[Hokkaido] Sapporo Custom Tour! Experience Smelt Fishing and Snowshoeing at Hidden Gems Together

What is a TRAPOL planned tour?

TRAPOL's usual service connects travelers with local friends, allowing them to explore local spots as if on a trip with a friend, guided by someone who knows the area intimately.

This planned trip is a great value, allowing participants to meet multiple local friends in the target area and experience several things at once. A unique feature is the opportunity to interact with local friends exclusively available for this planned trip, who are not typically registered as regular local friends.

Past participants of our planned tours have reported high satisfaction, with feedback such as "It was an experience that changed my outlook on life" and "I was inspired by the passionate feelings of the local friends."

Details of the planned tour in Sapporo

Travel styles to choose from

This planned trip will be offered in two packages: one including transportation to the destination and another for those meeting on-site. The package including transportation will depart from Kansai International Airport, as TRAPOL is an Osaka-based company.

After gathering at the airport, all participants underwent testing using antigen test kits. Following this, those who tested negative had their temperature taken before boarding the plane and departed for Sapporo.

At Chitose Airport, the plane group and the local assembly group will meet, and the local assembly group will undergo an antigen test there.

Gather at the airport and head to your respective accommodations

After gathering at the airport, we immediately split into two groups and headed to our accommodations. Some participants were visiting Hokkaido for the first time and were already excited just seeing the amount of snow piled up on the roads.

Upon arriving at the lodging, while each person got ready for bed, introductions among the participants began in the living room. This was the moment when participants, who differed in age, gender, and upbringing, finally began to learn about each other.

This time, participants ranged widely from students to mothers of past attendees, so the self-introductions were lively. The interaction between participants is the biggest content of TRAPOL's planned trips. It was a fun time.

Interaction with local friends in Sapporo

On the second day, after reuniting at the two separate accommodations, we began moving according to the experience content participants had chosen in advance. We experienced the content prepared by our local friends, ROY, Emma, and the Yoshi couple. (The local friends also underwent antigen tests in advance.)

Snow Sauna Experience Presented by Roy

ROY, a video creator, is in the process of opening a guesthouse in Abira Town, Hokkaido. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, he worked while traveling domestically and internationally, allowing him to work without being tied to a specific time or location.

An unforgettable experience for sauna enthusiasts: enjoying a scorching hot sauna with *roju* (sauna water pouring) before diving into the snow. Inside the tent sauna prepared by ROY, local friends shared what they are passionate about, and participants also engaged in lively self-introductions.

Sapporo Tour Presented by Emma

I participated in this content. Doutanshi influencer Emma, with over 300,000 total SNS followers, accompanied me to visit both classic tourist spots and recommended hidden gems, and filmed the journey as a vlog.

Packed with activities like directly touching animals and making snowmen. It was memorable to see participants who are usually not fond of Genghis Khan happily remarking that Hokkaido's Genghis Khan was delicious and they could eat it.

Yosshi Couple Presents: Snowshoeing Experience

The Yoshii couple, outdoor enthusiasts, have been living in Hokkaido for about 17 years after moving from Chiba Prefecture. They share the wonders of Hokkaido, which they understand better as transplants, through YouTube.

A content experience where you can enjoy using a tool called snowshoes, guided by the Yoshii couple. Participants who tried it all said, "It was too good to be called just a snowshoeing experience; it was worth more than that." In fact, I was envious and jealous when I saw the video later.

Sapporo's unique cuisine and social gathering

After the optional experiential content, we stopped by a hot spring to soothe our fatigue from the unfamiliar snowy region, and then went our separate ways to our pre-booked restaurants for dinner. We would have preferred to have a lively meal at one place, but given the timing, it couldn't be helped.

After dinner, we returned to the inn for a game tournament designed by the organizers to foster camaraderie among participants. It was a moment where the participants, who had been acting in separate groups, suddenly became good friends.

Everyone experiences ice fishing for wakasagi

On the third day, we all experienced "wakasagi fishing," an activity that participants had told us beforehand was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, under the guidance of our local friend Mizuki.

Starting with clearing the snow piled on the frozen river, participants worked together as one to create the hole. Local friends ROY and Emma also joined in.

We started team-based wakasagi fishing where the ice had broken through.

My caught wakasagi were immediately made into tempura by my local friend Mizuki. Udon was also prepared to go with the tempura, allowing us to warm up and spend time together even in the cold, snowy sky.

Participate in the Ice Flow Festival

On the final day, everyone participated in the 2022 Hyoto Festival, where ice sculptures created by spraying and freezing Lake Shikotsu's water stood lined up.

At first, the participants didn't seem to have high expectations, but after arriving and entering, they were all energized by the never-before-seen ice art, took lots of photos, and seemed very satisfied.

Since some participants were meeting us on-site, flight times varied, so this marked the end of our group activities. We then headed to the airport in our separately arranged cars.

After the TRAPOL planned trip

Accompanying the third planned tour as a photographer. I am reminded that it is a trip that offers a different travel style from the ones I create myself, and that I gain various insights with each participation.

The next planned trip is to Amami Oshima in March. However, due to overwhelming popularity, it's already fully booked a month in advance, making further applications impossible. We plan to hold more organized trips from April onwards, so if you'd like to stay updated, please follow TRAPOL's official Instagram account and check it regularly.

Participant Feedback Highlights

Finally, here are some thoughts on our participation in Sapporo's planned trip. If you are considering participating in a TRAPOL planned trip in the future, please use this as a reference.

The tent sauna was great, and the outdoor bathing was even better than the cold plunge! Most importantly, building the tent sauna from scratch and goofing around with the people I went with was the best!

〇Snowshoeing Walking and sliding down in fresh snow was a lot of fun playing in the snow. Since Mr. and Mrs. Yoshi were watching over me, I was able to try it without any worries, even though I'm not good at exercise. This is the best memory of this trip by far.

While it was certainly enjoyable to talk while eating and drinking, I also enjoyed the sense of camaraderie that developed through shared experiences and the feeling of my world expanding as I experienced activities unique to the area.

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