Time of Egg !

 by Kazu

One of my friends in my hometown Kitami City run a small restaurant where he had grown up during his adolescence with me. At first, he opened a Italian restaurant but he decided to focus on omelet , spaghetti and other side-menu.

 The starter was  minestrone and salad. German potato followed and the main dish of this lunch was, needless to say, authentic omelet with organic tomato sauce.

I would like to drop by the restaurant whenever I go back to my hometown but my short time stay in my hometown do not allow me to do that. Please try the specialty of the restaurant and details are at https://www.facebook.com/pages/%E3%81%9F%E3%81%BE%E3%81%94%E3%81%AE%E3%81%98%E3%81%8B%E3%82%93/158598527484385?fref=ts

Sapporo Factory !

by Kazu

Even in cold winter, it is so warm in this atrium of the shopping mall called Sapporo Factory that was built up on the premises of Sapporo Beer Brewery.

About twice a year , Hula dance festival is held in this atrium, inviting special guests from Hawaii. A variety of events are held in this atrium in each season. Details of this facility are at  http://sapporofactory.jp/
A tiny comfortable spa was on the top floor of this facility before and my wife and I visited there so frequently . I am not sure the space is used even now or not.

Looking back last autumn 2 !

by Kazu

Why do the trees show us such beautiful contrast under the blue clear sky of autumn.The green lawn was covered with the bright yellow leaves of ginkgo biloba.

Can you see the creature on the trunk of spruce.? A squirrel was eating something on the tree.

 Sometimes, black woodpecker can be seen on the trees. They seek for worms in the trees and drill a hole ton pick up the worm to eat.

Looking back last Autumn !

by Kazu

Are you satisfied with the beauty of  autumnal foliage ? Red, yellow, purple, green and orange foliage decorated the street on the premises of Hokkaido University as usual last year.  

 Ginkgo biloba seemed to be emitting light of gold even in the cloudy sky. The fruits of the trees smell so bad terribly but the core part of the seeds are called "ginnan" in Japanese and is very popular in Yakitori bars, a kind of bistro of skewered grilled chicken..

The countenances of each trees varies even in a day or hour. The sunshine and shade, even the wind contribute to the beauty of the scenery in the university. Can you remember the scenery ?  

What is difference between the way to eat fish between east and west !

by Kazu

It can be said that "Hokke" fish is a kind of cod but the English name is Okhotsk atka mackerel, . Grilled one-night dried Hokke is one of the most popular dish in Japanese Bistro "Izakaya".
After grilling it, the surface of the section turned to amber brown and crisp.    

In a certain seafood restaurant Kakizaki in Yoichi Town, you can savor the high-quality seafood but you can wait in the line of people in front of the entrance before savoring.
After coming back from the west coast of Hokkaido Island, a small and thin dragonfly was having a rest on the fence .

Lupicia in Niseko & Seafood restaurant in Yoichi !

by  Kazu

Tea company Lupicia in Niseko has its restaurant as well as the boulangerie and souvenir shop.  The circumstances are so nice.

On way back to Sapporo City where we live, we dropped by a seafood restaurant in Yoichi. This salmon-roe rice-bowl was so nice and gave us a special vibes with its  art of the balance.

Paddy Field Art in Higashitakasu of Asahikawa !

by Tacky

Do you know the "Paddy Field Art"?

It is a kind of drawings made of rice crops of a variety of colors on the paddy fields.
It's said that "Paddy Field Art" is also watched by the people in foreign countries as well recently.

This rice planting work to make "Paddy Field Art" was carried out in Higashitakasu area of Asahikawa City  on June 10 and 11 this year.

The lady chosen as "Miss Hokkaido Rice" participated in this year's work, too.

This paddy field used as a canvas of the art has 40 meters of length and 120 meters of side in size.

The motif of the art was "Parents and babies of lion, giraffe and elephant" in Asahiyama-Zoo this year.

So many people plant a bunch of rice crops of about 20 cm of length in a huge paddy field according to the design.

Among these I took charge of the partial rice planting affected by "child lion".

This year's "Paddy Field Art" is made of seven kinds of rice crops with different colors.

After they grew up, each kind of rice crops show its own color such as red, purple, yellow and green but you can not recognize the color of each kind at the stage of seedling.

But, the color of the leaves turn vivider in the paddy fields and the difference of the color of leaves   make up the huge drawings in the middle of July.

It's possible to look at a picture of "Paddy Field Art" from the turret made near the field.

Please visit to Higashitakasu area of Asahikawa City !

Detailed location and photos of the art taken until last year can be seen at

http://www.jataisetu.or.jp/tanbo.html