Sunset Project by Hiyama Sub-prefectural area !

by Kazu
Photos are provided by Hiyama Sub-prefctural Office of Hokkaido Government

Have you ever heard of OKUSHIRI Island ?
The island was hit by OHTSUNAMI in the aftermath of the huge earthquake twenty years ago.
At that time, 198 people in Hiyama Sub-prefectural area passed away.
Are you wondering why I remember such number ? Yes, I counted the bodies of casualties in cooperation with Hokkaido Police Department at that time and the number went public by my superior.  

But I am very pleased with the success of "Sunset Project" arranged by Hiyama Sub-prefectural Office of Hokkaido Government. Hiyama sub-prefectural area has shown unbelievable recovery from the disaster.
 On the top is the photo of "Muen Island "taken from Monai Area of Okushiri Island. "Muen" means "irrelevant" in Japanese. Beautiful photos of sunset were collected and played up by the office.

"Aonae Area" of Okushiri Island was harshly hit by OHTSUNAMI twenty years ago but now from the memorial "JikuhShoh" above, beautiful sunset can be seen, remembering the face of the friends who passed away.  
Can you imagine the sea on the left swallowed the lives of the citizens in Okushir iIsland ?

 The sculptures made by Mr. Nagare in "Kitaoi Park" are still standing even after the huge earthquake an the scenery of sunset from the park is almost the same as over twenty years ago.

"Sai no Kawara" has the special meaning in Japanese but the name was put to this camping site along the coast. This area was also hit by the big wave and the building of restroom made with ferro-concrete was swiped away clearly.

The earthquake and OHTSUNAMI occurred in July of twenty years ago. Six months later than my marriage.
I never forget that time. I remember the friends I lost at that time.

Mt.Youtei(zan) from Niseko Town!

by Chis.

Leaving the roadside station beside the route 230 in Rusutsu Village, we headed to Niseko Town where is now like a town in Australia.

This is striped Mt. Yotei(zan) from Niseko Town. My husband is very fastidious about writing English but I am sorry for my poor command of English.

The beautiful shape of Konide let the people call the mountain "Ezo Fuji".

Of course, Mt.Yotei is 1,898 meters high and  much lower than the real Mt. Fuji which is 3,776 meters high. Almost the half of Mt.Fuji.

The roadside station in Niseko has a variety of food stands. As the pork and sausage produced in this area are also famous and have the competitive quality, hot do vendor is one of the most popular food stands in the roadside station.

The prices are much more expensive than in the United States and other countries ?

The buns are also made in Niseko Town and strike the best balance with the sausage.

Should I call it "Potato Cake" in English as the name is "Imo-mochi" in Japanese. Mashed potatoes with starch are grilled to the extent two sides of the skewered cake are burned enough and become crisp. With the soy-sauce- based thick and sweet coating, the cake tastes so nice and was addictive.

Just one bite makes you happy!

Weißwurst is the German traditional white sausage that contains various kinds of herb. Is it not good to add such plenty of ketchup and mustard ?

It tastes much more delicious than I expected.
I think the sales of the vendor is the most in this roadside station. At the foot of Mt.Yotei(zan), would you try the hot dogs this weekend ?

Have a happy weekend !

Iron Artist in Hokkaido, Naoyuki Kanahyou !

1. by Kazu 

   
   

   It is with honor to introduce the great artist in Hokkaido, who graduated from the same school as I did.

   His name is Naoyuki KANAHYOU.

   He came back from Italy several years ago  and set up his first atelier in Midori Area of Kiyosato Town and changed it to Nanporo Town in Sorachi sub-prefectural area.

In a certain "Foot Path Event" held in the town, we happened to meet again. It had been twenty eight years since we graduated from the same high school.
The exhibition of his works is now held in "e1-gallery of Nakashibetsu Town in the eastern part of Hokkaido the exhibition.

