Today it is called Maeda Forest Park.

It is easy to find in online guidebooks, Sapporo tourism sites & Trip Advisor. But there’s no direct mention of a samurai linkage.

Previously, the Maeda Family lived here. I think. Or, someone somehow connected to this family. Perhaps. A local told us about a hidden connection with this famous family of samurai who ruled much of west-central Japan from the 1500s until the mid-1800’s. Their domain was “second only to that controlled by the powerful Tokugawa family.” (Britannica.com)

“They were the daimyo, or lords, of Kaga Province (now part of Ishikawa Prefecture).” (Britannica.com)

I cannot vouch for any direct connections and am not sure how a park in the central region of Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido ended up with the Maeda name; however, I can state certifiably that this is a wonderful little nook for running.

A colonnade of bright white poplar trees line the pathway at what I presume is the main entrance to the park. Even on a clear, sunny day in late August there were no more than a dozen of us in the park during our late morning-early afternoon run.

Several days later, there were many loads more during the Hokkaido Marathon when the same entrance off the main road—just across the street from the empty river pathway seen in my previous post—transformed into an aid station, complete with a man shoveling “snow” from a pile on the granite entryway, with depleted runners scooping it up readily beneath burning sun overhead.

I’d never seen that before.

Wet sponges were being chucked around. Some marathoners we’d been cheering on over the past 45 minutes or so lay prone on cots receiving medical attention.

(I empathize with their plight.)

Scorching sun was burning up the runners at around the 14 mile mark of a 26.2 mile course.

It was still warm the day we ran in the park, but not quite so intense. We also had the luxury of a 1-hour or so jaunt vs. the sometimes seemingly endless march of a marathon distance.

Passing the poplars, following a curve just past the reflection pool—600-meters around—straight ahead into the shade of fragrant pines, with one of the only other parkgoers coming directly at us on a bicycle. Or, were we going directly at him??

This being Japan, there are two things to note about this normally forgettable encounter:

* I was confused yet again about which side of the pathway we should run on. Road traffic in Japan is on “the wrong side,” (read: left), so most folks on most sidewalks and pathways stay at left, too. However, sometimes in some places this inexplicably is just not the case with most folks back on “the right side,” literally & directionally.

* The Japanese man said nothing, slowed to a stop so as not to endanger us and gave us his right of way to pass. He did not seem annoyed at all, although I could not blame him if he was.

We wound our way around this estate, searching for any sign of a home or historic ruins. Following a seemingly abandoned road we followed it…straight out of the park! Turning right, we continued along just a regular countryside road and at that point we may as well have been running in Nelson County, Kentucky. It reminded me of some of the quiet country roads surrounding the bourbon distilleries—places from which I do not imbibe of anything save the bucolic surroundings of bluegrass, whitewater smoothing over limestone, rolling fields of cows & horses and the packs of farm dogs I must at times escape from.

Nary a car drove past us along the straightway, as we went past a larger truck (still smaller than an American semi-size truck). Turning right at the first cross-street, I figured we’d get to another entrance of the park. Soon, we re-entered by some soccer fields with an interesting little coffee shop nearby, covered intriguingly with USA license plates—but, regretfully, not one from Kentucky.

Also, beware: coffee shop only open weekends & holidays.

Heading towards the middle of the park, traversing little steps downhill on the pine needle blanketed forest floor, we then shot out into a small field of grass with a little stand of trees. There seemed to be ruins of some kind, a circle of large stones with gaps between them. Almost like they demarcated the doorways of a building—a home?—which seemed to have once stood on the site.

Could this have been the place where a prominent samurai family once lived?

Glancing around for historical markers, there seemed to be none. Just snow white flowers blossoming at left. A quiet peace pervading.

Ending up behind a structure under renovation, we clamored over a railing and onto a long covered walkway. Looking out into the distance was a stunning sight:

Just below, a European-style garden with narrow brick pathways. A long colonnaded walkway descending on each side. Reflection pool just ahead of the garden. But the real pièce de résistance—-Mount Teineyama directly ahead.

If it had been snowing, I would’ve needed to be picked up because the sight of a winter wonderland would have floored me. As it was with royal blue sky, billowy cotton white clouds & a tapestry of greenery weaving the scene together, it was still a show-stopper which did quite literally stop me in my tracks.

Just imagine that bad boy with snow atop its crown.

We ran straight into the garden area, zig zagging as we traversed every little segment of the brick pathways. Could this have been the Maeda family’s European-style garden? Were we running in the footsteps of the samurai?

Only after the garden running did we loop around the reflection pool.

If only a snowfall had begun…yet, it remained a wondrous site, this little nook of the world tucked away so close to the mountains and the sea. The city center a mere 12-15 kilometers away but it may as well be a world away.

Sapporo—-such a quiet place. Two million people?? Perhaps they all live within a mile of the city center & nightlife district. Maeda Park encapsulates the reason why Sapporo is such a prime place for running; almost as though it was built for runners. There are so many wide open spaces devoid of most people. Long river pathways, short canal pathways, unnaturally quiet neighborhood streets, a beautifully wooded university campus, cheeky gravel trails popping up here and there. All of this surrounded by stunning mountains with the Sea of Japan nearby.

Chuck the guidebook onto the couch & go out to explore…

And don’t forget to pick up a coffee on the way home.

NOTE to Readers: Although not yet the promised Otaru running tale as mentioned in my previous post, I hope you nevertheless enjoyed this glimpse of a gorgeous nook of Sapporo.

VIDEO CREDIT: Wang Chengye

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