Gonji in Iwamizawa Again !

by Kazu

The year end party of my division was thrown in Gonji in Iwamizawa City !
The bistro is introduced in a variety of blog site such as
http://www.bfh.jp/theme/theme_searchdetail/60001218/

The owner chef Mr. Harada experienced and upgraded his skill and sense in French and Italian restaurants and as a result he found him eager to pursue the very best of combinations of materials that transcend the category and the borders of cuisine. Yes, what he has been seeking for is "Creative Dining". The materials such as the veggies sourced locally, seafood and dairy food turned to the arts that make you happier and healthier by Harada's magic.

Various kinds of a la carte must satisfy the guests amply with series of wine and Japanese sake. Please be careful to binge drinking that may be invited by the supreme taste of the cuisine;)

Maple Club in winter !

by Kazu

My neighbors are decorated with LED light bulbs so beautifully in winter but to enjoy the scenery, we have to bear the chilly breeze in minus 5 to ten degrees in Celsius.
It is a little bit dangerous to forget the coldness due to the wonderful light works.  

On top of that, the special delicious sweets are exhibited and can be eaten up as much as you can in front of the fireplace in this house.
Imagining yourselves eating the cakes in this patisserie, too long watching this house may take away the warmness from your body without recognizing.
Please be careful or get into the patisserie!
The URL is http://www.akairibon.com/mapleclub/enter.html

A Japanese Traditional Tea Room built in the Condo. 2 !

by Kazu

My colleague has collected a variety of knives made by the indigenous people in Hokkaido AINU and they were exhibited in the waiting room for the guests to the Japanese  traditional tea party held in the tearoom in his second flat of condo.

The scabbards of the swords are made of wood and carved in relief that made up beautiful decorations.

This is the knife that my colleague allowed me to take out of the sheath. This knife was not made in the way Japanese traditional swords were made. I mean the traditional sword was made by sandwiching the comparatively soft iron like a razor with hardly-forged iron but this knife has no beautiful wave that can be seen on the surface of the Japanese swords.

my colleague has some Japanese traditional swords that were registered as the works of traditional arts on the list administrated by Hokkaido Educational Board.

This sword was made in the traditional way in Japan. Mr. Yagi was holding the sword for a while, allured by the beauty of the wave on the surface.

The textiles are also collected by our colleague. The patterns of the textiles may seem to be simple but the prices are ・・・・・・.

This is the plate of chocolate carved in relief. It was made inthe anniversary year of Ainu people. We ate up the chocolate in fifteen minute. I think it took hours to make this plate.  

The flat owned and made up by my colleague was like a small museum of Japanese and the indigenous people in Hokkaido.

A Japanese Traditional Tea Room built in the Condo. !

by Kazu

One of my colleagues built a Japanese traditional tea room in his condo. that he bought in the same building in which he had his own condo. for years.
According to his explanation, he made up his mind to buy a flat for his wife who had wanted her own tea room to host the Japanese traditional tea ceremony.

I have to omit the details on his decision making but the outline is shown above.
The guests invited to the tea ceremony have to enter the room through this small entrance called "Nijiri-guchi" at the corner of the room. The guests should be treated equally in the ceremony even if some of them are the celebrities or a tycoon is included.

Once the host has got ready to receive the guests, he or she strike the metal drum on the right and the guests get out of the waiting room or the garden.

The wife of my colleague seemed to have high degrees of skill in the hierarchy of the Japanese traditional tea ceremony world. Various kinds of tools that are a kind of art were exhibited on the shelves.
This tearoom was completely based on the rule in the Japanese traditional tea world.

Her sophisticated sense of humor and hospitality could be seen in each detail of the facility. My friend allowed his wife to collect the enough amount of arts and compile diligence.  

He made the most of a flat in the condominium in building a Japanese Japanese tearoom. I've got the ballpark figure on the cost to build the room but the actual amount outstripped my imagination.

The entrance of the flat and the waiting room were in this direction. We were from this way.

To be continued.

