Hokkaido Day 7
Learning about lights and economic development.
End of day 7 in Hokkaido (1/30/2026). Traveled from lake Akan all the way down south to Kushiro, where I got to eat a local specialty - Spakatsu. Red sauce spaghetti with Chicken Katsu on top - a simple but delicious combo.
After making it to Kushiro, it was a pretty quick turnaround to get on the train to Obihiro, where I’m staying for the next two nights. After settling in, I went out to the Otofuke light festival, where I had an absolute blast. Lights, music, and an incredibly wild ride in a raft being pulled into the dark woods on a snowmobile. The entire thing was accompanied by the film crew, who I feel as though I’ve gotten much closer to over the course of our travel.
The stand out moment from today was that I ran into a family after the ride on the snow raft, and their two young daughters were a little nervous for the ride - not because of the ride itself, but because of bears in the woods. Probably not a completely unfounded anxiety - Hokkaido has been experiencing an unfortunate number of bear incidents this year, as the bears have not been hibernating as they normally do, but given the music, lights, and lack of outside food, it is unlikely bears would get close to the event.
Still, being kids, you don’t really know that there are a bunch of complex factors that drive bear behavior - so I let them know from my ride I didn’t see any bears at all - and that seemed to cheer them up. This whole trip has had so many amazing moments of human connection, as well as interesting learning moments.
Today’s learning moments were largely from the interview I got to conduct with one of the managers of the Otofuke festival I went to, called “SAIRINKA”. The highlight of the event are these light fixtures that light up in tandem with music that’s playing from speakers - which are marvelous when contrasted against the sheer white of the snow. The light fixtures (the pyramids) was the result of a lot of trial and error on the event host’s part on what light fixtures would be safe in the snow. The material? Agricultural canvas that’s not in use right now from the nearby rural areas, because it’s the dead of winter. Apparently this festival is a big reason why the hotels in the area of Eastern Hokkaido can stay active during this time of year, and is a big draw - certainly worked on me!
I’ll write more in the future about this specific interview and the use of these festivals as a way of driving domestic and international tourism to keep a manageable ‘flow’ of patrons coming into these onsen, especially around onsen towns. It is fascinating to see so many people come together for the simple enjoyment of lights, sound and company. It’ll be great to take these lessons back to Seattle!
The best way to keep up with further conversations is to be a subscriber to The Lanyard Board, and to check out The Lanyard Board on social media.
The Lanyard Board is supported by readers like yourself. If you can, please support the project on Ko-Fi and tip the suggested amount of $2 for every month you feel a spark of enjoyment, insight or curiosity from The Lanyard Board.
Thanks for reading The Lanyard Board! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.