You may think snow activities and art don't fit together - but Sapporo Art Park proves you wrong. Since January, 9th it is offering a rather unique experience: "Kanjiki-walks" through the park. Kanjiki are traditional Japanese snowshoes that make it easy to walk on soft snow without sinking in. A snowshoe walk alone is fun enough, but at Sapporo Art Park you can enjoy 74 art works while snowshoeing through the Sculpture Garden. And the best: It's for FREE! We tried it out for you! It's real fun! With the Kanjiki you don't have to stick to the paths, but can walk just wherever you want trough very deep and soft snow. Some sculptures are almost buried in the snow and you can experience the art work from a different eye　level than usual. If it get's too cold for you, you might want to have a look at the exhibition at the museum next to the Art Park (entrance fee: 700yen) or warm up at the nice, little cafe opposite of the main entrance to the Art Park. The friendly owners serve you great coffee and pie! More information here: http://www.artpark.or.jp.e.mq.hp.transer.com/ For those who just want to enjoy Kanjiki without art, Kanjiki rental is also available at Takino Suzuran Hillside Park, Moerenuma Park,Historical Village of Hokkaido and at different resorts around Hokkaido. Written by Irene

Hokkaido has more than just 1 winter festival: This is what happens when you put together subzero temperatures, a lot of water, colorful lights and some crazy minds: The Sounkyo Ice Fall Festival Until March 27th you can enjoy the ice sculptures and buildings at the small Onsen town of Sounkyo, located in Daisetsuzan National Park, 2 hours from the town of Asahikawa.　On an area of 10.000㎡, you can find a lot of different buildings made of ice and snow, some even two or three stories high! There are temples… …and ice bar… …and wild animals! The main attraction this year is a 3 story building, with several rooms, a throne, balconies and a couple of surprises. The buildings and the layout of the festival change every year, though you can always find a snow tubing run and a stage built of snow where various events, like Hyobaku drums or Ainu ethnic dances, are held. There are also fireworks on weekends and you can drink hot drinks to keep you warm. This is one of the coldest parts of Hokkaido, so be sure to bring really warm clothes! It's also one of the snowiest regions in Hokkaido, so there is some amazing powder waiting for the skiers and snowboarders amongst you. The small ski resort of Kurodake in almost 2000m height is fun for everyone! Don't miss out on this spectacular event. It's great as a day trip from Asahikawa. If you stay in Sounkyo over night, you can also use the shuttle buses from Sapporo. More information here (Japanese only) http://www.sounkyo.net/event/detail.php?id=3 http://www.rinyu.co.jp/modules/pico01/index.php?content_id=3 Written by Irene

and we took it literally ;) Some new plants will replace the plastic ones. It looks nicer AND also increases the air quality. But seriously, what does "green" really mean? For example, it would be awesome to have solar panels on the roof to generate our own energy. Unfortunately that's not possible (yet?). But it doesn't always have to be "big". There are a lot of small things we can do. We started by having a look at our facilities and asked ourselves: "Do we need this? Is there a more eco-friendly version?". Back in January, we bought reusable cups, plates and chopsticks for our parties, so we could stop using paper cups and plates. Reduce, reuse, buying in bulks and handmade wherever possible. E.g., we have always been reusing paper and we will change to unbleached paper soon. A great thing is also the stapler that doesn't use any metal. And waste is not always just waste, but can be turned into something else. You see, eco-friendly is not only good for the environment, but it makes you creative and is fun! ;) Written by Irene

Hi everybody, today I introduce "Atami Ume Park" which is not very far from Khaosan Atami Onsen Ryokan & Hostel. Ume (japanese apricot) blossoms are already blooming beautifully in Atami. Atami is known for ume blossoms blooming earlier than any other place in Japan. ☟Ume blossoms in Atami Ume Park (19th February 2016) I went to a Ume park where you can enjoy 59 different kinds of Ume blossoms. Since there are 472 Ume trees in the park and they bloom at the different period, You can see the flowers for two months, from January until the beginning of March. Besides Ume trees, there is a river, and bridges. These make you feel as if you are in a Japanese garden. Also there is an old Japanese house that you can actually go inside, feel comfortableness of a Tatami floor and see how Japanese people used to live. ☟This is called 'Naga-hibachi'. This one was used as a heater or to boil water. A Japanese composer, Shinpei Nakayama used to live here in 1940s. Many old ladies who were visiting this house said that his music reminded them of their childhood. During this ume blossoms event, local ladies are provide you some Japanese hot food. This Ume park is not only for Ume. You can see beautiful lightning bugs flying by the river in June and autumn leaves in November. Since the park is quite big, it took me about 1 hour to look around at all the trees. It's worth seeing! If you are not in a rush, you should try taking a foot bath which is inside the park after walking around there. Atami Baien Park 8:30am-4pm During this Ume event, entrance fee is 300yen Guests who are staying at Atami get discount: 300yen → 100yen (After 4pm to next morning 8:30, it's free!) How to get there From JR Atami station Take a bus heading to 'Ainohara houmen', get off at 'Baien' bus stop: 15 min OR By walk: 30 min From JR Kinomiya station By walk:10 min Access Written by Aya

In one of our branches Khaosan Tokyo Origami, we had a party with guests! Khaosan Hostels sometimes have parties like this. This time we cooked Gyoza (餃子, dumplings)! オリガミ店の毎月恒例イベント浅夜市夜。www.senyaichiya.com 他6店舗のお店と一緒に行う食べあるきのイベントです。 今回は餃子をつくりました!　 We cooked 4 taste of Gyoza. Meat, for arrange one is Potate, Pizza and Vegetable. お肉、ポテト、ピザ、野菜の4つの具を用意。 Everyone enjoyed making gyoza! おしゃべりしながら何個もつくり、どんどん上手になっていきます。。。 スタッフもゲストも一緒にお料理。 Staff and guest are cooking together. 皆仲良しになりました！一緒につくって食べるって楽しいですね！ We enjoyed a lot! Thank you for coming to the party! Written by Takako