{"id":108887,"date":"2025-04-08T22:25:49","date_gmt":"2025-04-08T13:25:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/?p=108887"},"modified":"2025-04-08T22:25:55","modified_gmt":"2025-04-08T13:25:55","slug":"east-hokkaido-golden-route","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/east-hokkaido-golden-route\/","title":{"rendered":"East Hokkaido’s Golden Route\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tuffs of amber wheat, stripped clean of their awn, march in kempt lines up the barren hill. The shadows of mountains, cast dark in the evening light, stretch across the valley.<\/strong> Seven trees line the ridge, solitary and uniform, their towers quiet over the field in the clement Hokkaido weather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Known as \u201cFairy Tale Hill\u201d or Meruhen-no-oka<\/em>, it is minutes away from Memanbetsu Airport in the town of Oozora, a quaint location between Abashiri and Kitami<\/a> in the Okhotsk region of Hokkaido<\/a>. <\/strong>A popular photo spot for tourists and locals alike, the scene caught the eye of visionary director Akira Kurosawa<\/strong> and made a brief appearance in his 1990 film, Dreams<\/em><\/strong>. In a vignette highlighting a meeting between an art student and the eclectic painter Vincent van Gogh.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"People<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The vast landscapes of East Hokkaido, across the seasons, are rich in virgin land, scaling mountains, and eternal horizons. Beauty is balanced by its intimidating size, necessitating travel by car. East Hokkaido is bigger than both Kanto<\/a> and Kansai<\/a>. Critics believe its pastoralism is beneath Japan\u2019s lavish haunts \u2014 including its well-trodden Golden Route.<\/strong> The perceived lack of Japanese culture and more aesthetic staples forces eyeballs away from East Hokkaido\u2019s wild nature and arguably equal cultural depth.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least in Kurosawa\u2019s Dreams<\/em>, Van Gogh says, when looking out upon East Hokkaido\u2019s nature, \u201cTo me, this seems beyond belief.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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