Otaru This & That

Okonomiyaki is a popular casual food originated in Osaka and Hiroshima. It can be said Japanese pancake.

The unique point about Okonomiyaki is that you cook it on the iron hot plate on your own.
A typical Okonomiyaki’s ingredients are meat or seafood or both, shredded cabbage, egg, a little flour mixed with water. You mix all the ingredients served in a bowl together, and put the mixture roundly on the hot iron plate.

It has been cloudy,foggy and drizzly for quite a while here in Otaru.

It is said that there is no "Tsuyu" or "Baiu" (meaning rainy season in Japanese) in Hokkaido, but the bad weather occurring this time of year is called "Ezo Tsuyu" or the rainy season of Hokkaido.

But the flowers of the season are vigorously blooming, and they invigorate us under the gloomy sky.

I don't know the name of the flower, but it is interesting that the colors of the flowers are varied even though they come from a single tree.

Sakaushi Residence is a private house designed by Yoshiya Tanoue, a young leading Japanese architect studied under Frank Lloyd Wright, and it was built in 1927.

It is a beautiful house elaborately designed that Japanese style and Western style are well harmonized each other.

The Sakaushi family doesn’t live in the house any more, and it is under control of a Nonprofit Organization “Otaru Works” that aims at preservation of Otaru’s historical buildings and townscapes.

The house is open to the public between 10:00 and 15:00 on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

There used to be many mansard-roofed houses in Otaru.
I guess the mansard roof was employed in Hokkaido to make the snow slides off easier in winter.

Most modern houses here have flat roofs with a gadget to melt the snow and drain it, and mansard houses are disappearing from the cityscape as they get older.

The old house and roses in the image look to bring out their beauty each other, and the atmospheric scenes of this kind is something what I like about Otaru.

As we don’t have rainy season in Hokkaido, June is normally a most pleasant month of year. The air is dry and the average highest temperatures are around 20 ℃. It is around 7:30 p.m. when it gets dark. We try to enjoy being outdoors as much as possible at this time of year because summer season is quite short in Hokkaido.

However, June this year is a little unusual.

There are many Shinto shrines in Otaru, and annual festivals of these shrines concentrate in June.

Suitengu shrine's festival was on June 14,15,16, and it was full with people　as usual.

Colorful peonies are now in bloom and giving off a wonderful smell in the garden of Former Aoyama Villa.

Peony Festival is an annual festival, and it is held until June 27(Sun.) this year. The flowers were not at their best yet when I visited the garden, but I guess they will be gorgeous in a week.

The garden is open to the public, and no charge is necessary for viewing the peonies. However, you will have a whole view of the garden if you enjoy meal or tea, at the Japanese-style restaurant “Kihinkan” attached to Former Aoyama Villa.

The difference of Otaru's four seasons is so clear.

You can see completely different view of a place in winter
and in spring.

An old Japanese-style house in May.

This is the photo I introduced in February with the title of "Today's Otaru"

Niseko is well known as a good skiing resort among overseas tourists. It is often the case that you meet more overseas visitors than the Japanese in Niseko areas in winter.

However, not only skiing grounds, Niseko has much more to offer to the visitors. One example is the beautiful scenery of this area in spring.

I emphatically would like you to visit Hokkaido in the middle of May. Fresh greenery, cherry blossoms, spring ephemerals can be seen at the same time in the short period.

Niseko is about one-hour-drive from Otaru.

Hokkaido is well known for its excellent agricultural products.

Asparagus is one of the vegetables Hokkaido boasts, and it is now in season.

Fresh asparagus that is sweet and with crunchy texture is fit for any recipe. I particularly like "asparagus & bacon" that is sliced asparagus and bacon are fried in the pan.

It is needless to say that Hokkaido's butter, also famous for its quality, makes the taste better When you fry the ingredients.

Some "Izakaya", Japanese style pubs have asparagus & bacon in their menu. Please try if you have chance.