Japanese eating champ wins satay comp

With the Olympics just around the corner, the Australian International Cup after that, I thought I'd continue the sporting theme with something a little more odd. Two days ago in Singapore, 30-year-old Japanese Food Fighter, Takeru Kobayashi, won Singapore's Major League Eating competition by consuming 5.4 kilograms of satay in 12 minutes.

Mr. Kobayashi, who tips the scales at a less-than-staggering 60kg, won the contest on Sunday against 24-year-old American Joey Chestnut (102kg), who swallowed 4.1 kilograms of satay.

Having narrowly lost New York's hot dog eating contest earlier this year, Kobayashi was obviously pleased with his dominant display in Singapore. His next challenge is a trip back to the United States for a hamburger eating contest in September.

I'll keep you updated on the progress of that one.

Support The Samurai

August 27th to September 6th

Japan will participate in the The 2008 International Australian Football Cup starting this August, and although Australian Rules Football is unknown in Japan, the Samurais have achieved good results in past competitions. 

Japan's first match will be on the 27th of August this year against the title holder New Zealand. The second match will be on the 29th against Samoa, with Japan's final match against India on September 1st. 

Participating nations in 2008 are;

                                                                       

Canada Northwind

Denmark Vikings

Great Britain Bulldogs

Ireland

Nauru

Papua New Guinea Mosquitoes

Samoa

Swedish Elks

China Red Demons

Finland Icebreakers

India

Japan

New Zealand Falcons

Peace Team

South Africa

USA

Carn! The Samurais

Buying Electrical Goods

Japan is definitely the place to buy electronic goods. In Asahikawa, the best place to go to find all things electrical and electronic is Yamada Denki. You will have to get there by bus of taxi but the trip is short and well worth it. You will find everything you need under one roof. 

The beauty of shopping for electronic goods in Japan is that everything the latest and greatest, and while the price may not seem altogether cheap, bear in mind that the Japanese product is likely to be a model or two ahead of its international counterparts. 

Asahiyama Zoo

No Asahikawa information source is complete without mentioning Asahiyama Zoo at least once, it is after all Asahikawa's number one tourist attraction, and the most popular zoo in Japan. 

With unique enclosure ideas, the zoo's management have endeavoured to increase the animals' activity, making them more playful, curious and relaxed, and ultimately more enjoyable to observe.

With the increased success of the zoo have come substantial annual increases in zoo visitors, and you will find it quite busy on most days, with weekends busiest of all. Despite this, the zoo is well laid out and congestion tends to be managed well. Entry is ridiculously low at about 890yen making the Asahiyama Zoo an inexpensive, fun day out.

More Asahiyama Zoo information HERE.

Playing Golf in Asahikawa

Hokkaido is one of Japan's best golfing destinations offering stunning mountain scenery, beautifully designed and maintained courses and all of the value added services you would expect from any fine country club.

The Asahikawa summer is short but tends to be dry, so the stifling humidity commonplace in the southern islands of Japan is not a factor in a round of golf here. Fresh mountain air is the order of the day at most courses, and even on the hottest summer days a round of golf is still comfortable.

Asahikawa is home is to many fine courses and is not as expensive as you may have imagined. The golf season starts in late April and finishes in early November.  Autumn, though relatively chilly, is a great time to play golf while enjoying the splendid autumn colours of the Taisetsu Mountain Range.

Omikoshi 御神輿

Omikoshi is best described as a portable shrine. If a festival is held for the purpose of celebrating a particular God, then that God is thought to reside inside the shrine. Often,  people climb on the omikoshi and stand on top of it, all the while providing cheerful chants to motivate the carriers. Omikoshi are large and generally extremely heavy, ranging in weight from a few hundred kilograms to a few tons, and thus requiring a substantial labour-force to carry. Its a noisy, traditional spectacle that is worthwhile witnessing if you get the chance.

Niko - Traditional Japanese Restaurant (二幸本店)

If you read the "sushi" section of the Asahikawa Tourism Website you would have discovered that the conveyor belt style of sushi dining is the equivalent of fast-food in Japan, a type of "MacSushi" if you will. If you want to try the 'top shelf gear' when it comes to sushi, a traditional Japanese Sushi-ya is your best option.

To this end, I would recommend Niko without hesitation. The freshest seafood, cheerful and friendly staff, reasonable prices, modern comfortable decor, and perfect city location are all that you would want from a restaurant. Far from simply being a sushi restaurant, Niko offers an elaborate menu filled with traditional Japanese delicacies, many of which you are unlikely to have tried before.

