blankets of powder on Mount Annupuri in Niseko. The network of ski areas around the small resort village of Hirafu on Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost island, see almost constant snowfall from December to April, a type of "Champagne powder," as aficionados call it, that is a result of low pressure systems over northeast Hokkaido meeting high pressure systems over northwest Siberia. The winds from Siberia pick up moisture from the Sea of Japan, and the resulting bands of clouds dump huge amounts of snow when they reach the mountains. (New York Times)

Known for its high-end boutiques and brand-name stores, Tokyo's Ginza district is also home to more than a dozen shops promoting delicacies and cultural products unique to various prefectures. In a half-day spent exploring these "furusato" (hometown) antenna shops, one can experience a wide variety of regional treats that come from as far afield as Hokkaido and Okinawa. The growing popularity of these stores isn't confined to people who hail from those places and miss the taste of home. Akiko Mori, 75, is a Tokyo native but often shops at Iwate Ginga Plaza, Iwate Prefecture's specialty shop located midway between central Ginza and the Tsukiji fish market. (Japan Times)

Skiers and snowboarders are basking in bumper snowfalls in Japan, while the United States is struggling with below average snowfalls. But ironically bookings for Japan have been down following last year's earthquake and tsunami. Whistler in British Columbia has recorded some of the best snowfalls in Canada, with a 208cm base, and Alberta resorts such as Banff and Lake Louise were also doing well. But most of the US is suffering below average snowfalls with many of the most popular resorts struggling to reach a half-metre base. Niseko on Japan's northern island Hokkaido has had more than 10m of snow fall this season. (news.com.au)

An 80-year-old Sapporo man released by North Korea after his arrest last year said he went there with two other Japanese men to obtain counterfeit U.S. currency, according to Hokkaido police. The two other men remain in custody in North Korea. The three were arrested last March for allegedly dealing in drugs. According to the man, the three received extremely realistic-looking counterfeit U.S. bills in North Korea. Police believe the bills were "supernotes" in 100 dollars denominations. The police are trying to corroborate the man's story. The man was released in April but the other two--a company executive, 42, from Tokyo and a company employee, 32, from Chiba Prefecture--are still being held in the suburbs of Pyongyang. (Yomiuri)

The government has decided to go ahead with long-pending plans to construct stretches of three bullet-train lines, according to transport minister Takeshi Maeda. Financial resources have been secured for the stretches between Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, and Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture; Hakodate and Sapporo in Hokkaido Prefecture; and Isahaya and Nagasaki in Nagasaki Prefecture, Maeda announced Monday during a news conference. "I would like to approve the plans within the current fiscal year" ending in March, he said. (Japan Times)

Many areas across the country, mainly along the Sea of Japan from Hokkaido to the Kinki region, saw heavy snow Monday because of a strong wintertime low-pressure pattern. Heavy snow repeatedly caused power outages on the Tokaido Shinkansen line between Gifu-Hashima and Maibara stations after heavy snow felled a tree over the Shinkansen line's overhead wires shortly after 9 a.m. Tokyo-bound train operations were suspended between Shin-Osaka and Maibara while Shin-Osaka-bound train operations also were temporarily halted between Tokyo and Gifu-Hashima, JR officials said. Though the Shinkansen runs resumed at 11:18 a.m., bullet trains continued running at reduced speed, the officials said. (Yomiuri)

Japanese star pitcher Yu Darvish will be posted to the Major Leagues on Thursday. The right-hander made the announcement through an update on the his blog. The ace compiled an 18-7 record and a 1.44 ERA and a 276/36 K/BB ratio over 232 innings this past season with the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League. "I have decided to use the posting system," wrote the lanky right-hander on Thursday afternoon, Japan time, on his blog. "I wanted to make this announcement to the fans first. I also would like to send my thanks to the Fighters." (Tokyo Reporter)

Muneo Suzuki was paroled Tuesday after spending a year in prison for accepting ¥11 million in bribes and committing other offenses while serving as a Diet member. Suzuki, a native of Hokkaido, heads a small political party called New Party Daichi. The 63-year old former Lower House member lost his Diet seat last September after his sentence was finalized. While imprisoned in Tochigi Prefecture, Suzuki, who underwent surgery for esophagus cancer in October 2010, said he was placed in the hospital ward and spent his days nursing the elderly or helping those with physical impairments. (Japan Times)

A Swiss man who has been on a solo hike across Japan to promote tourism reached Fukuoka Prefecture on Monday morning after hitting the road in Hokkaido on Aug. 1. Thomas Koehler, 44, a former travel agent from Switzerland, embarked on the self-funded journey after seeing a steep drop in foreign visitors after the March earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters. "I want to help people in disaster-hit areas by telling the rest of the world how people I've met on the road have been nice and that Japanese food is safe," he said upon reaching Fukuoka Prefecture. (Japan Times)

Entertainment conglomerate Yoshimoto Kogyo Co. may have chosen the wrong company to mess with, after a Hokkaido-based sweets maker slapped the group with a lawsuit alleging it has infringed on the brand name of its famous cookies. Ishiya Co., known for its Shiroi Koibito (White Lover) cookies, says Osaka-based Yoshimoto Kogyo crossed the line when it began marketing its waffles under the Omoshiroi Koibito (Funny Lover) brand name. Ishiya has been selling Shiroi Koibito since 1976, and the cookies are one of Hokkaido's top "omiyage" (souvenir) items. (Japan Times)

Former House of Representatives member Muneo Suzuki will be released on parole possibly next Tuesday after being imprisoned last December following his conviction on bribery and other charges, sources said Wednesday. The 63-year-old leader of Hokkaido-based New Party Daichi was supposed to be freed next April after 17 months in prison, but a corrections committee under the Justice Ministry endorsed the parole, considering his remorse among other factors, the sources said. (Japan Times)

The town of Naie, Hokkaido, rewarded a dog for keeping his 81-year-old owner and 3-year-old granddaughter warm as they survived a freezing winter night in an overturned car last week. Junior, a 7-year-old male Labrador retriever, was given a collar with a gold medal and some dog food during an award ceremony Thursday. Junior's master, Yoshimasa Soma, had taken his granddaughter, Sukai Kimura of Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, out for a ride in Naie on the evening of Nov. 15, saying he was taking Junior for a walk, police said. The girl was visiting Naie with her mother. (Japan Times)

In the past few months Greenpeace Japan has been monitoring the radioactive contamination of land and sea that resulted from the destruction of the Fukushima Daiichi reactors in March this year. Between 12 October and 8 November the team, led by Greenpeace Japan Oceans Campaigner Wakao Hanaoka, took seafood samples from five supermarket chains - Aeon, Ito Yokado, Uny (Apita), Daiei and Seiyu -, taking 15 samples from each. Of the 75 samples, radioactive cesium 134 and 137 were detected in 27 samples. The samples that stood out were from Pacific cod. In total, seven cod caught in Hokkaido, Iwate and Miyagi, were sampled and five were found to be contaminated. (fis.com)