Hokkaido Winter Landscapes Series: III

 Abashiri Riverside Panoramas:

One River, Multiple Moods.

From the hotel window, a bird eye view of Abashiri City can be seen nestling along the river and stretching far into the Sea of Okhotsk. It is a low-lying city dominated by the natural landscapes of mountain peaks, forests, lakes, rivers and sea. The colors and moods of the city change readily under the cyclical nature of its vast surrounding environment. I was there for a few days in the winter season, I have experienced fast changing weather conditions, which can be stormy and windy at one moment but sunny and cool a few hours later. It is common to see the same place evoking multiple moods under different weather conditions.

Abashiri Riverside City

Bird eye view from a hotel's tinted window 

The hat-shaped Rock, the Sea of Okhotsk and the snow-capped Shiretoko Peninsula 

can be seen in the far horizon

Bright Daylight Sceneries

Riverside Promenade - I

A picturesque grouping of buildings lining along the riverbank

Riverside Promenade - II

A small cluster of low-lying buildings in various design nestling at the riverside

Sunrise Sceneries

Riverside Promenade - III

Burning-red mountains and floating frozen ices in the river 

Riverside Promenade - IV

Burning-red mountains and floating frozen-ices in the river

Riverside Promenade - V

Last radiance of the burning-red clouds 

Sunset Sceneries

Riverside Promenade - VI

Radiance of the golden rays 

Riverside Promenade - VII

Fading radiance in the sky & the descend of the blue hours

Riverside Promenade - VIII

Fading radiance in the sky & the descend of the blue hours

Blue Hours Sceneries

Riverside Promenade - IX

A town resting in tranquility

Riverside Promenade - X

A town resting in tranquility

Cloudy Sunny Day Sceneries

Riverside Park - Sancho I

Riverside Park - Sancho II

Riverside Park - Sancho III

Riverside Park - Sancho IV

Riverside Park - Sancho V

Riverside Park - Sancho VI

Riverside Park - Sancho VII

About the sapphire-like water in the river:

The water in the river that flows through the City of Abashiri exudes a sapphire–like glow – it sparkles with an untarnished purity, evoking the feelings of timeliness and tranquility. The water surface of the river can be seen frozen into thin sheets of floating ice during the cold morning of the winter season. Despite the freezing cold temperature, wild ducks and gooses can still be seen swimming in pockets of unfrozen water in the river.

A short distance from the river mouth of the Abashiri River, large piles of floating drift ice can be seen travelling through the Sea of Okhotsk. This annual natural phenomenon has become a popular tourist sightseeing attraction of Abashiri Town during the winter season.

About the painterliness of the riverside settlement:

Nestling sparsely and picturesquely on both sides of the river bank are low to mid-rise buildings of different functions. Their non-imposing characters have thus created a scenic city where the peaks of the surrounding mountain ranges can be fully visible from every corners of its streets and alleys. The place exudes an oriental beauty, that is reminiscence of traditional ink-painting, where man dwells harmoniously in a landscape consisting of distant mountain peaks, meandering rivers and pristine woodland.

JS

Photography

    Canon 6D  .  Len 16-35 F4