Niko is open for lunch or dinner and can be found on 3jyo 7chome on the ground level next to Okuno department store.

Andon - Japanese Paper Floats

Andon are huge floats made primarily out of timber and paper (with some extras) that get lit up from the inside and are paraded by Andon teams during festival parades. 

The floats are either dragged or carried, and if you chance upon the appropriate festival, you can see them crashing head-on into each other in a battle of the strongest (as in Numata, as small town a short distance south west of Asahikawa). 

When you consider the fact that andon are carried or dragged, please note that at some festivals they can measure 7m high x 12m long x 3m wide and can weigh up to 5 tons. 

Very impressive indeed.

Summer Fireworks in Hokkaido

Most of the Japanese festivals’ main event is the fireworks display. During the summer festivals, organizers launch more fireworks than you may have expected possible, but it seems people can’t get enough. 

The fireworks display marking the launch of the San Roku Festival in Asahikawa is impressive, both for the number of shells launched as well as the scenic river-side location. However, for those wanting a little more bang for their buck, the most comprehensive fireworks display in Hokkaido takes place in Obihiro (a beautiful small city south west of Asahikawa). 

By way of comparison, a standard summer fireworks show will fire somewhere in the vicinity of 2000-3000 shells. The Obihiro fireworks festival will launch about 20,000 shells and reduce the life expectancy of many a house pet. Even the smaller fireworks shows in Obihiro fire about 10,000 fireworks. Obihiro is quite close to Asahikawa, so if you find yourself here in summer and love to watch fireworks, consider it for a really fun short trip.

Those that don't have the time to travel the country-side too much will have to settle for the Summer Festival fireworks in Asahikawa, not a bad consolation prize really.

Yukata / Jinbei - Summer Festival Fashion

A yukata is a summer kimono for girls. Unlike the kimono, it is relatively easy to wear and priced reasonably. A jinbei is the summer wear for men, a loose two piece summery wear usually made out of cotton or linen, it’s great for the warm festival season. Summer, and the festival season, is the time people really enjoy dressing up in yukata and jinbei. You can buy them at department stores, kimono shops, or on-line. The price range is from a few thousand yen for a complete set to,…well, the sky’s the limit.

 

Beer vs Happoshu

Just to keep the beer theme for this month rolling along, I thought I might quickly explain the difference between the Japanese beer and happoshu (the other Japanese beer).

Happoshu is a low malt (sometimes no malt) beer. With Japanese beer taxation based on % "malt content", beer brewers have been experimenting with low malt brews as a means of keeping costs down and passing those cost savings on to the consumer. For this reason you'll find a standard-sized can of happoshu about 50yen cheaper than its full malt counterpart.

As the techniques for brewing happoshu have improved with time, the taste has increasingly mirrored the taste of full malt beers, though it is still some way off according to seasoned beer consumers.

Japanese brewers spawn new varieties of happoshu faster than Japanese car manufacturers produce new models, so you will have to consume a few barrel loads of brew before you settle on your favourite (or decide that its altogether not for you).

Please tell us your favourite Japanese drink by taking the poll on the right side of this page.

Asahikawa San Roku Festival 2008

The promo poster for this year's San Roku Matsuri (festival) has been released, well, to us anyway,...everybody else probably got it three weeks ago. In any event, if you are not already geared up for it, or alternatively don't have a great deal of information about it, here is what you can expect (in no particular order);

(1) Ice cold beer

(2) Fireworks (a very tidy display riverside)

(3) Traditional Dance

(4) Ice cold beer

(5) Quality Festival Food (more on this later)

(6) Traditional Taiko Drumming

(7) Not so traditional Taiko Drumming

(8) Mikoshi Parade

(9) Asahikawa Ramen (best in Japan)

(10) Lots more...

Beer is listed twice because with the expected hot/humid weather you'll really appreciate it.

Anyway, we'll post more info soon,

Here's the poster

See you at the festival

Beer Gardens

One of the great things about the city during the summer is that its never really difficult to find a beer garden to enjoy an ice cold beer outside. Probably the easiest option is the Kaimono Koen (4jyo / 7chome) beer garden, about 7 minutes walk from the station straight up Kamiono Koen, on the right just before you reach 4 jyo. Great local brews from the Taisetsu Ji Microbrewery can be sampled as well as the standard Japanese favourites. 

A slightly more conservative option is the beer garden at the top of the Terminal Hotel (next to Asahikawa JR Station). It suffers a little from not being street-level, but does offer a broad choice of food and drink as well as a festival-like atmosphere.

Which ever you decide on, you'll find it fun, relaxing and pleasant to be outside.