I don’t generally go in much for “historical re-creations.” I mean, sure, it’s great that historians preserve old buildings from around a country, then bring them together in one location. But then what? Given my druthers, I’d probably choose a movie set (like Hobbiton in New Zealand) to a historical recreation site. At least on an old movie set, I know the director and his team have tried to create a unified illusion of a bygone (or fantastical) era. Most historical re-creations, by contrast, feel like sort of a mish mash of buildings, activities and eras, plopped into one place.
Thus it was with low expectations that I visit the Hokkaido Historical Village (“Kaitaku no mura”) just outside of Sapporo. In the same park as the Hokkaido Museum (an interesting place dedicated the indigenous Ainu people), the Historical Village is an open-air museum of relocated and restored buildings, from 1868 to the 1920s (Meiji to Showa periods).
Opened in 1983, the village showcases 52 historical buildings, grouped together in four clusters: Farm, Town, Fishing and Mountain. You can enter most of the buildings although, this being Japan, you have to take off your shoes before stepping inside. Some, but not all, of the structures, are staffed by friendly volunteers who explain what life was once like here. There are a fair share of mannequins to be seen as well.
My initial impression of the museum, as expected, is “Meh.” Okay, another farmhouse…Big deal! Oh look, a traditional storage shed…O-kay. A soldier lived in this building…fine. Not being an architect or a historian myself, I find it hard to distinguish one old structure from the next. They’re all just random, old, Japanese buildings.
Then, in flash, everything changes.
Upon leaving the Ogawa Family Dairy Farm, built in the 20s and featuring a cement cow with rubber udders that visiting kids can milk for fun, I notice a path leading into the woods. Hmm, this wasn’t featured in the brochure—let’s follow it. My trail leads down into what I can only describe as a primeval jungle, green and verdant, packed with ferns and lilies floating on an isolated pond. Being summer, the atmosphere is warm, dense and humid, and miraculously, I’m all alone! As I wander through this lush, green, hidden valley, I come across a perfect little wooden suspension bridge. “This should be advertised as the main attraction of the village!” I’m thinking. What a fabulous, unexpected, natural surprise!
As I return to “civilization,” I find myself feeling more warmly towards the open-air museum up above. In the Hokuseikan Silkworm House, I learn all about silkworms and the spinning of silk. In the Minami Ichi-jo Police Box, from 1911 and in use until 1970, a policeman dressed in an official uniform from the era explains about how law enforcement worked in the early 20th century. As I drop by, in succession, the old barber shop, grocery store, noodle shop, sake brewery, and sweet shop, I start to get it. My imagination makes the leap. There I am in the past, stepping into an old sepia photo, as a horse-drawn cart trundles down the center of town.
Would I have gotten to my “happy tourist place” without first discovering the hidden forest? Probably not. But that’s life, isn’t it? Your attitude can turn around in a flash, given the proper stimulus. To paraphrase Mick Jagger, “You can’t always get what you expect, but if you try sometime, you might just find, the surprise that you need.”
(Making an unexpected travel discovery feels like a gift, doesn’t it –especially if you come in with low expectations! One moment you’re grumpy and disappointed, the next you’re delighted and inspired. That’s just how quickly your experience can change and transform when the universe bestows upon you an act of kindness. The trick is to be open to veering off course and trusting your intuition…to taking the road less traveled. Similarly, we have the ability to surprise and delight our friends and loved ones with unexpected gifts – with acts of kindness. We can turn around their entire experience, often with only a word or two. Try it sometime. Keep your eyes open for a Grumpy Gus and defy their expectations. Share a kind word. Take them to a metaphorical hidden jungle. Transform someone’s day!)