golden kamui

 

Hi, everyone!! Do you know “golden kamui”? This is a famous manga in Japan.

The manga is set in Hokkaido and the age of the manga is after the Rosso-Japanese War.

The theme of the manga is a “survival game”, so many people fight each other to get gold.

This manga won the “Manga Award” in 2016, become anime, and started to sell merchandise.

Therefore, it is very popular manga now. What made this manga popular? I will show the reason.

 First, the characters of the manga are very interesting. They are unique, eccentric, and crazy!! So, you can’t hold back laughter when you read through it.

Second, the balance is great. As I said before, the theme is survival, so the manga has hard battle scenes and blood. It may be terrible to see depending on the person. Also, the manga has a lot of funny scenes, so you can laugh many times. Like these two different dimensions make this manga interesting.

 Finally, you can learn a lot of things about the “Ainu”. Have you ever heard of the “Ainu”? They are indigenous people in Hokkaido. You can see a lot of characters, history, and their lifestyle of Ainu. A scholar of Chiba university, who is a researcher of Ainu, supervised the manga, so you can learn Ainu deeply.

 If you like “ golden kamui”, I will recommend you strongly to visit the “Historical village of Hokkaido”. There is some architecture that the manga is modeled on. For example, old barber shop, hut, and soba shop. You can enjoy taking picture and learn about Hokkaido historical architectures. In Japan, there are a lot of interesting or fun manga, and you can enjoy reading them, learning the history of Hokkaido and the “Ainu”.  These days, The manga has been animated, you can also see it on TV. When you are free, please watch it! You will be able to have a good time.

Kitaguchi Haruka

Achievement and Relationship with her coach

Relationship with her coach

When she was high school student, actually Haruka kitaguchi had no coach so she asked for a Sekerakku coach to become her coach. Also she went to the Czech Republic to practice with her coach. After that she practiced so hard in the Czech Republic which is famous for the javelin.

Her achievements

She was admitted diamond athlete  when she was 18 years old. These days we are surprised at Haruka Kitaguchi’s javelin record. In 2022 July 22^nd the Javelin World championship was held in Oregon. In this world championship Haruka Kitaguchi came in third place also it was the first time a Japanese athlete got the bronze medal. I’m sure that Haruka Kitaguchi will come in first place in the future.

Haruka Kitaguchi’s family

Haruka is an only child.

Kouhei Kitaguchi is Haruka’s father. He is a pastry chef. He works for the Art Hotel Asahikawa in Asahikawa. Also, they sell his sweets at Hokkaido Bussuri Rira on the ground floor of the inn. Even if you are not staying there, you can buy them. They sell puddings and éclairs which celebrate Haruka. Eclairs are made with hazelnuts. Hazelnuts mean 榛（Hashibami） in Japanese. Haruka Kitaguchi is named after Hashibami. Eclairs filled with hazelnut cream and custard cream which are Haruka’s favorite food.

Noriko Kitaguchi is Haruka’s mother. She belonged to a basketball team when she was young. She played very well.

When Haruka was a child, she respected both. Also, she wanted to become a pastry chef and a basketball player. If you visit Asahikawa, why don’t you go to Kouhei’s shop?

The upbringing of Haruka Kitaguchi

She is from Asahikawa. Her birthday is March 16^th, 1998. Kitaguchi went to the Asahikawa Junior High School attached to Hokkaido University of Education. She played badminton when she was in junior high school. When she was in the second year of junior high school, she also participated in the whole road competition. Her father had experience swimming while playing badminton, so she has done this since childhood. Also, it is said that Kitaguchi is also tall because her mother was an experienced basketball player. She is 180 centimeters tall.

　

Kitaguchi started track and field in high school. The high school she went to is famous as one of the top 10 in Hokkaido. She was approached by the adviser of the high school track and field club and started athletics. She was certified as a “diamond athlete” of the Japan Association of Athletics Federations when she was in the third year of high school.

(Creator:Taiki Chiba)

What is Otoineppu??

Otoineppu. What do you think it means? Actually, it’s the name of a village. It’s written “音威子府”in kanji. When I found the name for the first time, I couldn’t read correctly because it’s a complicated way of reading. Today I’ll introduce this village to you.





