Hoping to escape super high summer temperatures, we planned to fly north for the end of our time in Japan. But it was high on our list for more than just low temps. The northern island of Japan, Hokkaido, is not only a similar latitude to Washington and British Columbia. It’s got mountains and volcanoes and hot springs and dairy cows. Let’s go!
We based ourselves primarily in Sapporo. We wandered parks, botanical gardens, a college campus, a zoo. We ate cheese and ice cream. We relished the mid-20s temperatures!
And the kids really wanted to go fancy one day. So we rented yukata (the lighter summer equivalent of a kimono) for them. We wandered parks and gardens, and ate ice cream. But fancy! And they got a lot of smiles and comments (like kawaii, which means cute) from lots of locals. It was a lovely experience!
And then we took the train down to the southern coast of this northern island. Closer to the ocean, closer to the volcanoes, so close to the hot springs that we had our own private onsen in our house! And although Hell Valley is sulfurous, it was fascinating and beautiful and we stuck our feet right in there (where we were allowed and where it wasn’t 86 degrees C). And, of course, we soaked in our own onsen twice a day!
Which is pretty much our last stop of the trip. And, boy, did we end on a high! Go to Hokkaido if you go to Japan! Now we have Just a full day in Tokyo left before we fly back home. It’s gone so fast!
Magrilless 
Loved you sharing your Japanese adventures!