Have you found your autumn this year ?

by Kazu

The leaves of trees are changing their color gradually even in downtown of Sapporo City and the Japanese winter berry trees which is called "Umemodoki" in Japanese began to open its fruit as shown on the left.

 I am not sure if the fruit is edible or not but the red color  attracts the eyes of creatures, I think.
If the fruit was poisonous, the beautiful color and shape were considered to be filled with malice.

Japanese Rowan trees also are showing beautiful red of their fruits. I saw a sparrow was eating this fruit but the amount eaten was not so much.

For most of people, coming autumn is for filling up the appetite with the blessing produces from the fields and culinary delights. Actually the taste of produces of farms and orchards, fish and meat are peaking in the year.    

With the sunshine getting weak, we have to accumulate the enough power and nutrition to get over the cold winter that brings the heavy snow. Outdoor activities are counting the days to be enjoyed before snowfall. Of course, we have other enjoyable activities in winter but BBQ and cycling are difficult to carry out in winter. Please toss around ideas how to enjoy the weekends with your lover and friends !

Firefighters came to the sub-prefectural office for training !

 by Kazu

The training of evacuation was conducted in Sorachi sub-prefectural office of Hokkaido Government.
The ladder truck for rescue can carry 180kg with its bucket.

One lady and a gentleman were carried from the roof of the building to the ground in this training. Without any performance such as shouting "Help ! Help !", the rescue operation was done in silence. White smoke can be seen from us waiting on the parking lot. We were so lucky to carry out the training on such a beautiful day without rainfall.
   

T ladder truck was set with its extended legs  on the stable pavement. It is the key for the rescue to secure the stable base.  

At its most basic,  to prevent the fire is much more important but this kind of rescue operation should be carried out in every training. Keeping the staff out of dangerous territory is our mission in our mandate of everyday.  
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Besides, the retirement age was of our government was procrastinated from 60 to 65 and the staff over 60 will be employed again by Hokkaido Government with much lower salary than before stepping down from the position at 60. Of course, the possibility to be assigned to the branch office in rural area is expected and the bylaws that enable the government to pay the allowance for business bachelors of over 60 should be approved in the prefectural assembly.
Anyway, we have to stay fit and sound even after turning 60. "Being  spry and kicking" may become the watchword in the not-so-distanced future.  

Geo-park in Mikasa City !

 by Kazu

Mikasa City has become a member of the association of the cities that have a geo-park in its area.
The mayor of Mikasa City, Mr. Kobayashi announced on the phone call from the association and the icon of the geo-park in Mikasa City.

It seemed that he had heard about the feasibility of the registration to the list of geo-park in Japan in advance. The flowers and the title of the meeting to celebrate the entry were prepared as well as the icon.

To celebrate the entry and promote the tour to the city, "Geo Bento(lunch box) " was created and explained.

The design of the cover paper was so simple and it showed that "Mikasa Railway Village" sold the lunch box.

Each food has the meaning which is described on the backside of cover paper.

The rice was topped with egg, veggie, seaweed, bay scallop and grilled pork. The design is derived from the layer that was created one hundred million years ago and can be seen in the geo-park. The scallop shows the fossils in the layer.

Fried chicken will be colored with the ink of squid and show the coal produced in Mikasa City.
Fried shrimp is from the image of ammonite. The Chinese dumpling is from the image of the train wheel.

The black seaweed "Hijiki" also shows the layer of coal created fifty million years ago. Scrambled egg shows the newer layers than the coal. The chopped kidney beans shows the forest abundant in trees. The boiled intestine of horses is the typical dish in the coalmine area. The mushed potato shows the heavy snow in this area. I am not sure how much is this lunch box but please try it soon for the citizens in the city !

On such a beautiful Sunday !

 by Kazu

Should I call this bird "wild goose" or "Anser albifrons" ?
On the premises of Hokkaido University, you can find this bird near the pond. Green-headed gander also can be seen usually but I could not find it on the day.

