Tag: Hokkaido

Posted on

Tabemono Summer Vacation- Hokkaido/Tohoku 2016 Day 9-10 – Hakodate

The port town of Hakodate, which is Hokkaido’s third largest city, wraps up our final destination of Japan’s northern most island.   Hakodate was Japan’s first port city that was opened to foreign trade in 1854, after years of Japan’s era of isolation.  As such the city has experienced multiple foreign influences that shaped its town landscape, food, and culture.  Many of the buildings stayed intact since the 1800s and are some of the primary attractions of the city. Continue reading “Tabemono Summer Vacation- Hokkaido/Tohoku 2016 Day 9-10 – Hakodate”

Posted on

Tabemono Summer Vacation- Hokkaido/Tohoku 2016 Day 9- Rusutsu Amusement Park, TreeTop Trekking, and Zaborin Part 2

After a restful and peaceful first night at Zaborin, you truly appreciate the brilliance that this contemporary, yet zen-like ryokan offers.  While there were other guests staying at the same time as our stay, the ryokan is large and the feeling of luxury and exclusiveness permeated throughout our stay.   As previously mentioned in the last post, Zaborin is nestled in a quiet forest in Hanazono of Niseko and the kanji characters for Zaborin (坐 忘 林) means “to sit and forget amongst the woods”, and it is a perfect description of our experience as we forgot about the troubles of the world and just enjoyed ourselves nestled in the white-birch forests. Continue reading “Tabemono Summer Vacation- Hokkaido/Tohoku 2016 Day 9- Rusutsu Amusement Park, TreeTop Trekking, and Zaborin Part 2”

Posted on

Tabemono Summer Vacation- Hokkaido/Tohoku 2016 Day 8 – Zaborin Ryokan in Niseko Part 1

After finishing our hike along the beautiful and scenic coastline of Cape Kamui, we drove about an hour and half to the highlight of our trip, Zaborin Ryokan.  Nestled in a quiet forest in Hanazono of Niseko, the ryokan is deliberately remote and secluded to provide a refuge of serenity and tranquility. In fact, per the ryokan’s website the name Zaborin (坐 忘 林) is a combination of zabo (坐 忘 – to sit and forget) and rin(林 – in the woods or forests)  which combined together translates “to sit and forget amongst the woods”, which is an accurate description of our experience here as time seemed to slow down and allowed to appreciate the surrounding nature and simply unwind and be at peace with ourselves. Continue reading “Tabemono Summer Vacation- Hokkaido/Tohoku 2016 Day 8 – Zaborin Ryokan in Niseko Part 1”

Posted on

Tabemono Summer Vacation- Hokkaido/Tohoku 2016 Day 8 – Shakotan – Cape Kamui

Continued from post here.

After our uni-don lunch at Misaki, it was time to walk off all the food.  Our next destination was Cape Kamui, which is a beautiful headland area that extends into the Sea Of Japan along the Shakotan Peninsula. It  has an amazing maze of trails that weaves along the ridge of the hillside with stunning views of the coastline. Continue reading “Tabemono Summer Vacation- Hokkaido/Tohoku 2016 Day 8 – Shakotan – Cape Kamui”

Posted on

Tabemono Summer Vacation- Hokkaido/Tohoku 2016 Day 8 – Shakotan – Misaki for the Best Uni Don in Japan

Continued from post here.

After leaving Otaru, we drove along the beautiful coastal highway route leading to Shakotan.  Located in the western peninsula on Hokkaido’s west coast, the water is pristine, cool in temperature, and rich in nutrients due to the water currents.  As a result, the konbu (kelp) here are some of the best in all of Japan, and prized in many kaiseki restaurants.  Rich in umami, it is this kelp that the sea urchins feed off of along Shakotan. As a result, the uni here has a taste that is richer and sweeter than sea urchin caught anywhere else.  In fact, Shakotan uni is known to set the price in fish markets like Tsukiji and throughout Japan.  Unfortunately, the uni fishing season here is very short, only from June to August.

Continue reading “Tabemono Summer Vacation- Hokkaido/Tohoku 2016 Day 8 – Shakotan – Misaki for the Best Uni Don in Japan”

Proudly powered by WordPress