Another perfect spring day in Sapporo.  Not an awful lot to report as we spent the whole day at Maruyama Kōen (Park) painting around the Hokkaidō Jinja.

It’s a beautiful Shintō shrine, established in 1870, set among a huge 6 hectare park only a short subway ride from Ōdori and our hotel.  Yes, a chance for our group to experience a Japanese subway and we all managed without losing a single member.

Our artists spent the morning near the cherry blossoms — these are the double blossoms — the yaezakura — that are a deep pink in colour and quite magnificent.

After lunch we moved to the surrounds of the main shrine for an afternoon of painting that produced some really magnificent works, all exhibited later at our hotel.

The evening was free for everyone to explore the culinary delights of this interesting city — very Japanese in some respects but very different to the mainland.  We’re seeing and enjoying it in spring, with flowers everywhere (it gives Amsterdam a run for its money with tulips of every hue imaginable on every street).  A different proposition one imagines in mid-winter.

Another travel day ahead tomorrow as we head to the interior of the island to the Daisetsuzan National Park.