Access
Otoineppu village is located in the north of Hokkaido. It takes 4 hours by car from Sapporo and 6 hours from Otaru. What a long way to get there!





The origin of the name
This name comes from the Ainu language o-toyne-p and means A muddy river at the mouth of the river. Because the point where the Otoineppu River joined the Teshio River was muddy, and so it must’ve been named this.



History
Since the railway opened at the Otoineppu station in 1912, the village rapidly developed as a base for railway construction. At the most popular time, railroad officials and their families accounted for 30% of the population. However, because of the reduction of station operations and employees moving to the metropolitan area, the population has drastically decreased.
Surprisingly, the population is only 683 in 2022. But, the village became famous as the smallest town in Hokkaido now. If you visit the official website of Otoineppu village, you can see the title The smallest village in Hokkaido, Otoineppu village, they are selling it.



Recommended food



What a black one! It is the most famous food in the village. The soba is so black because it uses buckwheat shells that are usually thrown away. A lot of people visit just to eat this. I really want to try to eat it! However the most famous restaurant was closed this year so there is only one restaurant left where you can eat it. The restaurant’s name is Tenbokuryu. I’ll put the information below, if you try to eat it, let’s go there as soon as possible!

★https://m.facebook.com/100057173272073/



Thank you for reading!!

[Writer: Asao]

Watermelons from Hokkaido

It’s getting hotter and hotter, isn’t it? I can’t stand this heat. Watermelons hit the spot on a day like this!! So today, I will introduce watermelons from Hokkaido.


Watermelons from Hokkaido:
There are three major production areas of watermelons in Hokkaido. The first is my favorite one, “Madonna”, which is made in Furano. We wrote about Furano on this blog before. Please check it out.



Look at the picture above. It is big enough to hide my face!! I like its crunchy texture and sweetness. While normal watermelons have a sugar content of about 10, this one has more than 12.


The second is Raiden, which is made in Kyouwa.



Because Kyouwa is facing the ocean, there is a large temperature difference between morning and night. So, Raiden is very sweet. In addition, Kyouwa is the largest producer of watermelons and Raiden is the most famous brand in Hokkaido.


The third is Densuke, which is made in Touma.
Look at this picture.



What a black one! Densuke is black on the outside and dark red on the inside. Also, it tastes so good. Although the price is high, it is popular as a gift. Densuke is the second famous brand in Hokkaido.


Have you seen watermelons with a yellow inside?



This is Otukisama, which is made in Tukigata. It looks like the moon. So, it is named Otukisama. Otukisama means the moon in English. It’s not as sweet as red watermelons, but it has a refreshing taste.

There are various brands of watermelons in Hokkaido. If you are interested, please try one.


Thank you for reading!!

[Writer: Shota]

TEAM NACS

 Team-NACS’s members

 

The members are Hiroyuki Morisaki, Yo Oizumi, Ken Yasuda, Shigeyuki Totsugi, and Takuma Otoo.

 

They are graduates of Hokkaigakuen University. They belonged to the Theatre Study Group at their university. They were born in Hokkaido. They assembled in 1996.

 

The leader is Hiroyuki Morisaki. The second leaders are Shigeyuki Totsugi and Ken Yasuda. Takuma Otoo is the youngest in the Team-NACS. Hiroyuki Morishige is the oldest.

 

When Ken Yasuda and Hiroyuki Morisaki graduated from their university, they dissolved. And then, Hiroyuki Morisaki was hired by some company in Tokyo.

 

However he missed the Team-NACS. So he retired the job and came back to Sapporo to reassemble the Team-NACS in 1997.

 

Their statement is “Our body is old, but our brain is young.” And now there is.

Team Nax’s popular songs and programs

Team Nax’s popular songs

l  Suspicion

l  Nobunaga’s Anguish

l  Ameo

l  Battle of Kanegasaki

l  Thief monkey     

programs starring Team Nax

l  Hanatarenax

This is a program that starts at 12:15 a.m. every Thursday. The first popular program with all five people started on January 31, 2003. The title comes from various meanings such as “A talent with flowers”.

l  Onigiri Atatamemasuka

This stars Shigeyuki Totsugi and Oizumi. The broadcast started on March 26, 2003. When the broadcast started, it was about deciding Lawson’s s special edition products in Hokkaido through trial and error from the requests of viewers. Until June 2021, TEAM NACS has done various activities not only in Hokkaido but also all over Japan and overseas.