The venue is on the second floor of Tawara mafu , 16, Kita 1 chome, Higashi 1-jo, Nakashibestu Town, Hokkaido

Tel/0153-74-9110.
.

Mr. Kanahyou uses iron and woods to express his world. 

The title of the exhibition is "Fragment of daily life"

Please find out to the e1 gallery in Nakashibetsu Town and visit the exhibition. 11:00-17:30.

Details are at 

His CV and history as an artist is as follows;   　

1985                Graduated from Hokkaido Hokuto High School

1989                Completed the special course in STUDIO KOBATAKE

Assemblage Exhibition

1986               Lithograph  Review  44    (Axis  Gallery Tokyo)

1988               NEW AGE ART               (Gallery  HABITAT, Tokyo)

1989               The 19th Modern Japanese Art Exhibition

                      (Tokyo Megalopolis Art Museum, Kyoto City Art Museum)

                        The 44th ZENDOUTEN (All Hokkaido Art Exhibition)

                        (Sapporo City Citizen Gallery, Award for Patronizing)

1990               The 45th ZENDOUTEN (All Hokkaido Art Exhibition)

                  (Sapporo City Citizen Gallery, Award from Hokkaido Art Association)

                       Art Festival Mito October Exhibition  (Mito Art Museum)

                       Sculpture Exhibition by 20 Artists

                             ( E-Gallery MY CITY)

1991               The 20th Modern Japanese Art Exhibition

                      (Tokyo Megalopolis Art Museum, Kyoto City Art Museum)

                       TAMAGAWA Open Air Sculpture Exhibition 91

                      (Nanbu Tamagawa Ryokuchi, Fuchu City)

                       Pantheon TAMA Art Independent Exhibition  (Tama Central Park)

1997               Thought from Hands Exhibition (Saitama Modern Art Museum)

1999              Trois Metamorphoses     (Joue les Tours, France)

2000              Modern Japanese Engraving Exhibition

 ( National Modern Art Museum of Japan, La Paz in Bolivia)

         Individual Show

1991              NABISU Gallery            (Ginza, Tokyo)

                      DAIDO Gallery              (Sapporo, Hokkaido)

1992              Plaza Gallery                  (Choufu, Tokyo)

                      Galerie Sorciere           (Funabashi, Chiba)

1993              NABISU Gallery             (Ginza, Tokyo)

                      Gallery le Deco3             (Shibuya, Tokyo)

1994              NABISU Gallery             (Ginza, Tokyo)

1995              21+You Annex                 (Ginza, Tokyo)

1996              Arte Spazio                    (Futagotamagawa, Tokyo)

                      Gallery 360    (Shibuya, Tokyo) ONE DAY ONE SHOW

1997              Galerie Sorciere               (Funabashi, Chiba) Note of Rain

                     Nano Rium                       (Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi) Breathing

1998             Galerie trois chattes         (Aix-en-Provence, France)

                             Travail de papier              (Joue les Tour, France)

1999            Nano Rium                        (Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi)

2001            Il baccello                          (Paris, France)

2007            Galerie Sorciere                 (Funabashi, Chiba)

Mt.Yotei (zan) and the neighbors !

by Chis.

It may be only this season when such striped Mt.Yotei(zan) can be seen from the road. This photo was taken from "The Mushroom Kingdom" in Kimobetsu Town along the Route 230.

Landslides have occurred so frequently on the hillside of Mt. Yotei(zan) that you can see the trees that have the trace of the routs in the middle of the trunk.

As you can check out the inside of this building and the food provided st
http://www.kinoko-oukoku.com/kimobetsu.htm
in Japanese, many tourists drop by this food court with veggie shop and pick up the quality veggies for competitive price and finger food as well as soup and noodle soup.

This vendor is at the roadside station along the route 230 in Rusutsu Village. Croquettes made of the potato "Kitaakari" produced in the village and the fried chicken are the big draw in the vendor.

This is the croquette that extracted the original taste of the potato in maximum, so sauce or spices should not be added to the croquette.

