Sarashina Shokudou （更科食堂）| Soba Restaurant | Mikasa

Mikasa is a small city, which was flourished in the coal mining industry in the 19th to 20th industry. The city still has a lot of historical buildings which was built at its peak, and recently renovated as other facilities such as restaurants.
Today I'll show you "Sarashina Shokudou （更科食堂）", a very popular soba restaurant with 86-year history in this city.

Let's enter it!
Wow! Wow! Wow! Immediate after we entered the restaurant, we could feel the 20th-century atmosphere!!! The poster, menu boards, tables are very retro-flavored!!!

Look at the clock and stove in the good old days! It was the first time to see these types for 20 years or so............

We were also surprised at the menu! How cheap all of them are!!!!

First, we ordered this hot udon. Why??? This container is very quaint!!! Are you ready??

Voila!

See? It is very nostalgic!! 

The udon noodles themselves are very elastic and chewy, and super delicious♪

When we come here, we should order this soba!!!

This is a typical sarashina soba, a high quality soba for which only white part of buckwheat is used.

The noodles are very whitish and tasty!!

Last but not least, we enjoyed sobayu or water left in the pot after soba is boiled. Yummy x 2!!

I really recommend this cozy, nostalgic restaurant!

■Where is "Sarashina Shokudou （更科食堂）"?

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■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!

Sumitomo Ponbetsu Coal Mine （住友奔別炭坑）| Largest Shaft in Asia | Mikasa

Ikusyunbetsu （幾春別） in Mikasa had once flourished in the coal mining industry. In 1880, this coal mine was found by the government, and developed by the private sector.

This shaft was constructed in 1960. It is 51m high and 750m deep, the largest shaft in Asia at that time. Actually we cannot tell Hokkaido history without coal mining. There were more than 100 coal mines in Hokkaido at its best!

It was said that this shaft could be used for 100 years, but closed in 1971 partly due to cheaper imported coal.

This is a coal dressing building. Please imagine how huge the coal industry was in the 19th to 20th century!

At the entrance of the "Sumitomo Ponbetsu Coal Mine （住友奔別炭坑）", we can learn their history with the board.

Houses for miners still remain near this site,

Near the coal mine, there is a small shinto shrine named "Ikusyunbetu Shrine （幾春別神社）". Let's go upstairs!

This is a main hall.

I can imagine a lot of people came here to pray for their prosperity at that time!

The area itself is like an outdoor museum for me!

I really enjoyed the history of Hokkaido today!

■Where is "Sumitomo Ponbetsu Coal Mine （住友奔別炭坑）"?

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■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!

COBORI （古母里）| Japanese Restaurant & Cafe | Mikasa

I love restaurants which was renovated from traditional Japanese folk houses. Today I'll show you "COBORI （古母里）" located in Mikasa.

See?? Looks very traditional, doesn't it? Let's enter it!

I really miss this sliding door! Yes! Typical traditional houses have this kind of door!

A tatami room with an alcove............ This restaurant cafe is like my grandmother's home!

Probably 90 % of customers here order their today's special. But I wanted to eat something else, too, and asked the chef what is recommendable except the lunch set. He said, "Udon noodles and curry are also delicious!" Then I ordered today's special and curry udon!
(*They also serve some traditional Japanese desserts, too!)

Voila!
This is today's special, which is the most popular lunch set here! The set has seven kinds of very healthy Japanese dishes! Perfect!

This potato salad includes slices of apples! Yummy x 2!! We also enjoyed seasonable ingredients such as herring and bracken!

Hijiki seaweed contains a lot of minerals such as calcium, iron, and potassium. I love Japanese food because high in nutrition and low in fat!

 The salad was so fresh and we could enjoy each texture!! Yummy x 2!!!

I really recommend this bonito with kimchi sauce!　The set has two kinds of spring fish, and we really enjoyed this season from our tongue!

This is curry udon!

They use Inaniwa udon, very elastic and chewy noodles. Wonderful!! The soup is so delicious that I drank it up! Hahaha!

 Look at the cash register!! This restaurant is like a small museum!

There are tatami seats as well as table seats here so that non-Japanese people can fully enjoy the Japanese house and dishes!

■Where is "COBORI （古母里）"?

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■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!

Tamanegiya （玉ねぎ屋）| Seafood Bowl Restaurant | Mikasa

Mikasa, 1 hr away from Sapporo, is famous for the great nature, a lake, and ammonites whose quality and quantity is one of the best in the world!

Today I'll show you one of my favorite seafood bowl restaurants in Hokkaido.

This restaurant is near "Chuo Park" in the center of the city.

 Go straight the Ammonites Road,

(If you look down the street, you can see ammonites on the stone panels. How interesting the road is!)

You will find "Tamanegiya（玉ねぎ屋）" on your left!
The owner had worked in the seafood industry in Sapporo for a long time, and now he has run this small but popular restaurant in Mikasa.

I checked the today's special.
I love a bluefin tuna negitoro bowl! It's not frozen tuna. It's raw bluefin tuna! I instantly got exited to see the sign!

I also checked other items on the menu! They are very cheap!!!

Here comes the negitoro bowl. Negitoro is chopped tuna mixed with naganegi onion.

It's more than perfect! The tuna is rich in fat♪ Can I eat such high-quality tuna at the price of 1,000 yen only???? How lucky I am!

Do you want to have a bite?
(Yes, of course!!!!)

This is "Tamanegiya seafood bowl"!

The bowl of rice is topped with a lot of FRESH seafood such as seawater-reserved sea urchin, bluefin tuna, salmon, yellowtail, scallop and tobbiko (flying fish roe). It's like a jewelry box for me!!!

When I looked at a sea urchin bowl that a person seating next to me was eating, it looked very delicious to me (of course everybody) and I instantly wanted to eat it, too.

I said to the owner, "I'll have the same bowl that the person ordered!".

This is the sea urchin bowl! They use very fresh sea urchin only!

Looks very delicious and beautiful! If you eat the same quality of seafood bowls in Sapporo, you must pay the double price or more! I love this restaurant!!!

When we left the restaurant, the owner hung this sign in front of the door, saying "sold out".
If you want to eat seafood bowls in this restaurant, I recommend you to come here before noon!

■Where is Tamanegiya?

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■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!