Hello Hokkaido!

CEBU, Philippines — Hokkaido is a vast island in the northernmost of Japan’s main islands. It’s a great place to enjoy the beauty of nature since the island has a good number of national parks and volcanic mountains, lakes and geothermal springs.

Traveling to Hokkaido from Cebu takes two plane rides: a four-hour flight from Cebu to Narita and an hour-and-a-half domestic flight from Narita to Chitose airport. It can be a whole day of travel as the flight interval is sometimes more than five hours.

I visited Hokkaido recently, at just between the end of spring and the beginning of autumn. It was the perfect time to see the unique transition of colors. The fields were filled with flowers of all colors, and in the wide, rolling hills the leaves on the trees were slowly turning to autumn hues of yellows, oranges and reds.

My first night was spent at Obihiro in Tokachi Suprefecture, the political center that’s also a major agricultural area in the Tokachi plain. Its popular “butadon,” a rice bowl topped with cooked pork, was my first dinner in Japan on this trip.

The next day, I started tracing the locations where the blockbuster, romantic comedy “Kita Kita” was filmed. My first stop was at Furano flower fields in Biei, where blooming lavenders, marigolds, geraniums and other flowers of different colors spread as far as the eyes could see. After lunch, I took a side trip to one of the town’s hidden treasures, the Blue Pond. Tucked in the lush forest of Biei-cho, this body of water had accidentally turned blue due to the eruption of nearby Mt. Tokachi in 1988. Recently, this beautiful pond was chosen by Apple as one of its wallpaper images.

Another hour’s drive and I reached Asahi-dake, a mountain in Daisetsuzan National Park. I got to the top, which is 2290 meters high, by taking a cable car. This was the location where Lea (Alessandra de Rossi) and Tonyo (Empoy Marquez) were hugging each other clad in white plastic raincoats while the mountain in the background was spewing white smoke.

My third day started at Otaru to try the canal cruise, where the characters of the movie cruised on a gondola. In my 40-minute tour I learned that this historic canal was built in 1923 and used to be a part of the busy port where ship cargoes were mostly unloaded manually, until World War II. Now it is a favorite romantic place with walkways lined with gas lamps on one side and warehouses transformed into quaint cafes and restaurants on the other side.

I was also able to visit the music box museums and shops spread across a number of buildings in the area. In the movie, Tonyo gave Lea a music box while inside one of those shops.

My next destination was an hour’s car ride – Sapporo City. There, I ticked on the list the next movie location, which was the Panasonic TV tower right in the heart of the city. From the viewing deck I got a glimpse of the city skyline, the beautiful sunset and the Oduri garden below, which was also featured in the “Kita Kita” movie. The tower was built in 1957 and stands at 147 meters high. This was where Lea’s fiancé proposed to her, in the movie.

The Oduri garden is the location of the scene where Lea was touring a group of tourists and a child almost fell into the fountain and was rescued by Tonyo. It was also in this park where Lea rode a bike taxi. I was lucky to meet and had a photo taken with the same guy who owned the bike and appeared as passenger of Lea in the film.

My fourth day in Hokkaido was still in Sapporo City. A short walk from the hotel led me to the old clock tower. In the movie, Lea toured a tourist couple and took a photo of them in front of it. The clock tower was originally constructed in 1878 as military drill hall for Sapporo Agricultural College, and has since been converted into a historical museum.

Next stop was Hidamari Glass Pyramid in Moerenuma Park, a 45-minute car ride. From the road I could already see the biggest symbol of Moerenuma Park – a glass pyramid with a semblance of The Louvre Museum in France. The three-floor pyramid was designed by an American Japanese artist named Isamu Nogochi. It housed a gallery, a restaurant and a souvenir shop. This was the location where Lea and Tonyo rode a bike around the park and ate lunch inside the pyramid.

After Moerenuma park was another car ride to Fushimi shrine. A Shinto shrine located in the west-south of Sapporo in one of the high-end residential area of the city. In going up to the shrine you will pass through red orange torii gates. Lea and Tonyo were dancing together in this site in the movie.

On my last night in Sapporo, I capped my Hokkaido adventure tracing the “Kita Kita” movie locations by making a trip to Moiwa mountain, a popular sightseeing spot. It ushered in a spectacular 360-degree view of the city and is said to be a sacred place for lovers.

To get to the top, I had to take another mini cable car ride. I got to the observatory, where in the center was the fortune bell which couples should peal together for their love to flourish. The guy should hold the longer rope while the lady holds the shorter one, as did Lea and Tonyo in the movie while wearing mascot costumes of a banana and a heart.

Those planning to visit Hokkaido during this time of the year shall make sure to bring their winter coats, as the temperature sometimes drops to 10 degrees. On my first night it was 12 degrees.