FuJET Hokkaido Trip

Every February, FuJET hosts a trip to the capital of the Japan’s largest prefecture: Sapporo, Hokkaido. Why? To experience the annual Sapporo Yuki Matsuri(Snow Festival). This festival is one of the largest in Japan, attracting over 2 million visitors from both within Japan and internationally. The Snow Festival traces its roots back to 1950, when a few high school students decided to have some fun by making a handful of snow sculptures in the middle of Sapporo’s Odori Park, now the main venue of today’s incarnation of the festival.

The Basics
What: A trip to Sapporo to view the world famous Sapporo Snow Festival Date: Early February Cost: Approximately ~39,000-45,000 yen, depending on hotels, transport, etc Sign-ups: Around September, FuJET will announce a sign-up period. If you are interested in this trip, you MUST sign-up by emailing  after the sign-up period begins.

A Side-note
Something to note is that the exact itinerary of the FuJET Hokkaido trip is subject to change from year to year, dependent upon the council planning it. However, most years the trip follows a similar itinerary to the provided sample itinerary for the 2014 Hokkaido trip included below. Your year's council share details with you via the fujet.org website or the official FuJET facebook page as details are decided.

Sample Trip Itinerary
2014 FuJET HOKKAIDO TRIP EVENT DESCRIPTION(Event is already finished, this is just a sample trip itinerary) Have you ever been interested in seeing a world famous snow festival? How about sampling crab ramen, or butter ramen? How about enjoying an all you can eat crab buffet? Well, every year, FuJETs board a ferry bound for the infamous snow festival in Sapporo, Hokkaido! It is the LARGEST snow and ice sculpture festival in Japan. It is truly an amazing festival, and a must see.

So, we are proud to present the 2014 FuJET Yuki Matsuri, or, Snow Festival, Trip.

Details at a glance: When: Thursday the 6th of February ~ Tuesday the 11th of February Price: Depends on the amount of people, but around ~ 40, 000 YEN How Many: This trip has a MAX of 30 people. First in, first served. How: SIGN-UPS START NOV. 10 AT NOON. SEND AN EMAIL TO  TO RESERVE YOUR SPOT.

More in-depth details: You will need to take take 2 days of vacation on Feb. 7th and Feb. 10th (and maybe a few hours if you can't get to Sendai by 6.00pm). We have a national holiday on Tuesday. Feb. 11th.


 * All FuJETs need to meet in Sendai on Thursday. Feb the 6th. Please note, YOU WILL NEED TO MAKE YOUR OWN WAY TO SENDAI. We will meet at the station, then take a short bus ride together to Sendai port! A ferry – complete with restaurants, karaoke rooms, onsens, drinks, etc. – will be departing from Sendai at 7.40pm. We have booked a shared cabin sleeping on tatami. It is up to you how to spend the ferry ride – a few beers and an onsen? All night karaoke? Or just chilling out, it's your choice!


 * We arrive in Tomakomai (Hokkaido) on Feb. 7th around 11.00am. We then head to our hotel which is a bit far away (but then again, Hokkaido is huge). The hotel is called “Asano Hotel”, and we will be staying there for three nights. You have the rest of the day to check out the festival, which is a TEN minute walk from the hotel! For more information on the actual snow festival, check out this website:


 * That night, we’ll go to the Sapporo Beer Factory for two hours of all you can eat and drink. Did I mention they have all you can eat crab too?


 * You'll then have Feb. 8th, 9th and 10th to check out the rest of the festival, as well as anything else you want to do.


 * For people keen to go sightseeing, there are hundreds of things to see: the clock tower, the TV tower, the chocolate factory, the 100th anniversary Memorial park, plus much more. For a list of touristy things, please have a look here: . Once people sign up, we can figure out a possible group schedule for people wanting to sight-see.


 * For those of you more inclined for skiing/snowboarding, our hotel is situated very close to a ski field, Mt. Teine. Hokkaido is well known for its gorgeous powder and slopes and Mt. Teine was featured in the 1972 Winter Olympics. This slope offers a good mix of beginner and experienced slopes (in two distinct parks; Highlands and Olympia which have recently been connected). You can purchase a Skip (スキップ, ski + trip) ticket at any JR ticket office for roughly 4, 500 YEN that includes round trip train tickets to JR Teine station, round trip bus tickets from Teine station to the ski area, and a four-hour lift ticket. You can also get a Skip pass that includes rental for 5, 850 YEN. A similar pass is available for other slopes as well, such as the famous Niseko, which is two hours away on bus. Check it out here:

How to get back: We will be taking a ferry back again from Hokkaido leaving on Monday evening (the 10th) at 7.00pm. It's a similar set-up to the ferry ride we took up to Hokkaido. We will arrive in Sendai on Tuesday the 11th at 10.00am. As before, YOU are responsible for making YOUR OWN WAY BACK FROM SENDAI.

Price: The price depends on how many people we have signed up. Based on years past, it should be around 40, 000 YEN.

So, if you haven't been sold already, just remember: You're on a boat! You eat fresh seafood! (And lots of crab!) You'll see massive snow/ice sculptures that are larger than life! You can drink fresh Sapporo beer fresh from the source! You can check out the pretty lanterns in the quaint village of Otaru! You can go snowboarding on Mt. Teine!

FuJET- An Inside Look to the 2014 Hokkaido Trip

 * Part 1- Sapporo Snow Festival
 * Part 2- Sapporo City
 * Part 3- Dressing for the Cold
 * Part 4- Getting Out: Asahikawa
 * Part 5- Getting Out: Otaru
 * Part 6- I'm on a Boat (The Ferry)
 * Part 7-Asano Hotel
 * Part 8-Getting Around Sapporo
 * Part 9-Skiing&Snowboarding
 * Part 10- Sapporo Food
 * Part 11- Ramen Alley