We are a family of 3 who went on a trip that was planned by Eriko. Her planning was meticulous and thoughtful. All that was planned was carried out and we were absolutely satisfied with the activities, accommodation and food arranged by Eriko. Besides the effort in the planning, Eriko also took time to meet us to say hello!

We made soba with Tomoka, our soba master, and with us was Saeko who was our wonderful interpreter. The entire soba making was so enjoyable as not only did we get to learn how to make the noodles, but we even got to eat it all up. Tomoka was clear in her explanations and Saeko was conscientiously translating the instructions to us. What we treasured most was our interactions with both Tomoka and Saeko who were so friendly and welcoming.

We did snowshoe walking in the beech forest with Ted, another local guide, and he made the whole experience such a fun and memorable one. The snow shower and the hot drinks that Ted served us in the middle of the snow covered forest were the highlights of the hike. The second snowshoe walk at Mount Asahi was indeed a totally different experience! Walking on the summit in -16.5 degrees and with snow that was waist-high was exhilarating as we did not know what to expect.  Our local guide, Yuka, gave us the confidence that it could be done and with her leading us, we really had a whale of a time there.

We were also grateful to the two ski instructors, Yukiya and Naoko, who were so patient in teaching us how to ski. Both my husband and daughter made their way up via the chair lift to ski down the beautiful snow capped mountain together with the instructors. With their guidance, both of them came down safely and I could see their sense of achievement on their faces.

Our last activity was horseback riding in Sapporo. The horses were as welcoming as the team of locals who led us in the activity. The horses brought us into the woods and we got to soak in the peacefulness as snowflakes landed on our faces.

All the hotels and ryokan were awesome! We had very good night rests and soaking in the onsen was the best way to end each fun-filled day.

We would also like to highlight the last-minute change that we had to make as my daughter needed to do her online university course registration on Day 2 of the trip. Eriko immediately made arrangements for us to stop over at a place with wifi connections. It was a nice and conducive place where we even had coffee served by our local guide Hiroko. Hiroko ensured that we had wifi connections and that my daughter was able to do what she needed to comfortably. We are thankful for this arrangement.

Last but not least, we had the best driver that we have ever met. Shu is a careful and experienced driver. Besides ensuring that we got from one point to the next safely and punctually, he also ensured that our rooms were problem free. He also shared many interesting things about the places that we went to along the way. Shu also planned for toilet breaks when the drive was a long one. He took good care of us on the whole trip and he is now like a friend to us. We are thankful to him for all the great photos and videos he took for us at every destination.

We will be back for sure! Thank you to all who have made this trip memorable.