Our last day in Japan was wrecked by Japan Airlines, as our JAL flight from Sapporo to Tokyo Haneda got delayed by five hours… The worst part was being kept in the dark about the delay till the initial departure time and then more as the actual departure time was only given hours later. An opportunity to find out that EU rules about flight compensations and passenger rights do not have a Japanese equivalent..! The only plus side of spending the day at the airport was enjoying a sashimi meal at the Sapporo airport. The next day, the erupting Krasheninnikov volcano in Kamtchatka caused a slight change of flight on the way (North!) back to Paris but Air France still managed a 45mn gain on the planned arrival time. And hardly any jetlag in the following days, as opposed to the unusually long accustomisation through the nights in Nagoya and Tachikawa.
This was the only major hitch of our trip, besides a rental car delay for missing the official translation of our driving licences. Visiting both the Japanese Alps and the island of Hokkaido was a fantastic opportunity, thanks to ISBA 2026. Along enjoying the views and hikes in both locations, I could not refrain from making a connection between the geographies and histories of the Ainus on Hokkaido and of the Haidas in the Pacific Northwest, as they both got colonised and forcibly integrated at about the same epoch, with salmon canning companies enslaving them. The settlers were demoted Union soldiers in one case and former samurais (tondenhei) in the other. Small towns on Hokkaido had some similarities with those of the American and Canadian West, with one-street layout and plenty of space between houses, except for these spaces being intensely cultivated as all of the valleys I saw during that trip. (But very little wildlife, with a single sorry-looking fox, two fleeing monkeys, a single, inquisitive, squirrel, a few deers and no bear.)
On the mountains (and volcanoes) trails, I was impressed by the involvement and preparedness of most Japanese hikers, often quite senior, in climbing volcanoes and facing bear encounters, which also made me discover a very nice local outdoor brand, Mont Bell. (Also finding out that TNF Japan© is a separate franchise with its own products.) And adopt the hiking uniform of wearing shorts and tights, which proved surprisingly comfortable!
Due to a thrombosis scare, I further had the opportunity to visit (again!) the local hospital in Omachi, Nagoya Prefecture, if getting there by bike rather than by water-ambulance. With hugely efficient processing despite the language barrier (except for the doctor with whom I briefly spoke of Mont-Saint-Michel!). And the conclusion of no thrombosis, phew!
