Follow This Blog

Showing posts with label Japanese Garden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Japanese Garden. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Asari Main Restaurant (阿佐利本店)| Sukiyaki Restaurant | Hakodate

Hakodate (函館) may remind you of fresh seafood, but it has a wonderful sukiyaki restaurant, too. Take a street car, and get off the train at Horaicho (宝来町).

You will find "Asari Main Restaurant (阿佐利本店)", a traditional sukiyaki restaurant, founded in 1901, neat the station.

Let's enter it! Going through the corridor, looking at the Japanese garden,

I arrived at this private room! How Japanese it is! This building was originally constructed in Noheji (野辺地), Aomori Prefecture, as a summer villa, and reconstructed here in Hakodate in 1934.

As I love beef very much, I ordered a "Matsu (松コース)", the most expensive sukiyaki course with A5 ranked Japanese Black beef (黒毛和牛)! Sounds yummy x 2!!! Hahaha!

Are you ready?
You don't have to prepare for the dish. A restaurant staff will do everything.
Just for reference, they have an English menu! Perfect!

Voila!
This is A5 ranked beef, a highest rank of Wagyu beef!!!

How marble it is!

The lady put the ingredients on the pan like this, and

cooked it for a while. Smells very appetizing!!!

As I'm a carnivore (?!), I ate it rare! Yummy yummy in my tummy!!! The fat is very sweet!!!

You can choose rice or kishimen noodles (きしめん) for the set, and I ordered of course kishimen, because ..........

the noodles can absorb very delicious beef and vegetable juice like this!
Wow! Wow! Wow!

Last but not least, I enjoyed sherbet.

I had a perfect lunch today!

■Where is "Asari Main Restaurant (阿佐利本店)"?


View Larger Map


■Tour guide information■
Do you need a nationally-licensed English-speaking tour guide when you travel to Hokkaido?
I'll guide you! Plz click here!

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Hanakazuki (花かずき)| Japanese Restaurant | Former Aoyama Villa (貴賓館)

My guests and I went to the Former Aoyama Villa (旧青山別邸 or 貴賓館), an important cultural property of Japan, located in Otaru (小樽) the other days.

So-called Herring Mansion is a symbol of herring fishing in the 19th to 20th century, born out of a dream of 17-year-old Masae Aoyama (青山 政恵). Masakichi Aoyama (青山 政吉), his farther and herring billionaire, hired Nenosuke Saito, a chief Imperial carpenter, directing 40 carpenters, plasterers  and joiners to construct this villa. It is very gorgeous, but used during the summer time only!!!
If you are interested in this cultural asset, please refer to my other post→click here!

Well, well, well, we were so hungry that we dropped by "Hanakazuki (花かずき)", a Japanese restaurant adjacent to this mansion.

I love this atmosphere! Look at this Byobu (屏風), Japanese folding screen! How fantastic it is!!

They also have a table room like this↓ While enjoying kimono or a beautiful peony garden out of big windows, guests can have a wonderful lunch time!!

Voila!
One of my guests ordered this seafood bowl (三色丼)! Otaru reminds us of fresh seafood!

The tea cup has a peony design. Yes, we can appreciate a lot of pretty peonies, Masae's favorite flowers, in full bloom, from May to July in their garden.

The other guest ordered a soba and herring sushi set (にしん棒寿司とかけそば).

Herring roe just under the top herring meat is a great accent for the sushi! Crunchy x 2!!!

I ordered a "Herring box lunch (にしんお重)"↓

Herring cooked with soy sauce is very tender and delicious!! Yummy x 2!!

The set comes with local fresh sashimi! Bravo!!

We had a wonderful time in Otaru, an historical city in Hokkaido!

■Where is "the Former Aoyama Villa (旧青山別邸)"?

View Larger Map

■Tour guide information■
Do you need a nationally-licensed English-speaking tour guide when you travel to Hokkaido?
I'll guide you! Plz click here!

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Soba Jun (そば順)| Soba Restaurant | Date

There are a lot of delicious soba restaurants in Hokkaido, but how about "Soba Jun (そば順)" in Date city in Lake Toya area?

This restaurant is so popular that the president of Singapore has visited here! Actually I've known this restaurant since I was eight years old! I'm sure I'm one of the longest and biggest fans of this restaurant in the world! Hahaha!

Except seats at the bar, there are tatami rooms with low tables like this↓, and

tatami rooms with normal tables like this↓ Since I was with guests from Singapore, I booked this room!

Look at the Japanese garden! Time tickled by very slowly here!

Voila!
We ordered a soba and tempura bowl set!

I love their prawn tempura, but really recommend their octopus tempura! When you come here, please try it!!

Of course, their soba is perfect! I really recommend cold soba so that you can enjoy its distinctive soba aroma!

■Where is "Soba Jun Main Restaurant (そば順伊達本店)"?

View Larger Map
■Tour guide information■
Do you need a nationally-licensed English-speaking tour guide when you travel to Hokkaido?I'll guide you! Plz click here!

