Biei + Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Jun.27 – 29, 2024
Blue pond, Curry Udon and Ueno Farm
Flowers have begun to bloom in Hokkaido now. I wanted to enjoy this beautiful season before the high travel season comes. I do not like crowded places very much after the Covid-19 pandemic ended. We kept a social distance for over four years during the covid. That has changed my lifestyle. After the pandemic, I would tend to evade crowded places without conscience. The high season for summer travel is starting from July. I thought the last week of June is the last chance for me to enjoy summer in Hokkaido at a less stressful condition.
My partner and I landed Asahikawa by 9:20 by a JAL flight from Haneda. We got on an airport bus for Asahikawa at 09:50 and arrived at JR. Asahikawa at 10:30. We had a coffee at the McDonald’s in AEON mall in the station building. Then, we checked out a rental car at Toyota near the station at 11:00 and headed to Biei. The road to Biei was smooth and the parking lots of the pond was not so crowded. However, the pond was full of visitors. Many of them were from Korea judging from the language they were speaking. They are coming by large buses in group tours. The pond was born after the river nearby had been blocked during the eruptions of the mountain just two decades ago. The color of the water is a chemical reaction with aluminum particles in the water. Since then, this place has been visited by many tourists.
After watching the pond, We decided to go downtown Biei to grab something for lunch. We stopped by Michi-no-eki Biei, a roadside station in Biei. We had a Udon wheat noodle with curry soup at the restaurant there. Biei is a town in Furano area, where wheat is produced. Michi-no-eki is a commercial place which provides a resting place for people coming in cars. They sell local produce, sweets, snacks to name a few and have a restaurant. Finishing lunch, we left for Asahikawa. Final destination of the day was Takasago Shuzo Sake Brewery’s shop near Jr. Asahikawa Station. We reached the shop at 16:50, just 10 minutes before it closes, we bought quickly two small bottles of Sake for tonight and left.
On the next day, we left the hotel around 9:00 and headed to Ueno Farm in the north of the city. Driving through the route 39 and small field roads for 40 minutes, I arrived at the garden in the middle of the field. The garden is very popular among women. You can see many video clips about Ueno garden on YouTube. Paying the admission and entering, I found ourselves in a beautiful garden. Varieties of roses and other flowers are now in bloom. There is a pond of water lilies inside the garden. You can hear frogs are croaking. Sunshine is strong but it feels cool because the air is dry. There is a path toward a small hill. A wooden door stands in the middle of the pass. It were like a door you can travel anywhere you want to go like the one in Draemon, a popular cartoon of the robot cat . The path leads to a small hill where it commands views of the area 360 degree. The hill was once used as a target of artillery shoots drill by Tondenhei or ex-legionary of Hokkaido long time ago.
We droved back to the same route we had come and stopped by Otokoyama Shuzo Sake brewery on the route 39 to buy some bottles of Sake for souvenir. The brewery had a water spring in their factory and visitors can drink cold and clean water, the same one they use for brewing sake. It tastes pure and even sweet to me. They have a shop in the factory. Sugidama, or a Sidar leaves ball, is hang at the entrance of the shop. Fresh and green Sugidama is made and hung every year to tell people newly brewed sake of the year is available. While the ball is green color, you will tell Sake is fresh and young. When you see it turned brown, you will tell Sake is now getting mild. It is a tell-tale sign for sake lovers. What a nice smell inside the building! A sweet nice smell of Koji yeast is wafted in the entire floor of the building. I could not forget the fond memory of this good smell. I do not drink sake much but I realized I love it very much.
After the shopping at the brewery, we had lunch at Asahikawa Ramen noodle village, just five minutes by car from the brewery. We had a Shio ramen at Aoba ramen shop. They used to have a shop at Shin-Yokohama Ramen museum in the past. Asahikawa is known for Shoyu Ramen, soy sauce flavor. Hakodate for Shio Ramen, salt flavor, and Sapporo for Miso Ramen, miso bean paste flavor. But we chose a Shio ramen as I had shoyu soy taste Ramen at this restaurant before. It has a rich taste of fish broth.
After left the Ramen noodle village, we were going to Biei again to find a Bakery and Cafe called Gosh, visited Takasago Shuzo again, where I bought Sake lees and call it the day after returning the car at Toyota rental car. We are visiting Miura Ayako Literature Museum and returning to Tokyo tomorrow.