Weekend 74: April 1 – 2, 2023
Day 516: April 1, 2023
Saturday – Birthday Road Trip Day 1
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| We're going on a 3-day Road Trip to celebrate my birthday. |
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| We drove south using the scenic Route 23 |
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| We had a coffee break and stopped by Seicomart, Otaru Shioya. |
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| Route 753 from Otaru City to Akaigawa |
It’s another weekend. However, this one is special as it is the first day of my 3-day Birthday Road Trip with my family. We left our house in Rumoi City at around 6 AM and then drove south for about 3 and a half hours, going to our first destination, which was the beautiful village of Akaigawa.
We then drove southeast, going to the town of Kyogoku. These are the places that we visited in Kyogoku (京極町):
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| Kyogoku Roadside Station |
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| Ella is enjoying her visit to the roadside station |
💧 Kyogoku Roadside Station / Roadside Station Meisui no Sato
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| Fukidashi Park's hanging bridge |
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| Fukidashi Park's famed spring |
💧 Fukidashi Park
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| Kyogoku Hachiman Shrine's torii |
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| Kyogoku Hachiman Shrine |
💧 Kyogoku Hachiman Shrine
We originally planned to go to the towns of Kimobetsu and Rusutsu, but because it was almost 3 PM and we still had several towns and a village to visit, we decided to skip the said towns and proceed to Makkari Village,e which is nearer our accommodation for the day.
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| Mt. Yotei as seen from Hokkaido Road 97 |
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| The view of the mountain was so scenic that we had to make a stop and take a picture of it. |
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| A quick stop at Makkari 711 to buy some snacks |
These are the places that we visited in Makkari (真狩村):We were probably not used to driving long distances anymore, as we were pretty much drained. After unpacking our luggage, we only wanted to take a nap before eating dinner, but the nap turned into a full 12-hour sleep, which pretty much ended the 1st day of our road trip.
See you on the next leg of our trip!
Day 517: April 2, 2023
Sunday – Birthday Road Trip Day 2
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| Good morning from Q Fox GMG Hotel in Kutchan |
It’s a warm sunny morning. Although we had a long, relaxing sleep, we weren’t able to do important stuff last night, like take a bath and update our itinerary for today. That’s why it took an hour off our itinerary for today.
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| The breakfast was served in the building in front of the hotel |
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| The breakfast area was small, but it looked really nice |
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| The food selection was limited, but everything tasted good. |
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| Itadakimasu! |
Regardless, we had a simple but surprisingly delicious breakfast at Q Fox GMG Hotel. It was enough to fuel us for the whole day.
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| Before exploring the town, we filled up the tank of Ruru at Hokuren Rankoshi self SS / JA. |
We didn’t stay long, though. After riding the gondola down the mountain, we drove to the next town in our itinerary, Rankoshi. These are the places that we visited in Rankoshi (蘭越町):
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| Shiribetsugawa Lan Lan Park |
💧 Shiribetsugawa Lan Lan Park
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| Rankoshi Roadside Station |
💧 Rankoshi Roadside Station / Roadside Rest Area “Rankoshi Furusato no Oka”
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| Rankoshi Menayahata Shrine's torii gate |
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| Rankoshi Menayahata Shrine |
💧 Rankoshi Menayahata Shrine
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| Next stop: Kuromatsunai (黒松内町) |
From there, we drove to the town of Kuromatsunai. These are the places that we visited in Kuromatsunai (黒松内町):
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| