My discovery of Miho museum was accidental. Friends of ours who lived in Manhattan and  knew about our frequent visits to Japan had saved a cutting from New York Times for me. There was a write up along with a beautiful photograph, very likely as I remember a statue of Buddha.

My first visit to Hokkaido was in 1995. Hokkaido is the Northern most island of Japan. We had gone there to attend a meeting in Sapporo - Capital city of Hokkaido. I had never imagined that I will be going to Sapporo again and again later. On this visit all our internal travel was in slow motion. We didn’t use plane journey.We travelled in a Ferry boat from Maizuru to Otaru, the port city. From there in a car to Sapporo.

Hakodate is a very popular tourist destination in Hokkaido. Looming over the town is 334m-high Mount Hakodate. The mountain's summit, reachable by aerial ropeway gondola, offers dramatic nighttime views.