Hokkaido travel guidance, recommendations and tips in one handy place.
With Sapporo being the fifth largest city in Japan, you can easily get swept up in the hustle and bustle of city life. Thus we are here to present a place near Sapporo in which you can escape the rushed atmosphere and feel the calming effects of nature in a secluded environment. This half day…
We know that planning a trip can be a bit daunting, especially when considering all the time and effort involved even just to figure out where you would like to go. But Social Bus is here to help give you some ideas and inspiration for your summer trip to Hokkaido! Here is a sample of…
If you are planning a trip to Hokkaido, you more than likely have heard about a couple of the ‘must see' hot spots. One of those places on your list might be Unkai Terrace or ‘The Sea of Clouds’, but what most people don’t realize is that this phenomenon is a part of the Hoshino…
On an average day, Toyako tends to be a sleepy town where you can take in the beautiful views of Lake Toya and even see Mount Yotei peaking out from the clouds. But if you arrived in this quiet town between June 23rd and 24th this year, you may have been surprised to see Pikachu…
As you may have seen, we have brought on a couple new members to the Social Bus team this summer. We have already introduced two of our amazing recruits, but here is the third newest member to the Social Bus family. Coming all the way from Canada, we would like to introduce Kara! Kara enjoying…
The second person who we are going to introduce isn’t necessarily a new summer addition, but a volunteer who has been with us for a couple of months already! A little bit different than the interns, he has been volunteering with us, dedicating his time due to similar passions and out of kindness. We are…
With summer right at our doorstep, the growth of the company, and new projects, we have become increasingly busy at Social Bus! That with the idea to offer a bilingual service, globalize the company and to work with people from various cultures and backgrounds, we have decided to expand the Social Bus team! Here is…
Travelers coming to Japan tend to fall into two groups. The first think of using payment cards in Japan as they would many other countries and expect to be able to use their debit or credit everywhere. This means they get tripped up by not having cash. The second group have done their research and…
So, the information in today's blog post is brought to you by Will (the current Social Bus intern). But the pictures and some of the commentary and brought to you my Peta and Ayumi - who are sharing some of their personal fun times sightseeing Mount Moiwa with friends from overseas! We definitely recommend a…
The great thing about summer events in Japan is that admission is usually free! You can soak up the summer atmosphere as much as you want! (However, be sure to bring plenty of extra money for food and drinks as with the increased festival prices, things can add up pretty quickly.) June Oni Fireworks Festival…
Today's blog post is brough to you by our Social Bus intern, ウィル ( Will ). He's going to be introducing his own blog series over the next few months, so keep watching for more of his Hokkaido adventures! Today we're recommending the top 5 places to see some stunning Hokkaido flowers this summer! Come…
Hokkaido’s winters and snow sports are world-famous. Thrill-seekers from all over the globe come here between December and March to ski, snowboard, and take part in snow activities in some of the BEST conditions (and relax in a hot spring at the end of it all). But what about the rest of the year? If…
Japan. Beautiful country of surprises, cultural differences and a whole-lot-of-fun! Now, I live in Hokkaido, and am writing from a coming-from-the-UK-to-Hokkaido perspective – but after traveling around Japan, I think these are, pretty-universally, some things that surprise tourists or visitors on their first trip to the country. There are all kinds of surprises –…
At the time of sitting down to write this post, we are about 2 weeks away from the due date of our first baby. Although lots of our friends have kids, and I’ve worked with children and young people for a long time – this season is getting me thinking about the practical logistics of…
So today I want to introduce another of our businesses, and a place that we definitely recommend checking out if you are in Sapporo: Mezamashi Sandwich. Located about 5 minutes walk from Odori Park (the TV Tower end!) it's super-convenient to call in and say hello! Welcome to Mezamashi Sandwich. Now, Mezamashi literally means 'to…
Before I came to Japan for the first time, some *optimistic* people warned me about how lonely it would be. (Super encouraging, right? Haha!) Even other foreigners who were living in Japan warned me strongly about the difficulties of making local Japanese friends, the feeling of being an outsider, and other general difficulties that they…
After a few years of running guesthouses, we really understand first-hand that visitors to Hokkaido tend to be seasonal. Winter and summer are jam-packed with tourists. The in-between months are quieter. If you look on the regular travel blogs, most of them focus on the December – February period, followed by June – early September.…
The following is an interview with the Social Bus Director, Shunsuke Ohata. (Known as Ochan to everyone). We wanted to give you the chance to get an insight into our company set-up, vision and the process of following your dreams. If you have any other questions, feel free to get in touch. So, meet Shunsuke…
I've mentioned a few times that as well as our latest adventures with Social Bus, we also run some guesthouses in Sapporo. The two ideas work together. Our dream for the future of Social Bus is that we could create the friendly, community atmosphere of a traveling guesthouse. A mode of transport where people can…
Hokkaido. A.k.a. Beautiful land of delicious treats, food so fresh it makes your mouth-water, and an abundance of A-MAZING cafes, restaurants, food-stalls, markets, you-name-it-we-got-it-food-providers. A foodie's living, walking, dream. Now, I could talk about Hokkaido food all day... Because, you know? I live here, I love it, and I'm pretty much always hungry. BUT, I…
Okay, so as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, my first experience/s of travel in Japan were going-solo. And this was great. I’m a bit of a solo-travel-fan, and Hokkaido is a particularly warm and welcoming place to meet new people and make friends. However. I am also pretty lucky. In my 4 years…
If you would rather read the Arabic version of our blog, click HERE. We just got back from a 2 day tour of East Hokkaido with our team. Lake Akan. The Ainu Village. Akan hot springs. Lake Mashu. Kushiro. The fish market. Crane-spotting. Even a stop-off at Tomamu Ice Village on the way back home…
In the summer of 2013, I took my first solo trip to Japan. I had a few friends from the UK or America who were living in the country, but I knew exactly 0 Japanese people, only a scattering of Japanese words and was very much throwing myself in at the deep-end. Some people thought…
There are a whole bunch of reasons to visit Hokkaido in the winter: the skiing, snowboarding, snow activities, hot springs... to name more than a few. But Hokkaido is also renowned for it's winter festivals, and A LOT of the enquiries and bookings we have at Social Bus and our guesthouses at this time of…
After my last post, a few people got in touch and asked about the essentials for surviving a Sapporo winter. I can understand it. If you're like me and have had minimal real-winter-survival-skills-experience it can be a daunting task to pack for a trip into deep-snow-filled-travel and know that you're not over or under packing…
So, I moved to Sapporo in January 2014. That makes this coming year my almost-5th winter (I arrived half way through in 2014, so it's really like 4 1/2 I guess). Before I moved to Sapporo, I *knew* about the winters here, but I didn't really know about the winters; if you catch my drift.…
So, if you’re anything like us, you believe that the people are one of the main things that makes travel great. Don’t get us wrong, we really love new places, adventures, beautiful sights and delicious food - but sharing that with old and new friends, contagious laughter ringing-out as you explore and toasting others to…
Honestly? Charter buses have got a bit of a *uncool*, *inconvenient*, *expensive* reputation... Especially amongst young people, families, backpackers, and generally travelers on a budget. When you think about fun, spontaneous, cheap travel, you have images of piling precariously into a rickshaw, luggage and all. When you think about needing a safe vehicle for your…
