Mention “Hokkaido” and many people immediately think of Sapporo. But if you are up for a whole new way to experience Japan’s largest prefecture, we recommend you make your next holiday destination Tokachi.
The south-eastern region, Hokkaido’s largest subprefecture, is blessed with vast fertile plains and enjoys the highest percentage of clear days in the whole of Japan. With over 2,000 hours of sunshine a year shining down on its fields, the area is a thriving agricultural paradise, with high outputs in crops such as wheat, corn, beetroot and beans, as well as dairy products, beef and pork. Besides producing enough food for itself, Tokachi is able to export its surplus to the rest of Japan and the world, thus earning the nickname, “Food Valley”.
There are lots to do and see at Tokachi too. Visitors will find a myriad of activities to burn off those calories from eating, no matter the season. In summer, when temperatures are a balmy 25 degrees Celsius, you can check out Tokachi’s beautiful gardens or participate in farmstay experiences. In winter, those with a taste for adventure will enjoy snowshoe trekking and driving a dog sleigh through a snow covered field.
Whether it’s warm or cold in Tokachi, you should never leave without trying its ubiquitous snacks – soft-serve ice cream and obanyaki (grilled pancakes filled with red bean paste or cheese). Trust us: you won’t be able to stop at just one. And if you are a self-proclaimed oenophile, be sure to make a trip to Tokachi’s only winery and try out the vino made from the region’s unique hybrid of wild mountain grapes and French grapes.
Onsen-lovers – you will adore Tokachi’s beautifying moor hot springs, which are non-volcanic and derive their heat from magma that has solidified deep underground.
So, immerse yourself over the next few pages in the breathtaking wonders of Tokachi. You will not be disappointed by its wealth of offerings!
(text deborah tan photography atsushi takahara, yasushi iwama, ikue wada, masatsugu sugawara, tomoaki kawamura)
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Agricultural Kingdom
There’s no mistaking the immense pride Tokachi chefs have in the farm produce here.
Fertile plains, clean water, abundant sunshine and great weather, you won’t be blamed for thinking you may have arrived at some kind of a paradise. Every café, eatery or restaurant you visit, you will find delicious food made lovingly with uber-fresh ingredients. A symphony of flavours plays out inside your mouth with every bite of food you take. Is this for real? At Tokachi, this magic is a daily occurrence.
“I try my best to get all my ingredients from Tokachi,” is a common statement the chefs utter. Although the top five crops produced by Tokachi’s farmers are corn, potatoes, wheat, beetroot and beans, chefs are able to find other vegetables and fruit too. For example, there is a type of chive that tastes like garlic called gyoja ninniku. Typically, gyoja ninniku grows in mountainous areas 2,000 – 2,500 metres above sea level. However, because of the cool climate here, farmers are able to cultivate this chive in areas of lower elevation.
If you want to sample the best of Tokachi’s farm produce, a good place to visit is Tokachi Farmers Restaurant where every dish on the menu brims with the freshest vegetables and highest quality meat sourced locally.
It is at this restaurant you’ll find that Tokachi’s ingredients lend themselves extremely well to both Japanese and Western dishes. Wheat from the pizzas are harvested from Tokachi’s fields, bacon, from Tokachi’s pig farms, and even the cheese comes from the area’s very own cattle.
A fitting tribute to the hard work and passion Tokachi’s farmers put into their fields and animals, this restaurant is most certainly a stop you have to make.
(TEXT DEBORAH TAN PHOTOGRAPHY ATSUSHI TAKAHARA, YASUSHI IWAMA, IKUE WADA, MASATSUGU SUGAWARA, TOMOAKI KAWAMURA)
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The Movers & Shakers Of Tokachi
Haruyoshi Kashiwaba
The owner of Oakleaf Fram and Kagura is a respected figure in the farming community here because of his persistence in producing food that is safe and healthy.
Your farm has created its own brand of beef – the Mirai Memuro. Can you tell us more about it?
I started cattle-farming 36 years ago. My farm currently owns 4,000 cows.Since the beginning, I have been insistent on using non-GMO and non post-harvest feed because I want my beef to taste good and be beneficial for the consumer’s health.
The Mirai Memuro beef is leaner than Wagyu but still tender and tasty. Normally, more than 100g of Grade 4 Wagyu may cause some discomfort to your digestive system because of the high fat content. With my beef, you won’t suffer from that.
What makes Tokachi so ideal for cattle farming?
I think first, the people of Tokachi have an inherent frontier-spirit that we inherited from our forefathers. We have learned to live with the land for generations! We’re blessed with a wonderful environment. We get lots of sunlight and our seasonal temperatures keep the animals healthy – they suffer very low risk of contracting parasites.
What three foods would you recommend to visitors of Tokachi?
My beef! You definitely have to come to my restaurant and try the beef from my farm. The second thing to try is the potatoes. The third is hard to choose because there are too many wonderful things to try!
Which three places would you recommend they check out then?
The outdoor onsen at Lake Shikaribetsu – the view is breathtaking. The second place to visit is the Tokachi Millennium Forest. Last, I would say to get some farmstay experience!
Katsuhiko Hayashi
An enterprising individual with his fingers in many businesses, he is perhaps most well-known for starting the Tokachi Millennium Forest.
Why did you start the Tokachi Millennium Forest?
My family owns the local newspaper company. It is an industry that consumes a lot of paper and I thought up the Tokachi Millennium Forest as a way of giving back to Nature. However, I knew we had to make it economically viable for it to thrive so I developed the Tokachi Millennium Forest as a tourist attraction where visitors can not only enjoy spending the day in Nature, they can also dine at the restaurant or visit the cheese factory.
It must have been a success from the get-go.
In the beginning, I had thought people would come to visit it from Furano (location of another famous garden in Hokkaido) but that did not work at all. So, I came up with the idea of a romantic drive, inspired by a trip in Germany. Working together with the other gardens, we developed the Hokkaido Garden Route where people can enjoy a scenic drive from Asahikawa to Furano to Tokachi. Today, we are the best performing attraction in Hokkaido in terms of growth, attracting some 550,000 visitors annually.
Which three places would you recommend visitors check out then?
Tokachigawa onsen in autumn as it is a nice place to spot cranes. Taushubetsu Bridge over Lake Nukabira, and the Ice Bar (see P23) at Lake Shikaribetsu in winter. I’m very proud of these three things as you can’t experience them anywhere else.
(TEXT DEBORAH TAN PHOTOGRAPHY ATSUSHI TAKAHARA, YASUSHI IWAMA, IKUE WADA, MASATSUGU SUGAWARA, TOMOAKI KAWAMURA)
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