Northern Horse Park

Hi everyone. I'm Momoe!

Today, I will introduce "The Northern Horse Park".

This is my last blog, so I will be very happy if you enjoy reading.

Do you know "The Northern Horse Park", and have you been there?

The park opened on July 22nd, 1989.

This is located in Tomakomai. It's about 15 minutes from New Chitose Airport, so it is very accessible.

You can get involved with horses in many ways here. This time, I would like to introduce the most recommended way to enjoy it here.

First of all, I strongly recommend you to join "The Happy Pony Show".

The show is held everyday, and it is free to watch! A very cute pony will give you a good time.

The  event time changes everyday, so please make sure to check it out before you go here!

Also, you can join "Horse Trekking".

With this, you can experience horseback riding while taking a walk in the great nature of Hokkaido!

This program requires reservations, so please be careful when you participate.

In addition, this place has a cafe called "K's garden cafe". If you are tired of playing, have an elegant time here. You can enjoy homemade fresh-baked bread and sweets.

If you want to eat full, there are barbecue buffet restaurants, so please check them out too!

Therefore, the lovely horses and the peaceful nature in the Northern Horse Park will surely relax you, so please go with your family and friends!

If you are interested in the Northern Horse Park after reading my blog, please check out this website! You can have more information.

That's all for my blog. Thank you for reading:D

The gelato shop

 Hi everyone!

This is my last blog. I feel so sad...

 

August has begun and the summer vacation is around the corner!

We have a long vacation for about 2 months.

Do you have any plans for summer vacation?

COVID-19 always interrupts us, but I hope you enjoy your vacation.

By the way, it has been extremely hot these days, so definitely you would like to have something cold, and feel cool.

In this blog, I’m going to tell you about the gelato shop.

My favorite shop is Gelabo.

It is located in Toyohira ward, and it takes about 20 minutes on foot from Fukuzumi station.

Its appearance is like this picture.

 

 

The most fascinating point is the many flavors of gelato.

Then I’ll give you a question. How many flavors can we taste?

The answer is about 30 flavors!

In addition, we can enjoy some flavors for a limited time.

When I went there, I had Yubari melon flavor (limited).

 

The flavors I strongly recommend are the milk flavor and the mango flavor.

Especially, the former one is amazingly tasty and rich.

 

In this COVID-19 situation, we have to refrain from going outside, however you can get it online.

I would like you to try it and have a great vacation!

Thank you for reading my blog!

See you then, bye!

Link: gelateria gelabo shop official website

Kitakaro

 Kitakaro is one of Hokkaido's famous sweets shops which is popular among not only tourists but also local people. Kitakaro’s sweets are used highly selected ingredients such as flour, cream, eggs, and water which are produced in Hokkaido.

Cream Puff

Big Cream puffs called Kitanoyumedo-mu sparked the popularity of Kitakaro. A lot of cabin attendants and pilots bought them for souvenirs and the name of Kitakaro was spread through word of mouth. Kitakaro sometimes sells cream puffs at product exhibitions in Tokyo and they are sold out immediately. Kitakaro has other delicious cream puffs like Yume Fushigi which are made with pie dough. You may find your favorite cream puffs at Kitakaro.

Baumkuchen

As I mentioned, Kitakaro is famous for cream puffs but baumkuchen which is called Yoseinomori is also popular. Pâtissiers make the Baumkuchen with constant attention. They leave Baumkuchen out overnight and make it moist. It is chosen as a gift, souvenir, and snack. You can select a suitable size, and individually packaged in several types. For birthdays, there is an option to brand Baumkuchen a congratulations message. Therefore, Kitakaro’s Baumkuchen can be found on every occasion.

 

Online Shop

Kitakaro has its own online shop, so you can enjoy its sweets wherever you are. You can order cream puffs and Baumkuchen which I introduced. There are not only sweet snacks like chocolate but also salty snacks like rice crackers.

 

If you are interested in Kitakaro’s sweets, please check the website.  

【公式】北菓楼（きたかろう） (kitakaro.com)

Toukibi

 About Toukibi

Toukibi is a dialect of Hokkaido and it means corn. Hokkaido is the largest producer of Toukibi in Japan. Toukibi is very sweet, for two reasons. First, Hokkaido has a big difference in temperature between day and night. Like other vegetables and fruits, Toukibi becomes sweeter and delicious as the temperature difference between day and night increases. The other reason is that the days of Hokkaido are longer in summer. Sugar is stored in the daytime and sugar consumption is suppressed by breathing at low temperatures at night, so it becomes sweet.

Toukibi stall at Odori park

There is a Toukibi stall at Odori park. This is one of Sapporo’s summer futures. We can eat very very sweet Toukibi. This opens from Monday, April 19 to Sunday, October 17, and opening hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. This year, Toukibi stall ｍoved to West 1st Street because of the Tokyou Olympic 2020. Why don’t you go to the Toukibi stall and enjoy eating Toukibi this summer ?

Corn in Hokkaido

　On June 23, Starbucks coffee Japan announced they would start to sell “each prefecture’s frappuccino” until August 3. It is being sold to mark the 25 anniversary of the opening first shop in japan. Frappuccino is the name and registered trademark of a Starbucks blended ice beverage and a bottled coffee-milk beverage. Because employees in 47 prefectures suggested and decided the flavors, its feature is that it reflects the local specialty. For example, Kyoto's flavor is “Matcha”.

