Letter From Hokkaido

My first assignment in 2017 took me to Japan’s north island Hokkaido – a remote and visually stunning land that houses just 4% of Japan’s 127 million population. Sophia Coppola brought the cultural difficulties for western travellers in Japan into our homes with her Oscar winning “Lost in Translation” and this was shot in the international hot bed of Tokyo – still the world’s largest city. Go north to Hokkaido and her narrative is amplified – this is a deeply alien place for travellers both inside a hotel and outside.