Hakodate is a port city at Hokkaido’s southern tip, and the island’s third largest city. Locals claim it offers one of the top 3 nighttime views in the world (with Hong Kong and Naples purportedly the other two). I haven’t been around enough to comment on that claim. But, I must agree the panoramic view is certainly impressive. While not particularly high, Hakodateyama (Mt. Hakodate) sits at one end of an isthmus, surrounded by the sea on three sides. Looking down toward the city, the terrain spreads out before you in two wide arcs, continuing along the horizon in both directions until you are surrounded by the island for over 240°. Photos don’t quite do it justice.

Noboribetsu Onsen is said to be the largest hot springs resort in Hokkaido. It was here that I made a stopover off the Super Hokuto run from Sapporo to Hakodate — -actually a detour, since the town is a little over 5 km inland from the city of Noboribetsu, and not accessible by rail.

Essentially a one-street town, the many hot springs hotels and inns drive the local economy, along with a few shops and restaurants. The most well-known of these is the Dai-Ichi Takimotokan, which with its 30 large baths open 24 hours, claims to be the largest spa in Asia. [I stayed at a smaller place near the edge of town.] Other tourist attractions include a (from the pictures in the brochure, depressing) bear “farm,” and Jigokudani (which translates to “Hell Valley”).

Immediately after unpacking and familiarizing myself with the hotel facilities, I set out in the light snow for the half-hour walk, by way of the town center, to Jigokudani. With its many steam vents and sulphurous streams, it’s not hard to see how it got its name. Unfortunately, even though I knew that hot springs waterfalls and wadable hot springs streams were only a few hundred meters away, the ice-packed trails made it treacherous to hike further on. If I had entertained any thoughts of risking it, the increasingly heavy snowfall nixed that. [I suspect December, before the snow turns to ice, or the warmer months would be better times for hiking.] So, I made my way back to the hotel.

Visiting on a weekday while other tourists were in Sapporo for the Snow Festival or skiing in Niseko has advantages, as I had the baths all to myself. Sitting in the bath outdoors with the snow falling around me, the only way it would’ve been more cliché was if I had been sipping on beer or sake.

I don’t plan on putting my “otaku den” (as Andy calls it) on display, because I don’t have one. Pics of my toys will have to suffice. That’ll also give me opportunity to start playing with my new macro lens, which I’m sure will take me a while to learn how to use properly. Let’s start off with Gundam Fix Figuration #0026…

The Gundam Fix Figuration series features poseable, pre-painted, PVC/ABS figures of greater detail and generally with more accessories than your typical action figure or scale model. [Ideal for me, because I’m likely to assemble a model kit perfectly, only to botch it up with a crappy paint job.] The series gets its name from Gundam Fix — -a book of illustrations and photorealistic renderings from Katoki Hajime’s mecha designs.

This particular model is of arguably the best known mecha in the Gundam universe — -Amuro Rei’s RX-78-2 from the original Mobile Suit Gundam anime — -an appropriate choice for my first anime figure purchase.

Actually, I favor the transforming Valkyries from the Macross series or movie, but those start well above ¥10,000. The Fix Figurations aren’t exactly cheap either — -although they start below ¥2,500, the more intricate ones can go over ¥10,000 as well.

The “Ver. Ka” — -“Version Katoki” — -is the most popular among the several redesigns of Okawara Kunio’s original mecha design.

After assembly, I still had alot of parts left over — -typical for the series. For some this is good thing. But, packrat that I am, it’s quite the opposite for me. Mostly it’s extra armor or armament, but in this case it’s mainly because the figure can also be converted into the less cool looking RGM-79 GM mass production mobile suit.

I guess now’s the time to geek out with the specs…

RX-78-2 Gundam

Unit Type: Prototype Close-Combat Mobile Suit
Manufacturer: Earth Federation
Height: 18.0 meters
Weight: 43.4 metric tons (base), 60.0 metric tons (full)
Generator output: 1,380 kW
Thrusters: 55,500 kg
Armor material: Luna Titanium alloy
Sensor range: 5,700 meters

Armament and special features:

• 60mm Vulcan x 2, fire-linked, mounted in head
• beam saber and beam javelin, stored in recharge rack on backpack
• beam rifle
• hyper bazooka, stored on backpack
• shield
• “learning computer” system
• magnetic coated joints (field upgrade)