![Is Sapporio’s Snow Festival awesome enough to be worth visiting even if you hate the snow? [Pics]](https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/02/sy-3.jpg?w=640 "Is Sapporio’s Snow Festival awesome enough to be worth visiting even if you hate the snow? [Pics]")
Can Hokkaido’s annual outdoor art event charm a Tohoku girl who’s always been lukewarm on winter travel?
Saya Togashi
Sometimes it’s not that the food isn’t delicious, it’s just you don’t have enough life experience to enjoy it yet.
This wanko soba restaurant in Iwate Prefecture serves up soba without a side of self-consciousness.
Savor your freshly grilled dango, dunked in matcha cream, or slather some mochi with zunda at this Miyagi tea shop.
…and which are still worth visiting even if you’ve never watched or read the Hokkaido adventure anime/manga.
We indulge in some of the freshest fish from Japan’s northeastern coast in a gloriously colorful seafood buffet.
You’ve still got a little time left to enjoy stunning views of the ocean before the rooftop beer garden closes for the season.
Our reporter takes a northern pilgrimage to an important port city in Hokkaido in search of runaway trains, skewered sweet dumplings, and more.
Experiencing solo yakiniku for the first time at a popular chain specializing in yakiniku-for-one.
Sure, testing your Eva synchronization rate in the entry plug is pretty cool, but so is the food faithfully recreated from the anime.
Cat lovers in particular are thrilled by the subtle, programmed mannerisms that bring your playable cat character to life.
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