9I has an early start on Monday, catching a train at 7:45 South to Shiroai for a visit of Upopoy – the National Ainu Museum and experience center. I arrived at the park just as they opened – and spent the rest of the morning, checking out what was on offer and what else was there to learn about Hokkaido’s indigenous peoples. This included another excellent museum, an Ainu folklore show and an Ainu-inspired lunch in the park restaurant. There were also workshops on offer around Ainu language and traditional handicrafts – though, I skipped those.

I made it back to Sapporo in the early afternoon, heading for one of town’s main attractions: the original Hokkaido Beer factory that houses a museum, a tasting hall and several restaurants today. I made my way through the museum (which was a quick affair) and skipped the tasting. In  the evening I had another stroll around town – in search for dinner and a proper beer tasting at a craftbeer brewery.

Tuesday was a slow day; the weather was miserable with constant rains and around a mere 5°C. As such, I decided for the Museum of Modern Art, where I ran into an exhibition with works by Utagawa Kuniyoshi. While hardly modern (most of the works presented were from the early/mid 19th century), it was a worthwhile visit – and introduction to yet another style of Japanese art.

With the rain continuing I made my way into the city center with its kilometer-long underground pedestrian tunnels and malls for a bit of a shopping  spree and a late lunch – before  heading back to the hotel, to prepare for my upcoming trip to Korea on Wednesday.