 In Hokkaido, the flavor is corn. Have you drunk it yet? Hokkaido prefecture is the first place for corn harvest in Japan. And then, in Odori park, which is one of the most famous places in Hokkaido, grilled corn has been sold since the Meiji era and is known to many people, including people coming from other prefectures and countries. Ishikawa takuboku, who is a famous poet in Japan, wrote a song of this grilled corn in 1910 and there is his bronze statue in odori park. Thus, corn is famous for people of all ages.

This Frappuccino contains cream made from milk so it has a creamy taste. According to the  Starbucks coffee Japan’s website, the contrast colors of yellow and white express the sunshine that is reflected and glowed on the snow. It targets young people so appearance is significant too.

 

It will be finished on August 3 and the reputation is better than before starting to be sold. Thus, you may want to go to Starbucks coffee shops near your house and drink this special Frappuccino.

北海道のとうもろこしがとても甘いのはなぜでしょうか？｜北海道のこだわり旬野菜のネット通販サイト／シエラ　ファーマー (hokkaido-yasai.jp)

[新商品情報] 北海道 とうきび クリーミー フラペチーノ®｜スターバックス コーヒー ジャパン (starbucks.co.jp)

Hokkaido's limited beverages

Hello, everyone! 

Today, I would like to introduce Hokkaido’s limited beverages to you.  I hope you will survive this summer’s heat with these beverages.

1, Ribbon Napolin

This beverage is well known among Hokkaido’s residents. I cannot describe these tastes because they are unique. This beverage looks like orange juice, but we don’t taste orange. Then, where does this orange color come from? There is a rumor that this orange color comes from cockroach essence.  I guess this is just a rumor, but I don’t know about the truth. I want you to drink this without worrying about the rumor! :)

2, Soft Katsugen

I think this is the best beverage in Hokkaido! This is a lactic acid bacteria beverage. Actually, I drank this a lot during my entrance examination season, because this Katsugen’s Katu means winning in Japanese and I believe this is good for my fortune.  And, there are some kinds of Katsugen’s tastes. For example, blue apple, orange, grape, lotus cup. My favorite flavor is orange. Unfortunately, this is a seasonal drink. Why don’t you try this beverage in winter? I do want you to do so.

How was my blog? Hokkaido has a lot of good beverages other than these. I think we can get these beverages through the internet, so you should try these once!

 Actually, this is my final blog. I appreciate you reading my blog. See you!

Link： About Ribbon Napolin

           About Katsugen

JICA International center in Sapporo.

                                 JICA International center in Sapporo.

  

Today I will tell you about the JICA International center in Sapporo.

Have you ever heard of JICA? You have probably heard of it at least once before. JICA stands for Japan International Cooperation Agency. This organization has been actively doing a lot of different things as international cooperation to help developing countries. The JICA International center in Sapporo is one of the facilities of that organization.

In this center, there are various kinds of things you can do but I will focus on three distinguishing things there.

First, there is a place where you can enjoy experiencing different cultures. There, you can see some displays while listening to the guide. If you go and see these displays, you can learn about real problems that the world is facing and the connections between developing countries and our own.

Second, you can listen to the stories from Japan Overseas Cooperation volunteers and learn about what volunteer activities are like, as well as life in a developing country and the cultural differences.

Last but not least, you can help children in developing countries just by eating lunch or dinner at this place. If you eat one meal, 20 yen out of that price will be donated. So every time you eat one meal, you donate one meal to children in developing countries automatically. Even if you don’t know what you should do for developing countries, you may be able to save someone’s life by eating something there.

If you are interested in international cooperation, you should go there! Then you can learn about many different interesting and important things, and you also have the chance to donate meals to those in need.

       

The Yukara Textile Museum

 I will Introduce the Yukara textile museum. 

The Yukara textiles museum is next door to the snow art museum, and located in Asahikawa. Yukara textiles are called Yukara-ori in Japanese. Yukara-ori was designed as one of Hokkaido’s traditional crafts. 

To produce Yukara-ori textiles requires more than 200 colored threads. Because a countless number of different hues are created, it is possible to produce beautiful designs.

Yukara-ori’s theme is “The beauty of nature in Hokkaido”. 

In 1962, Aya Kiuchi founded the Yukara-ori textile workshop in Asahikawa. She said, “I want to produce things which enrich everyone’s heart.” Her thoughts have been passed down in this city.

However, in 2006, Yukara-ori textiles were on the verge of extinction because of Aya Kiuchi’s death. And the Yukara textiles museum was closed in 2016. A lot of people who had been working in this field lost their jobs. 

In 2018, some of the weavers started a workshop for Yukara-ori textiles. Over 83,000 people cooperated with those weavers. Thanks to those efforts, Yukara-ori textile was revived.

Unfortunately, the Yukara textile museum is closed now, so you can’t go there. However, you can buy Yukara textile products at the Asahikawa roadside service area.

I strongly recommend you to enjoy Yukara textiles and to feel how beautiful Yukara-ori is. 

Ayame

reference:

【公式】優佳良織工房 -Yukaraori Kobo-

【長期休館中】北国の自然と手仕事の技を伝えてくれる優佳良織工芸館 | JTRIP 　Smart Magazine 北海道

優佳良織（ゆうからおり）｜村田ボーリング技研株式会社 (murata-brg.co.jp)