The Magic of Snow : As winter turns to spring, Sapporo Rejoices

Sil’s Weekly Digest from Sapporo, Japan
Kon’nichiwa!First let me apologise for the delay in writing but I assure you it was intended because it was worth waiting for the summer solstice on 22 March, which marked the end of winter in Sapporo this year.

Ah! What a wonderful winter went by. I say so as after two full seasons of experiencing winter here in Sapporo, I know, this year the winter was satisfactory with good amounts of snow and a normal winter. I know in the time of the Corona-virus situation, normal sounds weird. But let me justify myself.

Last year the winter in Sapporo was truly abnormal in a lot of ways. First, the summer was unusually hot in Sapporo and the winter was shorter than normal. The shocking thing was that there was such less snow that Sapporo had to buy snow from the higher areas to be able to execute the famous Snow Festival.

In addition, the snow impacts the growth of the fruits and vegetables here too. We cannot even fathom the damage to the natural environment, vegetation and crops and the people associated with it. Common people felt it when the usual vegetables and fruits were either unavailable or very expensive. For example, I hardly remember seeing a good cherry blossom and eating enough cherries last year. Many ski resorts were unable to operate due to no snow. Unfortunately, we witnessed the impact of humans and global warming. To make matters worse, the 2019 winter snow festival was the epicenter and initiator of the corona-virus in Sapporo.

Thus, this year definitely much better than last with enough snow, amazingly cold temperatures, food and of course winter sports.
I attempted skiing for the first time and it was simply thrilling and so satisfying. Hokkaido is a tourist destination that is a tremendous adventure-lover, food-lovers and nature-lover’s paradise. I welcome you to be part of this!

Being in Hokkaido is also a reminder to respect nature and the environment. I am saddened so much by the way we humans have affected our home badly. Here I urge everyone to start being extremely conscious, even in the small things in life. For example, stop wasting water, food and resources; stop using plastic and take your own bags for shopping, plant a tree and read about the efforts made by people to save the environment. Let’s talk more on this for sure someday!