TEAM NACS

Do you know TEAM NACS? I’m sure that almost all people who live in Hokkaido know them. All members in this group are from Hokkaido and graduated from Hokkaigakuen university, so this group is familiar to people in Hokkaido.

Why has TEAM NACS become so popular?

At first they were just local performers but each member appeared in local programs and music programs, so gradually they became famous. Now I think they will become more popular so you should go their concert soon.

Ekorinn mura

 

Hi, everyone!! I will talk about Ekorinn mura.

Ekorinn mura is a large ecology themed garden. Maybe, you will think, “What is Ekorinn?”. In Japanese, “Eko” indicates “ecology”(eco) and “Rinn”( 輪 ) indicates “connection”.

Therefore, the origin of name is the purpose of making a good care of a connection with the environment and achieving eco. When you visit there, you can be relaxed because there is incredible scenery and with lushgreen nature. There are galaxy “Ginga” gardens, which were designed by “Bunny Guinness” who is a famous garden designer. The garden is 100,000 hectares and there are a lot of gardens or areas with various themes. The garden has four seasonal scenery, so you can see various views for one year.

In spring, the garden has a” golden flower week” when there are a lot of narcissus are spread .

In summer, “Blue flower week” when flowers such as geranium or St.Aurea hit their peak.

In autumn, “dahlia week”, has 80 varieties of dahlias. You can see great views(nature or +flowers) in Ekorinn mura for all year.

There are various events at Ekorin mura.

You can enjoy farming experiences, hunting insects, delicious meals, and much more.

Here are two of them.

The first is the Rose Festival.

In the Ginga Garden in Ekorin mura, there are about 700 varieties and 5,000 roses in bloom.

There, you can enjoy looking at and even eating roses.

Surprisingly, about 4,500 of the 5,000 roses in the Galaxy Garden are edible roses.

Roses are in season in spring and fall, so I recommend you go there during that season.

It's so beautiful, you will miss out if you don’t go!

The second is the Kitchen car Marché.

There, you can eat a wide variety of foods.

For example, there are many interesting foods, such as fried bread made with sugar and 

coconut oil, and sushi parfait, which decorated sushi!

That’s all for my topic.

Thank you for your reading.

Recommended cafe Vol.4

 Hello everyone! We’d like you to know there are many great cafes in Hokkaido. So, we have picked some and we’ll introduce them to you. We hope that you find a place to relax!

Café Unjour

 Have you heard of a café where you can play musical instruments? In this café, Café unjour, you can enjoy playing the guitar and the cajon with delicious dishes!
 Café unjour is a small café which has only 4 seats in Ishikari. It takes a little time for the food to be served because the female owner runs it herself, but you will not mind because you can play the guitar and the cajon while you wait.

And there is a product I really want you to try. That is a castella pancake! It is so fluffy and has a big piece of butter on top. The combination of butter and maple syrup goes well without saying.

Would you like to try it?

 

Additionally, there is a small live stage, and musical concerts are held there every Tuesday morning. If you want to perform in front of an audience, I recommend you join it. I hope you can have a good time.

(Chihiro)

World Book Cafe

I’ll introduce World Book Cafe. This café is located on the 5th floor of the Osawa Building, Minami 1-jo West 1-chome, Chuo-ku, Sapporo-shi, Hokkaido. This café is a place where a bookstore and a café are located. There are about 3,000 books on travel and the world in it. Some books can be borrowed, like a library. From 12: 00-16: 00, there is a lunch set and a dessert menu, and there are drinks such as coffee, so you can spend the whole day relaxing at the World Book Cafe.

 One of the most popular menus at World Book Cafe is Baked Cheesecake.

It is a dessert that uses 100% luxurious Hokkaido fresh cream, and it is characterized by using vanilla beans to add accent. The flavor changes depending on the month, so no matter how many times you eat it, you will not get bored.

If you have time, why don’t you go to World Book Cafe?
(Ryunosuke) 

More imformation

Cafe unjour:Cafe unjour Official instagram
World Book Cafe:World Book Cafe Official instagram

Thank you for reading!