This village covers an area of some 54 hectares and is located in Nopporo Forest Park in the suburtbs of Sapporo City. It took us an hour and a half by bus to get there but we decided to catch the train on the way back and it was much quicker - it only took half an hour. Much better.
There are about 60 typical structures of buildings from the Meji and Taisho era. In winter its wonderful - there are horse drawn sleighs for visitors .... we went on one and the horse even had bells on his reins.... we felt like we were in a xmas sleigh. It was a great way to establish our bearings in such a freezing climate..... and then when we had had the tour we took a couple of sledges and started walking from house to house.
In some of the houses they had warm drinks - amazake that were being made for guests. Of course it was complimentary and it was nice to share the traditional drink and take some pickles before heading out into the crisp air again.
The noodle shop was the boys favourite. It was a tiny shop but freshly made noodles were a great treat. And while we ate the sodden gloves and scarves sat on calour gas heaters trying to dry out.
We must have spent several hours at this village just soaking up the feeling of yesteryear in Japan.It was well worth the family taking the time to travel out here and experience. Life must have been cold and sparten in those days. I shudder to think.
One of the highlights of the afternoon at the historical village was stopping in at the traditional activities centre. The kids were asked if they would like to make Japanese crafts and the people in this fantastic craft centre introduced them to all the olden day toys that Japnese children used to play with. The older kids made a toy each out of silkworm. They had to carefully cut the silkworm out and then docrate it. After they had finished that they tried on the traditional rucksacks. This was how Japnes epeople carried luggage in those days. The kids were amazed. Even Sofia had a turn. Amy then tried the kendama. She soon got the hang of it. Alex wore the old fashioned boots. They were made of straw. Dan found karuta cards which looked like the forerunner for pokemon cards.
The toys were simple .... they were made from paper and wood. The kids loved it.
