Hokkaido gotta be my favorite place on earth. Everything is so rustic compared to the rest of the country. Most memorable memories are permeated by the scent of diesel and firewood. And the food… the roasted lamb meat, ramen, the beer! Eating Gengis Khan at Ginza Lion restaurant…
I headed north without a plan because the city had a funny name (it sounds like Wakaranai in Japanese). I really wanted to see Korsakov but no ferries were operating and my Japanese bro would probably have a hard time getting a Russian visa.
I visited Vladivostok a few years later. It was after the Ukrainian conflict of 2014 but before COVAIDS. The world was a bit more free at that time. 