Perfect Winter !

by Kazu

"It will be fine tomorrow," I said to myself on my way back to Sapporo City from Iwamizawa in the evening. But the weather turned like the eyes of cats.
Next day, everything had  covered with snow and the scenery turned to monochrome.
Due to the comparatively warm temperature from zero to three degree in Celsius, the snow flakes grew bigger than in extremely cold  

temperature and stuck to the branches like decorations of Christmas trees. Sometimes the wet snow breaks the branches of the trees in winter.
The coldness in winter is deadly. Actually, some people passed away after binge drinking in downtown because they fell in sleep despite the silent death was closing to them with comfortable icy touch.

Recently, fireplace or stoves are in in Hokkaido again because ladies tend to love the direct radiation of fire, not the warm wind from the central heating system.
Lying on the mouton in front of the red fire in the fireplace or stove, a safe and comfortable sleep can be indulged in Hokkaido-spec houses.
We have to go back to our offices soon.
Please have a nice weekend !

Naruto-ya in Otaru City !

by Chis.

Happy New Year !
I hope all the visitors to this blog can succeed in their business and private life this year as well !
Today, I would like to introduce a well-founded Sushi bar Naruto-ya in Otaru City.
This is the flagship set menu in the restaurant.
 The fried half body of chicken set is 1,100 yen.

The philosophy of the founder was written on the board with his portrait.
"Just only wanting to see the smiles of the people,
and wanting to make the place where the people can get together,

the flavor in memories continues to be handed down to next generation,

the taste of Otaru must not be lost"  

Grilled prawns are one of the biggest draw as well as the fried chicken.

 The minced and sauteed chicken rice bowl was served with a yolk of egg. My wife loves its flavor.

The fried chicken wings are so crisp on the surface and juicy inside. Needless to say, it has full-body taste of matured healthy chicken.

This is skewered grilled intestine of chicken called "motsu kushi". It is so tasty and good to have with pints of beer.

 The URL of the restaurant is
http://www.naruto-ya.com/

The address of Naruto is 4-1, 2 chome, Shinko, Otaru City, Hokkaido
Phone :0134-54-0540
北海道小樽市新光２丁目１−４                                                               As a result, we had Japanese fried chicken set for lunch. Half body of chicken was too much for us on the day. 

Hokkaido Cycle Tourism Symposium !

by Kazu

Inviting the charismatic cycle-tourist Mr. Yuichi SATO from Shizuoka Prefecture where the most of green tea leaves and many of Japanese table fruits oranges are produced, the cycle tourism symposium was held in Sapporo City on December 6(Fri.).
I am so sorry for failing to post this event.
 

The room of the symposium was filled up with the enthusiasm of the people who love cycling and the promotion of cycle tourism.
Actually we had to add seats other than 70 seats prepared beforehand.

The speaker Mr. Sato  kindly introduced the infrastructure for accelerating cycle tourism in Taiwan and Shizuoka Prefecture.  

"But equipping with tools and cycle lane is not enough for enhancing cycle tourism," said Mr. Sato. " We have to raise the cyclists and widen the population of the people who enjoy and support cycle tourism."
After the key note speech was given by Mr. Sato, the panel discussion on the cycle tourism was got started.  

 The cycle tour guide who takes care of the logistics for cycle tourists Mr. Ishizuka, the chair of Takikawa Tourism Association Mr. Shimada, the policy planner for tourism in Hokkaido from Hokkaido District Tourism Bureau Mr. Tsujie, the special coordinator from Japan Travel Bureau Mr. Abe and Mr. Sato were the members of the panel in the symposium. I was the facilitator of the panel.

The discussion was extended to the audience on the floor. I was so satisfied with the enthusiasm of the audience who love cycling and cycle tourism.

A variety of people with various kinds of background were in the same room to discuss about the future of the tourism in Hokkaido.
The points were how to allure the cycle tourists from other area of Japan and the world as well as how we should establish the cycle tourism as a business all the year round.

After the panel, the panelist got together again and continued to talk about the tourism in Hokkaido in OOI Hokkaido in APIA that is run by Sapporo Beer Company.
Many challenges were verified in the discussion and they vowed to do their best for the future of Hokkaido.
I hope Sapporo Beer Company will be a strong supporter of cycle tourism in Hokkaido.

A happy New Year !