winter at hokkaido

There was a time when I used to walk these snow laden roads every day, for more than 3 years. Now when I come to think of it, or see these photographs, I shudder, and wonder how I survived those days  😯 These photographs are from the small street just out of the apartment where I lived during my PhD days at Sapporo in Hokkaido, Japan.

These selected photographs are simple, but I feel there is something strong about it. The elements in it, a man, a dog, and a crow says so.

sapporo in winter, a man, a dog, and a crow

sapporo in winter, a man, a dog, and a crow

sapporo in winter, a man, a dog, and a crow

sapporo in winter, a man, a dog, and a crow

sapporo in winter, a man, a dog, and a crow

Probably they are the three who learned to adapt to changing environments. The dog and the crow, have always followed the man through his adventures.


Note: The United Nations Climate Change Conference starts today 7 December 2009, at Copenhagen. Regardless of all the disagreements and skeptical agreements, let us strive and hope towards a better tomorrow.

How is this year winter treating you so far? Here in north Italy it seems milder than usual.

36 Responses

  1. sarah says:

    The first snow here today and Pratya is already into some kind of hibernation… :O

  2. Happy Kitten says:

    Brrr…..the picture is enough to make one shiver.. and how well you have captured it…is he walking the dog?

    have never experienced snow except for the man made one in Dubai..

    yes Kerala does have its misty mornings and not just in Munnar…

    Here in Kuwait this year the winter has been very mild… dont know if it is going to be cold later…

  3. sandeep says:

    those shots were scary!!!! and thnk god i didnt have to shoot it 😉

    i’ve not seen much cold climate whenever i went out of country 🙂 the coldest i’ve seen is right here, in south india – a night each in mukurthi valley (http://usandeep.com/trekking/mukurthi.html) and rodo valley (http://usandeep.com/trekking/meesapulimala.html) near munnar.

  4. Kanak says:

    And here I was complaining to my husband about the cold!! Our minimum today is 14* and I don’t like it at all. Too cold!! One thing I know for sure–I won’t survive in Hokkaido’s winter:(

    Wonderful images…I’ve only seen snow in Tawang but Ive never seen it actually fall. There must be a magical beauty in that! You’re lucky to experience this extreme of winter.

    • rocksea says:

      We used to experience that kind of winter for almost 6 months every year…when I was in Hokkaido. So it was more of a daily routine. Away from all that now, I feel it as a wonderful experience 😀

  5. rocksea says:

    joshi, ken, mridula, flyawaymind, mohan:

    🙂 the amount of snow which falls there in hokkaido is huge that they have snow removers every day which swallow the snow and spit out on the road sides in huge heaps… 2-4 meters high throughout the roadsides..!

  6. Mohan says:

    Great pics… Can’t imagine the amount of snow that would have landed up out there! The man is barely visible with the kind of snow fall there! Great pics.. thanks for sharing.

  7. looks so pictersque..like just out of a greeting card..
    i remember how excited i was about snow n ice
    until i experienced it’s harshness

  8. Mridula says:

    Now this looks like some serious winter!

  9. sojo says:

    Winter? U guys are lucky to have it! Mangalore, even at 6.00 am is hot, humid and sweaty! 🙁 I sweat like a pig as I come out after a cold water bath 🙁

  10. Abhilash says:

    aah… what a super atmosphere.
    I always wonder how it would be to walk in snow, throw snow balls and do stunts on a ice skater…

    I hope the crow is adaptive to the atmosphere and I understand it does not have a coat. 🙂

    Seen after a long time Roxy. What happened to your posts. Busy?

    Previously there were a number of posts on your website that used to update regularly. Now this was too late… 🙂

    • rocksea says:

      hey abhi, am still posting at least 1 every week. but yes missed one in between 😉 with the baby and a lot of other things, at least i could manage this hehe 😛 and yes the baby is sitting on my lap while typing this.

      winter at a cold country is indeed an experience. when you live there for years, but it becomes a part of daily life…

  11. jaya says:

    very powerful picture sequence… the normality of it, the drudgery, the awesomeness(is that a word?), the playfulness. beautifully captured.

  12. Andy says:

    Wow thats alot of snow! We had our first snow storm of the year Saturday night. Only 3 inches or so. But I am not looking forward to snow like in your photo!