This is a fried asparagus rolled in a sliced pork.

The croquette was so nice with crisp fried coating and soft creamy mushed potato. I had had a breakfast two hours before our arrival at the roadside station but the croquette was absorbed to my body so quickly.

The fried asparagus with pork was also nice with the original sweetness of asparagus and the quality pork. The route 230 and the route 5 have many places to drop by.

After having these food, we headed to Niseko Area that also has the roadside station.  

Apple blossoms are in full bloom but・・・

 by Kazu

Beautiful lilies are blooming at the entrance of my flat and smelling so nice. Lilies can keep their beauty for a while and I think that is the main reason my wife purchases them several times a year. Are there any sign or message, considering the word of flower, dignity, purity and innocence ?

Besides, can you see the tiles in a black metal frame backside of the lilies ?
I bought it 12 years ago in Santa Fe, NM.
I will receive a dynasty based in near the town this autumn.
The flowers fit the dynasty to a T, considering the power, talent, intelligence and grace.
I am so looking forward to have the honor to receive them !

After the season of cherry and Japanese apricot blossoms has gone, apple tree blossoms are in full bloom for a few days near my condo. Different from cherry blossoms, even with the young green leaves growing rapidly, the white blossoms covered the whole tree with its innocent bright color. "The power of white" can be recognized with the blossoms.

 It is so happy to jog around,watching the beautiful flowers and blossoms but at the same time, it is the beginning of the season "hay fever",. Should I call pollen allergy or pollinosis ?
My wife has an allergy against "orchard grass" and ragweed.

I am coughing now because of bad cold that can not be kicked out by the common medicine against normal cold. The throat sterilizer that contains Iodine did not work at all this time. I could not sleep last night but that made me remember my father had a pollen allergy in my current age. The symptom was just like asthma and I was also annoyed by the symptom when my father was.
It was tough to cough around all night long but I felt a little bit happy remembering my father who passed away years ago.  

 I do not think these beautiful blossoms do wrong with our body but if we human beings got too arrogant to other creatures, some of them might become poisonous and make venom against us.

Hokkaido University Festival and YOSAKOI SORAN DANCING Festival finished and the premises of the university recover the silence early in the morning and after sunset.
During the festival, so many power generating machines are working on the backside of each vendor that jogging along the main street was so tough, inhaling the exhaust gas.

The wild ducks inhabiting on the premises of the university also came back to their most comfortable zone.

These male wild ducks seemed to have no spouse so far. Will they be able to find a good better-half in not-so-distanced future ?
Aging and late marriage is the tendency even in their society ?

Ariake-no-Mori in Sapporo City !

 by Kazu

When you have no plan the weekend and the weather is much better than forecast by the Meteorological Agency of Japan, BBQ in this area is the easiest choice to take without enough preparation beforehand.

 The high school that my wife graduated from has a forest of large square measure near this forest park "Ariake-no-Mori" and the students maintains the forest by cutting small branches of the trees and the grasses under the trees in this season every year.

My wife did not know why the students are urged to do the job every year but she got to know the reason.
The alumni of the high school get together and enjoy BBQ in the forest every year. Of course, the alumni pay a bit. All the tough work is for preparation of the forest party.

 Actually, it may be a good occasion for the students to learn about the ecology in the forest and the biology in the field.

It is not so hot in this season and bamboo shoots can be picked up to eat in the forest.
The young green leaves induce the appropriate  daylight onto the path and plants.

A small white flower is blooming beside the path subtly.

Walking around in the forest is so comfortable in this season and the air inhaled into my lung seemed to inspire my body and soul.

Soon a creek can be recognized while walking.

Yes, this is the path to reach a small waterfall called "Ariake-no-taki".

A small bridge happened to be set over the creek.

The sound of the waterfall can be recognized in a few minutes.

Sapporo City has many small waterfalls in its outskirt.

I have to leave my office for business jaunt to Fukagawa City.

Please start the good week with watching the green leaves and the water flow !