Crossing half the sky,
on my way to the capital,
big clouds promise snow.
Matsuo Basho (1644-1694).
Just as the famously quick-witted haiku poet did centuries before as he trudged towards Tokyo, I, too, feel the urge to pen an ode to winter on my way to Sapporo, Japan's fifth-largest city and the capital of its northernmost prefecture, Hokkaido. Mine, however, would mention crossing an icy street filled with fashionable young women and flickering with the reflections of neon signs. The promise of sumptuous hot seafood dishes waiting in cosy restaurants would also be included.
While you're unlikely to find many wandering poets in Sapporo these days, Basho's 'big clouds' still make good their promise each year, dumping an average of six metres of powder snow on its denizens and making it one of the world's snowiest cities.
Hokkaido means 'north sea road' and although it conjures up travel-brochure images of murmuring volcanoes, rugged ocean outcrops, rolling farmland and spectacular snow festivals for tourists, in the minds of most Japanese, it is specifically Sapporo that best shows off the island's culinary delights and the carefree spirit of its people.