  13. bindu says:

    Beautiful photos! I love the snow – it cheers me up instantly. These pictures bring out the mood of a nice snowy day.

  14. Nisha says:

    I laugh out loud when someone from south India talks about winter time there.
    Man, they should visit these snow-white places at least once in their lives.
    This type of winter is gloomy but it has it’s own charm. 🙂

    Just a query. Have you ever slipped on ice? 😛

    • rocksea says:

      yes used to slip on ice many a times, in the beginning. it was funny though. later i became an expert on bicycling long distances on the ice hehe 🙂

  15. Ken says:

    Wonderful images! Thanks for letting me spend some time in your World.

  16. it should have been so cool shooting this!

  17. Dhanush says:

    I loved the winter I had in Troy, MI, USA. It was snowing and I enjoyed the snow, even though the first experience of getting out with not much of warmer clothes was scary.
    And I wanted to write something like “Troyyil Manju peyyumbol” a title inspired by “Volagayil Manjupeyyumpol”. But never materialised.

    Back home in Kerala, the Makara Maasa Kuliru is not much and here in Bangalore the morning chill is pretty strong. The pictures talk about the people who fight the winter.

    • rocksea says:

      hey dhanush, thanks for the update. yes i heard it is chilly these mornings in bangalore. but is it something unusual for the place? a few years back i used to hear that bangalore had lost its cool weather and it is hotter than usual.

      do try to get back on “troyyil manju peyyumbol” when you get the time and mood 😀

  18. Elaine- says:

    i was brought up in winnipeg manitoba, you know, 40 below winters? now i live on the coast and if it happens to snow a little bit around Christmas, i stay indoors lol i can’t handle winter anymore, its too much for me, these pictures of yours almost SCARE me!! well done!!

  19. There was a time when I used to love winters, when I was in Kerala. hahaa, calling that ‘winter’ is a big anomaly, but those mild, cool, misty mornings in Dec-Jan were a delight, to be under the sheets in the sack. 😉

    Its a torture here man, thermometer rarely go above single digits now. And the dark mornings and evenings, boy! Give me Kerala anytime… 🙁

    I met a Catholic priest from Naples the other day(a Keralaite) and he was going on n on n on about the fabulous weather in your abode compared to this country. Still things are better here than that Japan locale….brrr…I don’t like winters…no…

    • rocksea says:

      yes yes I know what you are talking about as I have experienced the same “bed time” at Kerala 🙂

      Naples is far down the south of Italy and there the weather is much much better than here in Bologna. Can endure the cold here, but the days without a sunshine??!! May be the situation is slightly better than your place.

      • Mild cool misty morning in Kerala???… which part of the state, I would love to go…. Don’t tell me Munnar or Vagamon….
        b/w I love snow… maybe because I haven’t experienced a full fledge one…

        PS: I like the guy’s yellow boots, n it’s only recently I realised that Japan is a beautiful country… a friend visited n send photos…:))

        cya

        • rocksea says:

          In my part of Kerala, along the banks of the Meenachil River in Kottayam district, we get cool misty mornings. The river and the presence of a lot of trees around, sustain the mistiness I feel. Anyways misty mornings are so common in the districts like Wayanad – Idukki, as far as I know.

          Ashes, Japan for sure is a beautiful and unique country 🙂

        • Many mornings in Kerala during Dec-Jan are a lot milder when compared to the situation we are talking about here. And temperatures around 20’C are surely in the comfort zones wherever you are! 🙂

          • Living at the banks of the arabian sea, I’ve never heard of a misty morning in Dec or Jan in Kerala… It’s a different cool misty day on a monsoon morning in June though:)

        • I don’t know about the whole length of Malabar Coast but my city, Trivandrum frequently experiences mild misty mornings. There was a very catchy shot in Keralakaumudi once where the whole Assembly Complex was veiled under a blanket that we couldn’t see the huge structure from 100m away. 🙂

          Perhaps this blog images could clear your doubt. Its Dec-Jan as specifies by the blogger. Mind you, this is Kowdiar, in the heart of Trivandrum city…
          http://photographicplates.blogspot.com/2008/12/misty-morning-of-3122008-at-kowdiar-in.html

          In my native place near Alappuzha the fog over the waters create such a beautiful settings for a photographer. But it doesn’t happen everyday, but isn’t that rare as you think. 🙂

Leave a Reply to Abhilash Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *