Day Thirty Two: Sapporo

the day begins and im out the door.

if anyone has ever lived in japan, visited, or noticed the signs and billboards in any film in or around modern japan, you might know about Sapporo beer.

the three people who were able to see or listen to me open my mission call can also testify that i predicted that this place was where i would become a missionary, the beer capital of japan.

even a non-drinker would have an interest in the beer of Sapporo. I didn’t even realize that japans Sapporo beer came from Sapporo until today. I could have only guessed. while I was on my mission, I never really was able to get a confirmation as to whether or not Sapporo beer comes from Sapporo. Japanese members of the mormon church start convulsing at even the thought of beer, nicotine, caffeine or mtv. subsequently, I never got the opportunity to ask about it, or maybe I never really cared until today.

anyways, I was walking around the town asking folks what Sapporo was all about, and what it was famous for, and I finally found out it was all about the booze. its the great stuff that makes calm and collected businessmen vomit on train platforms late at night.

Sapporo even has a beer museum, which was originally one of the first places to produce japans famous Sapporo beer.

I didn’t feel too bad about going to the museum, and even paying to get in. of all the good mormons out there, please raise your hand if you have ever been to busch gardens and payed at least 30 bucks to get in.

see? there. I only had to pay 100yen. don’t be all judgin your brother.

it was an interesting place. but I didn’t know anything that was happening cause it was all in Japanese, no English subtitles in this museum, so I just kinda had to guess what was going on.

I found some delightful little models that make the production of beer in northern japan look something like how presents are made by elves in the north pole. there was even beautiful and delightful music that played along with these moving and grooving models.

it reminded me so much of duff land from the Simpsons, a place meant to glorify and make beer look like some sort of theme park attraction.

there are some things in life that will make a man tear up a little. hearing lee greenwood sing "god bless the usa" live is one of them.

i could imagine my grandfather witnessing this place and having a tear come to his eye. the grandfather on my mothers side of course.

after I had left the museum, I was feeling a little hung-over with fun, so the next best thing to do would be to go and check out a little of the Sapporo downtown area.

so I was on my way.

watabe mai told me that Hokkaido was all about flowers, and there were beautiful ones here, even in the park area of downtown Sapporo. it was one of the more beautiful city parks I had seen since coming to japan. it was well kept, had lots of beautiful flowers, and this Eiffel tower thing at the end of the park that I reckon was supposed to send out tv signals or something.


after I left the park, I went looking for the Sapporo botanical gardens. people had told me that when I went to the city, the two things I needed to see were the beer museum and the botanical gardens.

beer museum? check.

botanical gardens? soon enough.

it took me about an hour to walk there. and alas…

it was closed.

on monday, the only day of the week its closed. it sure did look beautiful from the outside though.

in some other life ill see those botanical gardens in the place known for its beautiful flowers

but not yet, not yet.