Chocolate Factory （白い恋人パーク）| Amusement Facility | Sapporo

Chocolate Factory (白い恋人パーク） is not a normal factory, but a fantastic space with a toy exhibition room, the Rose Garden, a coke buffet to allow visitors to savor Ishiya's original sweets, and the Cookiecraft Studio where budding confectioners can make their own Shiroi Koibito cookies. The things visitors see, taste, and experience here will make for truly "sweet" memories of their trip!

Let's go!

In front of the facility, there is the Rose Garden where we can enjoy beautiful seasonable flowers such as tulips in the spring time, and right now....................

Voila!
Roses are in full bloom!!!

How beautiful the garden is!

Can you believe that you do NOT have to pay any admission fee to see the beautiful flowers??

I love this space!!

Shall we go to the museum section?
In the Hot Chocolate Cup Room, the collection showcases treasured chocolate cups that are no longer produced!

"All-floral motif" made by Meissen is the most expensive cup in this room, which is as expensive as a gorgeous car!

I love the chocolate boxes and packages, too!

When you come here, please learn how to make chocolate with fun attractions like this↓

How lovely the wall of the assembly line is!

Would you like to make original cookies? In the Cookiecraft Studio, visitors can make confections including their own design of heart-shaped Shiroi Koibito cookies!!!

When you feel hungry, how about taking a rest at the cafe?

Everything here look delicious! What should we order??? Hahaha!

We ordered.........

this delicious hot chocolate! Yummy x 2!!!

On the first floor, of course we can buy their original sweets such as Shiroi Koibito cookies.
*Shiroi Koibito （白い恋人） means white lovers in Japanese.

Recently the Candy Labo was opened and

we can enjoy freshly-made candies here!

Last, but not least, I really recommend their soft ice cream!!

They serve vanilla, chocolate, mix, and...............

Shiroi Koibito soft ice cream, which includes white chocolate, the same ingredient of Shiroi Koibito cookies! This is super-delicious!

In the compound, there are several kids houses,

a locomotive running around the facility,

a gingerbread house, a candy cottage,

tree house, and

some other attractions like this. This facility is like a fairyland!

Just for reference, the facility in the winter time is also very attractive↓

Especially during the Christmas season,

we can enjoy the beautiful illumination like this↓

■Where is "Chocolate Factory （白い恋人パーク）"?

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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!

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）"?

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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!

Hakodate Beer Hall （函館ビヤホール）| Microbrewery | Hakodate

Hokkaido has a lot of attractions; the nature, delicious food, winter sports, Ainu culture, hot spring and microbrewed beer in each place!!
Today I'll show you "Hakodate Beer Hall （函館ビヤホール）", a microbrewery in Hakodate.

It is located in " Kanemori Red Brick Warehouses Area （金森赤レンガ倉庫群）" near JR Hakodate Station.

 Let's enter it!

We enjoyed the early 20th century atmosphere in the beer hall!

What should we order??? I really recommend these two!

This is "Hakodate Akarenga Beer （函館赤レンガビール）", available only in this restaurant. This ale type beer is not bitter, and good for the summer time!

This is "Hakodate Kaitakushi Beer （函館開拓使ビール）". This Pilsner type beer is a little bit bitter, and goes well with the local dishes such as fresh seafood and vegetables!

■Where is "Hakodate Beer Hall （函館ビヤホール）"?

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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!

Ainu Museum - Poroto Kotan - （アイヌ民族博物館 しらおいポロトコタン）| Shiraoi

Ainu is the indigenous people of Hokkaido with their own culture and language. Several tens of thousands of Ainu still live in Hokkaido and other areas.
An Ainu settlement, originally in Shiraoi's urban district, was moved and restored by Lake Poroto in 1965 as an outdoor museum.

Let's go to the "Ainu Museum - Poroto Kotan - （アイヌ民族博物館　しらおいポロトコタン）"!

Near the entrance, the huge statue of Kotan Korukuru （which means a village chief) welcomes you!

The facility has five cises, thatched houses for Ainu people, and

we can enjoy Ainu cultural performance there! 

This is mukkuri, a mouth harp made of bamboo. How beautiful and dynamic the sound is!

This is tonkori, a kind of stringed instrument. I love this gentle sound!

They also sing their lullaby, and perform some of their folk dance! Very interesting! The show lasts for about 20-30 minutes in total.

Look at the ceiling! The salmon is being smoked! Actually one of my tour guests bought this smoked salmon! This used to be a typical reserved food for Ainu during the winter time.

The facility also include a botanical garden, an animal barn, and so on. This is pu, a food storage, built on stilts in order to keep food stuff (dried fish, seafood, and millet) safe from moisture and rats mainly.

Let's go to the museum in the same compound, too!

Some of their kimono is made of bark, and some of their shoes are made of salmon skin...........

We can also learn their rituals, such as Iomante, a bear festival. Please learn how they viewed beers as sacred animals!

Look at Lake Poroto! How beautiful it is! Potoro means lake in Ainu language.

There are some souvenir shops near the entrance. Actually I bought some Ainu embroideries!

This is their typical wood craft! Ainu regard many animals as sacred, and the beer is the chief of all animals. They also believe that their deities can incarnate into beers, and roam the earth to keep an eye on their followers.

■Where is "Ainu Museum - Poroto Kotan - （アイヌ民族博物館　しらおいポロトコタン）"?

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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!