There are many famous dishes called “Nagoya Meshi” in Nagoya, and one of them is Hitsumabushi (ひつまぶし). In Japanese, Hitsumabushi means eel. I’ve always loved it when I was a kid.
We plan this trip a year ago since it is almost impossible to find places to stay during the festival. The snow festival starts in 1950 with some high school students built 6 snow statues in Odori Park (Sapporo’s central park). Now it features hundreds of snow and ice sculptures created by people from all over the world. The 71st annual Sapporo Snow Festival kicked off on 2/4/2020. It has 3 different locations in Sapporo. The main site is the Odori Site in Sapporo’s centrally located 1.5 kilometer long Odori Park. The 2nd is the Tsudome site for outdoor family-friendly activities and most of them are free. The last one is the Susukino Site, which has around 60 illuminated ice sculptures.
Sapporo snow festival is not the only winter festival in Hokkaido. You can also check Otaru Snow Light Path Festival and Asahikawa Winter Festival.
Gigantic snow and ice sculptures are on display at the Odori Park. There are less people attended the event this year due to the concerns over corona-virus. Most tourists are seen in masks during the snow festival.
All is One, shows the AInu worldview, the faith that all things are closely connected as ONE
the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe 凱旋門賞
sffc-sapporo-snow-festival
Kotankoro Kamuy (Blakiston’s fish owl) ウポポイ（民族共生象徴空間
Lazienki Park’s Palace on the Isle and Chopin’s Statue
Odori Site 大通会場
Hikakin & Seikin ヒカキン& セイキン, popular Japanese YouTubers
Sazae-san and Winter Sports in Sapporo サザエさん一家, famous Japanese animations Sazae-san family
Cup Noodles and Rui Hachimura’s snow tunnel
People can even ride a small train through the “Cup Noodles and Rui Hachimura (八村 塁, a Japanese-Beninese professional basketball player)” snow tunnel sculpture.
SNOW MIKU 2020 – 雪ミク
Ensemble Stars!”- Eccentric snow party!
Hokkaido Food Park 北海道食の広場
Here is the Anpanman Snow Sculpture!
International Square
Tsudome Site つどーむ会場
On Display: 1/31/2020 – 2/11/2020 開催期間：2020.1.31 – 2.11 地下鉄東豊線「栄町駅」地下鉄出入口
We visit the Tsudome Site in the morning. Here you will find giant snow sliders and snow rafting area. Inside the dome there are lots food stalls. Next we headed to the next site of Susukino.
Susukino Site すすきの会場
On Display: 2/4/2020 – 2/11/2020 開催期間：2020.2.4 – 2.11 Venue: Nishi 4-chome Ave. between Minami 4 Jo-dori, and Minami 7 Jo-dori ( Ekimae-dori) 会場:南4条から南7条までの西4丁目線（札幌駅前通）
Susukino is also known as a red-light district in Sapporo. It’s only one subway stop from Odori Park.
It’s located in the Hokkaido Ramen Dojo inside the New Chitose Airport. Ramen Dojo is an amazing street devoting to Ramen. There are various popular Hokkaido ramen restaurants along the street. I had the Tokachi Corn Cheese Ramen. The broth was overly salty to my liking. I left with half a bowl of ramen unfinished.
Sapporo is famous as soup curry’s birthplace. Soup curry comes with vegetables, rice, and various toppings. You need to choose your dish, spice level, and rice size. The soup is basically similar to south East Asian curries. A thinner curry essentially. Leaves you feeling warm and fuzzy in your tummy and fills you up all nicely.
Chicken Leg Curry
The chicken is cooked really well. I can imagine this being very nice in winter, and understand why the locals love it.
Omelette Curry Rice (Omu-curry) is a dish poured curry sauce over an omelette and is famous as a local cuisine in Furano. This restaurant is a little wooden cabin located on route 38 in Yamabe. Interior had a very homely feel. The curry rice was excellent and the omelette was silky smooth too. This was a really hearty meal using local fresh produce and great especially on a windy or cold day.
The café is very cute. You can buy pastries at the bakery and eat inside. We always visit this shop after shopped at the Furano Marche. I like their roll cake the most. First time to try cream puffs. The puff has a nice crisp on the outer layer with smooth Hokkaido cream filling. Good with milk or coffee.
Even though its summer but people were wearing jacket and scarf. You know what would be the fun thing to do in cold weather? Ice cream! We ate lavender ice cream, lavender cheese cake, drank lavender coffee, and bought anything related to lavender.
Lavender soft-serve ice cream
Taste minty and sweet with plenty lavender fragrance
The facility and green surrounding given us a expression of homestay. The dinner was beautifully presented with combination of modern Japanese and french gourmet. The owner Kent Shiraishi is a professional photographer. You may be familiar with his work “Blue Pond” (iOS default home screen). We learnt to see Biei and Furano through the eyes of photographer, which was such an amazing experience.
北海道上川郡美瑛町字新星平和5235
071-0473 Kamikawa District
+81 166-68-6777 www.biei-farm.co.jp
Ice Cream
The weather is grey and rainy today in Biei. We need a little sweet treat to bright the day. La Laiterie Ferme Biei is a beautiful dairy farm. In is also not far from the famous scenic spot “Shikisai no Oka” (Four Seasons Hill). It takes only about 20 minutes by bike.
The view is great here. We see lots cows eating grass outside which allow you to get really up close.
Soft Cream
The most popular products of the store are made from the cow’s milk such as yogurt, soft serve ice cream, and milk pudding. I like their original milk flavor ice cream. They produces ice cream with reputation for exceptionally high quality by using very simple and fresh ingredients. The high milk fat in Hokkaido milk makes the ice cream taste so creamy and rich.
This place has a very modern, tasteful interior and a cuisine focused on high quality local ingredients. Dinner set used fresh and delicious local produces. Bread were freshly made and you can takeaway the leftover. I enjoy the panoramic views of Biei scenery while dining. A must visit for those who like to try something different!
