March 2021 – Susan Spann, Adventure, Mystery, and Mountains

CHAPTER 25: Hokkaido Nature Tours

Susan Spann 1000 Summits, Blog, CLIMB Photo Companion March 21, 2021April 6, 2021Hokkaido, Hokkaido earthquake 2018, Hokkaido Hiking, Hokkaido Nature Tours, Niseko, onsen, Sapporo, Yotei

September 6-9, 2018 This photo supplement tracks the events in CLIMB: Leaving Safe and Finding Strength on 100 Summits in Japan. The captions offer “extra features” that didn’t make it into the book. I’d wanted to visit Hokkaido ever since learning the names of Japan’s four major islands (from north to south: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu) in grade school–and I’d been looking forward to this trip in particular for over a year. On my most difficult days in chemo, I read and re-read the amazing itinerary Ido Gabay of Hokkaido Nature Tours designed for me, and the anticipation gave me strength

Welcome, Spring . . . and Sakura-Flavored Everything

Susan Spann Blog March 14, 2021March 14, 20212021 cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms, Japan, Japanese food, Murder is Everywhere, sakura, sakura food

Springtime in Japan means the return of the beloved sakura (cherry blossoms) — on the trees and on the plate. The blossoms are arriving about two weeks early this year. The trees in my Meguro neighborhood are already setting buds, and on my walk yesterday afternoon I spotted the first blossom of the year: When I stopped to take a picture, a woman walking next to me also stopped, looked up (to see what I was looking at) and startled. “Sakura!” she exclaimed. “Honto desu ne? Hayai desu ne.” (“Is it really true? They’re early, aren’t they?”) I agreed with