Foot Path in Nanporo Town 1 !

by Kazu

Seeking for revitalization of the region and increasing the visitors, NPO Furatto Nanporo hosts monthly foot path event in Nanporo Town. "Furatto" is the namesake of "roaming around" , "foot loose" and "Please, drop by Nanporo Town." in Japanese and "flat" in English.

About 40 people got together, some were repeaters but this time special guests from southern end of Japan, Okinawa took part in the event to introduce the system and arrangement of the foot path in nanporo Town.

Precisely speaking, eight members of Chambers and Commerce in Nishihara Town in Okinawa Prefecture joined the event and discussion after walking.

The temperature outside was 10 degrees in Celsius, so everybody wore appropriate attire except for a physical buff of an authority, who wore T-shirt and down vest.

We started the bus depot of Nanporo Town at 10:00 a.m. on October 21(Sun.). The guests from Okinawa said that it was so cold as year end of Okinawa.

Flowers on the pavement were so beautiful even in the low temperature.

It was so fine with shining sun at 11:00.
The NPO was established in 2000 for sustainable development of Nanporo Town. The members of the NPO recognized that it was very important for the residents to get to know about the town and the charms in the region .

Asked "What do you think is the charm of the town ? "by the members of the NPO, the advisor to the NPO said, "You can find them in the walk. Find the treasure in the tow." on the first occasion to walk around the town.

The NPO hosts the monthly walking event in Nanporo Town and dispatch the members to other cities and towns on demand to advise the people struggling to arrange such kinds of event in their own region.

The NPO took the trail in the woods on that day and the guests found the hive of hornet near the ground.
Foot path event was arranged as "Canal-side  Walking". "Nanporo Town is in the flat plain without mountains, hills and resources to attract tourists." thought the members of the NPO and the citizens.

On the other hand, the town has beautiful wide sky, beautiful rice and veggie fields, history, agricultural produces of high quality raised by the farmers struggling to deliver their organic produces to the kids who are annoyed by some kinds of allergy such as atopic dermatitis.

After 30 minute walk, we dropped by the farm that raised organic veggies. Mr.and Mrs.Tanaka run the farm and provided us with their crystallized efforts at low price. 

The person with down vest and cap is the key person, Vice president of the NPO, Mr.Chouichiro Kondo.

Every participant was attracted by the produce raised organically and bought many veggies.

The veggies we bought was carried to the goal point of the foot path by Mr. and Mrs. Tanaka.

Mrs. Tanaka kindly showed her hospitality and explained their policy to raise the veggies.

This tree of chestnut had been planted when Mrs.Tanaka got married with Mr.Tanaka and produces very nice marron even now.
Their garden was well trimmed and showed beautiful flowers in the barrel. Before snow fall, they wrap up the trees of the garden without being over a barrel.

This is one of the big four canals built up in Hokkaido, where the first foot path event in Nanporo Town was held.
The signs of the foot path was set by the NPO that had a tough time to built the consensus to play up its foot path events.

To be continued.

Boulangerie "Anq" in Yuni Town!

by Kazu

This boulangerie is on the same premises of Ushigoya Ice Cream and its cattle ranch. A small log house can be seen in the backyard of the ice cream shop.

This small kitchen is the space to bake the delicious breads. A few chairs and tables are set in the eat-in corner.

Very very narrow space is spared for breads and sweets.

My first impression was that I visited the house of my friend in the woods.

This cattle ranch runs some shops on its premises. The customers can romp around in this area using equipments for table tennis, basketball and swings with kids and companion animal.

I love this layout in the ranch.Please bear in mind that many fascinate cafes, restaurants and shops are near the  intersection of Route 234 and 274 in Yuni Town. The sign of the boulangerie is shown along the trail. The name is "Anq". 

Beautiful garden and comfortable atmosphere welcome the visitors. Small orange flowers were blooming on that day. They will wither soon but the shops are flourishing all the year round!

Ushigoya(Cattle House) Ice cream in Yuni Town !

by Kazu

What do you think is this?
Sea urchin?











 No, this is the mom of an ice cream shop called Ushigoya which means "cattle house" in Japanese. I am not sure if she is a Rastafarian or an enthusiastic fan of Bob Marley but am sure she loves the open-hearted atmosphere of Caribbean countries including Cuba.
The other staff members of the shop are quite normal with moderate decency and hospitality.
 Various kinds of ice cream can be seen in the showcase and each of kind has the name and taste with twists peculiar to the shop, such as "premium pistachio", "mentality of strawberry," "a memory of summer", "king's favorite",
"fascinating chocola", "very berry", "only one".
These names may be catchy for Japanese people as well as "strawberry Daifuku ricecake-taste".
"Mama's special for the day" is arranged by this Caribbean-like mom everyday. A double-dip of strawberry-taste and chocolate-chips were her select of that day.
Very colourful and cosy shop is filled with mainly couples and families every weekend. It may be one of the local hangouts in Yuni Town.
This Caribbean like Bob welcome all the guests at the entrance of the shop. "Make it slow ! Make it slow!" said the Rastaman.
These clothes on the bench can not be purchased in Japan.
 Many unique shops and restaurants are there around the intersection of Route 274 and 234.
This shop is in the a certain cattle ranch in Yuni Town. Its green lawn and wide space are very attractive for us males.
Dogs can be released in the premise except for the ice cream shop and boulangerie next to this shop.
It is the season when we tend to get extra pounds before winter. Staying fit is getting more difficult for us without hard exercise, jogging and calisthenics.
 This is the sign at the roadside of Route 274.
I can not imagine the difficulty and hard chore in the shop but everybody looks so happy and filled with vim and vigor.
We may have to hurry up in preparing for winter before snow falls and be on diet albeit our body require high-calory food and culinary delicacy made from local food. It's the beginning of our fight!