Just wanted to share a few photos of a recent trip I took up to Hokkaido for skiing. We put the 76 on the ferry (I only have photos ferry from Tomakomai to Oarai but we went via Sendai on the way North) so that was also interesting. You load the vehicles around 18:00 and arrive in the morning (or early afternoon, depending on which ferry you choose).
There's a number of different options for sleeping from shared rooms to private cabins of varying quality based on price. The ferries have a public bath on the ship (I think that's probably unique to Japanese ferries.) If you add up high season flight tickets and then rental cars in addition, bringing your own vehicle (as long as it has the right snow tires) is about the same price.
I wanted to drive the 76 in snow so I bought a set of Bridgestone's new Blizzak DM-V2s and I really, really was impressed. They were totally solid when the Cruiser was in 4WD HI, even in blizzard conditions. I was completely impressed with both the 76 and the Blizzaks. I used to own a Subaru WRX with Nokian Hakkapeliitas and I thought nothing would ever be as good as that but my 76 with the Blizzaks was as good.
There's a number of different options for sleeping from shared rooms to private cabins of varying quality based on price. The ferries have a public bath on the ship (I think that's probably unique to Japanese ferries.) If you add up high season flight tickets and then rental cars in addition, bringing your own vehicle (as long as it has the right snow tires) is about the same price.
I wanted to drive the 76 in snow so I bought a set of Bridgestone's new Blizzak DM-V2s and I really, really was impressed. They were totally solid when the Cruiser was in 4WD HI, even in blizzard conditions. I was completely impressed with both the 76 and the Blizzaks. I used to own a Subaru WRX with Nokian Hakkapeliitas and I thought nothing would ever be as good as that but my 76 with the Blizzaks was as good.