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Peony Festival (牡丹・芍薬まつり) from May 25th - July 5th | Former Aoyama Villa (旧青山別邸)| Otaru

The Former Aoyama Villa, designated as tangible cultural property of Japan, is a symbol of herring fishing in the early 20th century. Now the "Peony Festival (牡丹・芍薬まつり)" is held in the garden.! Let's go!

The Aoyama family was a billionaire in the 20th century due to herring fishing. This so-called herring mansion was constructed from 1917-1923 for six years. The construction cost is about 310,000 yen, 12.4 billion yen in the current value!!!

The second generation, Masakichi Aoyama, and his daughter Masae had sophisticated sense for beauty and arts, which makes this villa very special.

Are you ready?

Voila!!!!
Beautiful, aren't they?

Masae loved peonies very much, and planted about 400 peonies in this garden.

During the festival period, people wearing kimono can enter this villa free of charge. Good news, isn't it?

She loves this flower very much, and constructed a "peony room" in this villa, which was decorated with peony painting, sling doors, and so on.

After enjoying the garden, we had a grand tour of this villa.

Unfortunately, visitors are not allowed to take pictures in the villa. But I took a couple of pictures from the outside.

This is dry landscape garden. The white sand represents snow.

The primary material of this villa is zelkova wood. The tiled roof is rare in snowy Hokkaido. Everything here is gorgeous!!
The floors and pillars are all lacquered, and walls are hand-plastered. The wide ceiling is built of Japanese ceder, and the corridor was made of one-piece zelkova without joints from one end to the other!!! The traditional alcoves are built in roserood, blockwod, or Japanese ceder.
Of course, the peintings and calligraphies on the fusuma sliding doors are genuine treasure.

If you are interested in the Former Aoyama Villa (旧青山別邸), now is the best chance to visit! Please wear kimono when you come here! You can enter this villa free of charge during the festival period!

■Where is "the Former Aoyama Villa (旧青山別邸)"?

View Larger Map


■Tour guide information■
Do you need a nationally-licensed English-speaking tour guide when you travel to Hokkaido?
I'll guide you! Plz click here!

Monday, May 07, 2012

Nakajima Park (中島公園)| Cherry Blossoms in Full Bloom | Sapporo

Located in downtown Sapporo, Nakajima Park (中島公園) is a large area of greenery and water with a mumber of wonderful attractions and cultural facilities.

Cherry blossoms here are now in full bloom! Beautiful, aren't they??

Let's walk through the park and I'll show you the main attractions here!

Syobu Pond (菖蒲池) is at the northern part of the park.

Usually couples are rowing a boat like this!

There are several monuments created by famous artists in the park. This is "Growing Children (のびゆく子等)" made by Kenjyu Ono (小野 健寿).

Constructed in 1880, Hoheikan (豊平館) used to be a guest house, hotel and event venue for officials and celebrities including the Emperors and the Imperial family members, and now works as a wedding venue and restarant. This historical building was designated as the national Important Cultural Property in 1964.
(* It is been renovated now.)

In front of Hoheikan (豊平館), there is "Kitara", a concert hall.

This is "The Echoes (相響)", my favorite monument created by Kan Yasuda (安田 侃), a worldwide artist who is from Bibai, Hokkaido. Actually I'm a member of Arte Piazza Bibai, a sculpture park in his home town, showing about 40 his works as permanent exhibitions.

The Echoes consists of three works; one is outside of the concert hall, and the others are inside of the facility. Usually kids are playing around it like this↓

Let's continue to walk through the park!

This is the Hokkaido Museum of  Literature (北海道立文学館).

At the edge of the park,

there are two shinto shrines. This is Iyahiko Shirine (伊夜日子神社), constructed in 1920.

Let's return to Subway Nakajima Koen Station (中島公園駅)!
As it was a little bit windy, we could see cherry blossoms falling in the wind! How romantic the situation is!!

Cherry trees are planted along Kamokamo River(鴨々川). I'm sure now is one of the most recommendable seasons to visit this park!

The park has the Sapporo Astronomical Observatory(札幌市天文台), too!

Last but not least, this park also has a Japanese garden(中島公園日本庭園). I sometimes come here with something to eat and drink, and relax for a while!

Looks perfest, doesn't it?

Please walk along the pond so that you can enjoy every angle of it!!

If you find a tall lady looking at the pond, while drinking tea, she may be me!!! Hahaha!

This is Hasso-an (八窓庵), a tea house, one of the most historical Japanese-styled buildings in Sapporo. It was designated as a national Important Cultural Property in 1950.

This tea house was designed by Enshu Kobori (小堀 遠州), a very famous tea ceremony master in the 17th century.

If you want to know this tea house more, there are brochures by the tea house!

The small waterfall always makes me very unstrained!

Just for reference, cherry blossoms along a parking lot of Sapporo Park Hotel (札幌パークホテル) next to Nakajima Park are also beautiful!!!

These cherry blossoms bloom one week later than ones in the park!

I love this deep pink color!

Wonderful, aren't they?

Please visit this "secret" cherry blossom site, too!!

■Where is "Nakajima Park (中島公園)"?

View Larger Map

■Tour guide information■
Do you need a nationally-licensed English-speaking tour guide when you travel to Hokkaido?
I'll guide you! Plz click here!