Strolling around the bay area of Hakodate at midnight !

by Kazu

After Hokkaido Island was shaken up with the earthquake late in the evening of March 28(Sat.),  the port city Hakodate was covered with silence again at  around midnight. No wind on the ground and ocean. Calm. Very calm.

I have gone up this slope from the bay to the former public hall in Hakodate so many times for decades. As I had to stay up until the earthquake and the damages were settled, I jogged around longer than planned before.   

I was a little bit sleepy but I had to keep in touch with the pertinent resources of information on the disaster. I could not drive after our fabulous dinner on that day. It had been almost a year since my last visit to Hakodate. The city my late father lived and loved is still so fascinating.  

 

Sapporo early in the morning !

    by Kazu

   Spring is coming. Even in the cold wind, I could feel the aroma of the season of buds, flowers and young green leaves.I love the scenery of twilight of dawn. Pale blue and pink color turned to bright blue as time went by. It could be seen from the southern end of the Sapporo Horse Race Course and the west side of the premises of Hokkaido University.   

   This is the privilege of the early birds like me. It's so energizing and inspiring.

The horizon was not flat. It's the city with the population of 1,969,939.  But not-so-long drive bring us to a variety of places with fabulous and inspiring scenery and a variety of attractions.  Culinary delicacies ? Needless to say. We may have to recognize that we are living in the wonderful place billions of people in the other parts of the globe are eager to visit for pleasure.
 

After the earthquake in Hokkaido !

by Kazu

I felt earthquake during my jogging around the port area of Hakodate City late in the evening. The center of the shake was far away from the port city but the image of the earthquake in Hakodate was like this photo.

No tidal wave nor tsunami occurred at the southern end of the port city but the port area had been covered with ocean water a decade ago. Almost no tourists in the area in the late night. No power down occurred in Hakodate, fortunately. 

The tourism industry in Hokkaido and other regions of Japan have to absorb the much more money from overseas than before after the lifting off the various regulation on the move of the people and transportation. 

 

Port City Hakodate 2023 !

by Kazu

Sushi-grade fresh squid sliced but still alive was followed by the peer in the ocean such as scallop, blue tuna and red snapper.  Seafood ajillo, dish fried in garlic oil with sliced crisp baguette was much more delicious and tasteful than we expected before.     

The bus station in front of Hakodate Railway Station was decorated with white and yellow illumination of LED light bulbs. It seemed much brighter than before this year. 

Batteries for the light bulbs were vulnerably put near the base of the objects on the ground. It may be impossible to make such arrangement in other countries. We have to maintain the current desirable public security.    

 

Hokkaido- Northern Main Island Cooperation !

by Kazu   

We took the bullet train from Shin Hakodate, Hokkaido to Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture. The cooperation among Hokkaido and the northern-end of the main island of Japan works wonder, I hope.

We visited Sakurayama Shrine near the prefectural government office and the place where a Japanese traditional castle had been. We had grilled beef and pork lunch set with cold noodle soup made of potato that was famous and popular in Morioka. We chose a grilled meat restaurant called Pyon-Pyon-sha.  

 

Coming back from the main island of Japan, we had a nice dinner in our favorite Japanese bistro "Hakodate-yama" near the railway station. I could have the top-grade cold soft cod roe, testis flavored with rice vinegar and soy sauce. Wakame sea weed, chopped Kyoto leek, chile and radish paste accompanied in the dish. 

The protagonist of the dinner crawled out from the shade of its peeled and sliced body. Obviously it still had its identity and show its will to get out of the dish. Every time I see them in the ocean, I feel much higher intelligence in them than expected.   

Train Trip to Hakodate !

by Kazu

We can drink beer and have so nice delicious "Ekiben" in the train. Of course, we can enjoy reading books in the train. Different from driving the car by myself, we can make the most of the opportunity of train trip.

These meal boxes were our choice on that day.Topped with crab meat, sea kelp shaped like Hokkaido Island, salmon roe, sea urchin and pickled ginger and radish, the meal packages looked so beautiful and yam.

kiThey were so nice and delicious that we had another Ekiben topped with boiled shrimp and conch as well as crab meat and salmon roe. To be honest, I love the byplayers in the bowl such as fried egg, pickled ginger and Japanese ginger so much!

 

Buckwheat Noodle Restaurant Yabuhan in Otaru again 2 !

by Kazu

We make a point of ordering Japanese fried

eggs when we use this buckwheat noodle restaurant Yabuhan. Japanese fried veggies and seafood are marvellous in the restaurant.

Fried aubergine, bell pepper, shrimp, squid and the buckwheat from the bowl were so nice to have with pints of beer.

There were many tourists from overseas.Modus operandi to use the restroom seemed to be getting worse after the reopening of the border.

 

Buckwheat Noodle Restaurant Yabuhan in Otaru again !

by Kazu

We visited the Port City Otaru to have dinner in well-established buckwheat noodle restaurant Yabuhan in the evening of a certain Friday.  I chose fermented salty Pacific herring as the starter but some fried buckwheat noodles came with a pint of beer.

They accelerated my consumption of beer. Grilled leek and half-wild duck followed. When you order this dish, please use the words of "Aigamo" . Until Edo Ara, buckwheat noodle restaurants had been the places of social communicationinJapan, actually.

 

The descendant of the immigrant from Hokkaido to Argentina !

by Kazu

One of the descendants of the immigrants from Hokkaido to Argentina has finished his training program of computer graphics design arranged in Sapporo. The tenure was much shorter than planned originally but it seems that he had enjoyed amply his stay in Sapporo including snowboarding .

It was a pity that we couldn't raise glasses with him during his stay in Hokkaido but anyway he is very popular even in Hokkaido that we couldn't get the honor to have a dinner with him.

He is expected to play the role as the spokesperson to communicate the charm of Hokkaido to Spanish-speaking world including Argentina.

 

My Friends in Hawaii Working !

by Kazu

My friends in DBEDT of the State of Hawaii had been so busy but at the end of our stay in Hawaii including the Big Island, I could have lunch with them and late Ms. Irene Hirano Inoue. Actually, they did good jobs and showed their ample hospitality to the participants to the summit including us .

Of course, my friend in the Department of Education M. Judy Nagasako sat next to me and talk about the future plan of the students exchange between Hokkaido and Hawaii.

My friends in DBEDT Mr. Dennis Ling and in Hawaii Tourism Authority Ms. Mitsue Varley started to play their role as the MC of the lunch attraction after their quick bite. I said "Good bye" to my friends and headed to the airport.

 

The Promotion Booths of The Prefectures in Japan !

by Kazu

Some sessions were conducted on the stage in the ball room of Mauna Lani Bay Hotel and Resort during Japan Hawaii Economic Summit 2017. The influential keypersons in Hawaii and Japan gave their views 

Out 

The outside of the ballroom, some promotion　booths were set by the prefectural government and the Japanese entities.

Shizuoka, Fukuoka, Ehime, Okinawa, Hiroshima and Hokkaido Prefecture set brochures, leaflets and other promotion materials on the tables. My favorite Hawaiian "Malasada" stand was near the booths. I ate six pieces of Malasada of a variety of taste  during the session.