Asahikawa Golf - Asahikawa Intl. Country Club

Asahikawa International Country Club

Just to keep the golf theme going (the last post was about Shirogane Golf Club), I thought I'd throw in a plug for my favourite course close to Asahikawa, the Asahikawa International Country Club in Aibetsu.

Aibetsu Town is known for its famous Maitake mushrooms as well as its mushroom festival (second Sunday in September), but is also home to one of the finest golf clubs to be found within easy reach of the city.

During the week the prices are quite reasonable and the traffic is slight. The course is perfectly maintained and challenging in length. Long par 5's are the order of the day, though most have very forgiving wide fairways. The course is light on water hazards but full of carefully placed sand traps ensuring several visits to the beach during your round.

At the end of your 18 you can relax in fine style in the clubhouse restaurant (excellent for Ramen), then take a hot spring bath in the Onsen area. 

Aibetsu and the Asahikawa International Country Club are a good 40 minutes from Asahikawa city, but well worth the trip.

Golf Asahikawa - Shirogane Golf Club

Shirogane Golf Club

As far as value for money golf courses close to Asahikawa go, Shirogane Golf Club  must be considered in the top 5. Perfectly maintained, picturesque, uncrowded and having a distinct country club look and feel, you would be excused for thinking that it was a strictly 'Membership Only' affair. This thankfully is not the case, and although you really do get a sense of golf extravagance as staff rush to your car to take the clubs out, as soon as you walk through the front doors you are quickly put at ease by the welcoming friendly staff.

Fully automatic, remote-control buggies guide you around the course with ease, allowing you the luxury of taking in the spectacular mountains of the Taisetsuzan National Park which dominate the horizon at different parts of the course.

The course itself is professionally maintained throughout and provides a comfortable balance between forgiving fairways and 'gone for good' OB gullies. The dog legs tend to be taxing following inaccurate drives, but some do offer a chance to cut corners and make shots up.

More Information 'HERE'

Asahikawa Golf

TNT Golf Tours

TNT Park Golf Tours

Samurai Finish 8th in International Cup

The Japanese Samurai Football Team have ended their 2008 International Cup Campaign in Australia with a loss in the playoff for 7th and 8th place against the U.S.A. 

All things considered, 8th out of 16 teams is not a bad result for the Samurai who showed good spirit to convincingly win two matches during the tournament.

The final score was:

U.S.A:   14.12.96

Japan:  02.04.16

Better Luck next time

Soba Festival - Horokanai

Horokanai Soba Festival

This year, the Horokanai Soba festival is actually being called a Soba Expo, and spans three days rather than the standard two. For those that don't know, soba is buckwheat noodle. People outside of Japan (in particular people from Europe) would be more familiar with buckwheat grain, served like rice as a side to steak, goulash, or stew. In Japan, the grain is ground into a fine powder in the same way  wheat is, and is ultimately turned into noodle to be served hot or cold at a soba or izakaya restaurant.

Horokanai, as well as regularly featuring on the national news for its 'Freeze the B...s Off a Brass Monkey' cold temperatures in winter, is Japan's number one soba producer, least populated town, and holder of one of the best soba festivals (expos) in Japan. 

Aside from making it possible to sample dozens of unique soba styles, visitors to the festival are able to try and buy non-traditional soba creations. In the past, the festival has provided soba crepes, soba bread, soba cakes, soba beer, soba ice cream, soba mochi, and soba bagels to name just a few.

As a final thought, there are plenty of activities to distract one from overdosing on soba alone. A large stage in the center of the festival grounds serves up non-stop song and dance. There's a jumping castle for the kids, craft sales for the interested, and a soba tractor exhibit for the manly.

Final word; 'Well worth the scenic drive, and a couple of hours well spent'

Asahikawa Ramen - Japan's #1 Choice

Asahikawa Ramen

In short, ramen is noodle soup. Not so complicated you would think, but in reality countless numbers of ramen variations exist in Japan, specific to region, city and shop.