There is a fountain playing on the pond. I jog around the university in the morning and evening, looking at some creatures.
Have you seen a  black woodpecker ?
You can hear the woodpecker knocking on the tree to get worms on the premises of the university.

It was so comfortable day that the bird was sleeping in the sunshine.

 I am not sure if there are some creatures in the pond or not but they seemed to be so happy in peace. They have to accumulate enough fat under their skin before winter.

Of course, trimming by themselves is also important for waterfowl.

 Hokkaido University has many good place to walk around but I had never walked around this path during my life in the university.

Some areas are like the wild natural forest and it requires a bit of courage to walk around the woods in the night.

 Many people visit the university all day long everyday. Until last year, BBQ can be done on the lawn in the university but it is prohibited this year to protect the lawn.

It will be fine this weekend. Would you drop by and have lunch around this pond. There are some benches on the deck around this pond. The diner of the university is so nice and have many healthy and delicious menu.

Have a nice weekend !

Sapporo Autumn Fest 2013 !

by Kazu

Sapporo Autumn Fest showcases the richness of food production around Hokkaido and its capital city Sapporo.
The festival ended on September 29(Sun.).
This curious character is made of the parts from crab and scallop.

 I am not sure the concept of the character but its name is "Manbe kun" which is the name sake of Oshamanbe Town facing the gulf of southern part of Hokkaido.
It seemed that this character was so popular that many tourists and citizens took photos with it and touched it so much.

On weekends, Odori Park was filled up with citizens of Sapporo City and adjacent city or town as much as tourists.
Everybody looked so happy and was really enjoyed the culinary delicacy sourced from from all over Hokkaido.

The queue in front of each stand differed depending on the popularity of the food or drink. This festival one of the biggest events in Hokkaido.
The details in English can be seen at
http://www.sapporo-autumnfest.jp/english/

Would you visit Sapporo City in the same season of next year ?
Before the leaves change the color, this festival plays the role to play up the coming harvest.

Oily Noodle in Bistro Hareruya, Sapporo !

by Kazu

My wife has been attracted to this ramen restaurant for a while. We happened to be passing by the restaurant that turns to bistro in the evening.
The address is 1st floor of Clean Building,
9-6, Nishi 6 Chome, Odori, Chuo-ku, Sapporo City

The Nearest Sub-way Station：
西８丁目駅, Nishi 8 Chome Station
TEL： 011-252-7733

in Japanese
住所： 北海道札幌市中央区大通西6-6-9 クリーンビル 1F
営業時間： 昼の営業
Open:

Lunch Time 11:00～16:00（L.O.15:30）

Dinner Time 夜の営業
17:30～23:30(LO.23:00)
Closed on Sunday

定休日： 日曜日

The interior is modern taste and spic and span.

 This is "Abura Soba" which means oily noodle.  It is flavored with fish broth made of fermented and dried bonito.
Most of the customers were the ladies.
The amount of each lunch menu is appropriate for females, I think.

This is Chinese noodle soup set for lunch. Fried chicken and fried rice accompanied as well as salad.

It taste so nicer stronger than I expected. The broth in the sauce widened and deepened the taste of the noodle. The noodle is thicker than that of noodle soup above.
I have to explore and try the new restaurant in Sapporo City !  

Bumper Crop in Shintotsukawa Town !

by Kazu

It seems that we can enjoy straight second bumper crop in Sorachi including Shin-Totsukawa Town. The hot summer was not so long but enough sunshine and appropriate rainfall brought us the quality rice crop with satisfying quantity.

 Looking at each ears and grain of rice, the contents seemed to be solid and tasteful. in Japanese adage, the more grains rice crops bear, the more they vow. That implies that the more a human learn and experience, the more his or her attitude becomes humble.

Thanks God for the gift of the earth !
The season of harvesting has come !
Various kinds of festivals will be held in Hokkaido. Please check up the events in your
neck of the woods. I will post them soon !