{"id":994,"date":"2022-07-08T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-08T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/?p=994"},"modified":"2022-07-13T16:34:03","modified_gmt":"2022-07-13T14:34:03","slug":"guest-contribution-snow-shoveling-in-hokkaido-the-joys-and-sorrows-of-rural-life-in-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/2022\/07\/08\/guest-contribution-snow-shoveling-in-hokkaido-the-joys-and-sorrows-of-rural-life-in-japan\/","title":{"rendered":"Guest Contribution: Snow Shoveling in Hokkaido: The joys and sorrows of rural life in Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Lynn Ng<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a child, whenever I complained about Singapore\u2019s horrible heat and humidity, my parents would show me pictures of snowscapes. \u201cMind over matter,\u201d they always said. I never believed in the \u201cscience\u201d behind my parents\u2019 actions, because those pictures only ever made me feel envious of people who do not live in the tropics and never any cooler than before. Yet, this week as I sweat through yet another T-shirt in Berlin, I decided to look up the photographs of my time in snowy Hokkaido for comfort in this hot time. Along with this decision came a strong nostalgia for this region I once called home.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
The grungy train station of the town I lived in. This station reminds me simultaneously of fond memories of the town and the less-fond memories of trains that run every other hour.<\/strong><\/em>
Copyright \u00a9 Lynn Ng 2016<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

In 2015, I transplanted myself from tropical sunny Singapore to a rural town that buries itself in over 200cm of snow every winter. I enjoyed the snow \u2013 the softness and refreshing cold that comes with it. But more than snow, I relished the quiet rurality. Rural Japan, and especially rural Hokkaido, is beautiful. Like most urbanites in rural Japan, I arrived with rose-tinted glasses. Everything in the countryside was wonderful \u2013 the untouched nature, the friendly people, the countless cheap hotsprings\u2026 the list goes on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The fields of canola in Takikawa. Again, I must re-iterate that the crown of Japan\u2019s largest canola field goes to my Takikawa, as much as the town in Fukushima may try<\/strong> <\/em>(from my previous post<\/em>)<\/a>
Copyright \u00a9 Lynn Ng 2017<\/em>

<\/a> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Over the years, I would notice how tinted these glasses were for rural Hokkaido is of course not without its problems. There were moments when I wanted to catch a movie in the theaters only to realize the nearest showing was in a city two hours away. The train there would arrive at either 8 a.m. or 4 p.m., or would be cancelled in case of snow. Such trivialities aside, I saw also the underutilized theme parks and landmarks built with private funds during the bubble or supported by government funds for rural revitalization. Many local residents complained to me that these projects were a waste of money since no one goes there, and yet these parks were some of my favorite places to visit for the additional quietness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Canadian World Theme Park in Hokkaido. Once a private park modeled after Anne of Green Gables, it is now a forgotten public park after company went bankrupt.<\/strong><\/em>
Copyright \u00a9 Lynn Ng 2017<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Let us also not forget that rural Hokkaido also has plenty of snow, and with it comes the art of yukikaki <\/em>(snow shoveling) that is the pride of Hokkaidoians \u2013 the Dosanko<\/em>. Much like household chores, yukikaki <\/em>is a mundane activity many Dosankos do especially in the wee hours of the morning. Dosankos<\/em> have repeatedly told me that yukikaki <\/em>was a means of boosting work ethic and instilling discipline in children. I once met a family who chose to start a farm in Hokkaido because they thought it would instill the best work ethic in their children \u2013 something urban cities or other rural places in Japan could not offer because of the extra activity of yukikaki.<\/em> For three years, I simply found yukikaki<\/em> a chore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps I never had good discipline to begin with, nor particularly strong work ethics by Japanese standards. Or was it because I never did yukikaki and thus have no discipline? Which came first? And for this, every winter I was reminded of being the \u201coutsider.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Here is my car, not yet yukikaki-ed before waking hours. Beside it, one can see the cleanly yukikaki-ed car ready to bring my neighbor to work on time.<\/strong><\/em>
Copyright \u00a9 Lynn Ng 2016<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, rural Japan and rural Hokkaido carries with it its own set of problems. As I reminisce about the goods and bads of my three years in there, I can only proudly say that I regretted nothing of it. Perhaps my glasses are still rose-tinted till today, or perhaps there is something truly enticing about rural Hokkaido that one cannot simply let go of despite all of its problems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Lynn Ng As a child, whenever I complained about Singapore\u2019s horrible heat and humidity, my parents would show me pictures of snowscapes. \u201cMind over matter,\u201d they always said. I never believed in the \u201cscience\u201d behind my parents\u2019 actions, because … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3214,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[91],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-allgemein"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=994"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/994\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":999,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/994\/revisions\/999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.fu-berlin.de\/urban-rural-migration-japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}