Most ramen broths are made using pork or chicken (or both) as the main bases. In addition, shops (or regions) will add any number of ingredients such as fish, beef, garlic, mushrooms, seaweed and others to make their broth distinctive.

Asahikawa is a very cold place in winter and the ramen made is Asahikawa is a little heavier than that made in other parts of the country. This extra heartiness is what gives Asahikawa ramen the unique flavour so popular all over Japan (and more recently internationally).

More Information About Asahikawa Ramen  HERE

Asahikawa Restaurants - Izakaya Tenkin

Izakaya Tenkin (4 Jyo)

There is plenty to like about Tenkin Izakaya. Excellent food and a rich traditional atmosphere, it is definitely a restaurant that will leave you feeling like you've had the authentic Japanese dining experience.

With a convenient city location, plenty of comfortable seating, menus in Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean, and a wealth of local delicacies to tempt the palette, put Tenkin of your list of "things to try in Asahikawa" without hesitation.

You'll love it.

Tenkin Information:

Style - Menu - Courses

Location Map

Samurai Defeated by Canada

Japan has been defeated by Canada in their finals match at the Australian Football International Cup played yesterday.

Unfortunately the Samurai failed to even get a goal on the board and were defeated by a total of 41 points in a very one sides affair. 

The result is a disappointment for the Samurai whose previous two performances had been outstanding.

The finals score was;

Canada: 6.8.44

def.

Japan:  0.3.03

So many places to do nothing

One of the great things about Hokkaido is that as well as being filled with places to see, do, and experience,  it also has a great number of places to do, well, ...nothing.

Hokkaido provides many out of the way places that allow people to escape into nature. Those people that don't mind the odd bit of seclusion to recharge the batteries from work or personal pressures will find a great deal of comfort in the mountains, rivers and lakes of Hokkaido.

Out of the way places

How about going for a drive out to this place.  Unfortunately not as easy as it sounds. This is a quiet little place tucked away in the heart of Shirogane Onsen. With the only access being a cumbersome, narrow, dirt road, I have never seen this place highlighted in any tourist brochures or magazines.

That's a real shame since this place is quite stunning, especially on a clear day when the sun is high and really exaggerates the pale blue sulphur rich water. 

Oh, and by the way, the picture you'll find two posts ago was taken by Shunichi ABE at the same location. Guess it shows you the difference between professional and amateur. 

Japan Smash India in International Cup

Japan have thrashed India in their International Australian Football cup encounter today. To say that Japan were too strong is an understatement of mammoth proportions with the scoreline reading 

Japan -  15.16.106

India -   00.00.00

Japan now have two wins from three games and look to be improving the quality of their play. I'll update you on their progress in the upcoming finals.

Shunichi ABE - Have a look at this

Here is one of my favourite pics of all time. This was taken just outside of central Biei by talented Biei photographer ShunichiAbe. 

There are many spectacular locations for taking great photos around Biei all year round, and I would definitely recommend it as a sightseeing location.

More Information:

Biei

Bieiland

Day Trip Ideas #3 - Biei Part 2 - BieiLand

So you stopped by Zerubu no Oka (Day trip ideas #2), and are back on the road (Route 237) taking you to central Biei. 

As you make your way down the hill leading into town, you'll notice a small intersection at the bottom. Take a right at this intersection and follow the winding  road up the hill. At the top there will be a left turn with a little sign to showing you the way to the Northwestern Hill Observatory Park. The car park is on the left, while on the right you'll small galleries and a small cafe style ice cream shop to grab a snack.

The Northwestern Hill Observatory Park is beautiful, allowing you to capture Biei's rolling hills from all sides, with the entire Taisetsuzan Mountain Range as the backdrop. In the galleries section, look for BieiLand, the gallery of famous photographer Shunichi ABE. Here you'll be able to purchase amazingly beautiful postcards, posters, desktop and wall calendars or some exceptional photography. All of Mr. Abe's work is raw, that is, not digitally or otherwise altered.

This is most certainly a worthwhile stop on you visit to Biei. Give it a try!.

More Information:

Biei

BieiLand

Biei Map

Furano

Furano Map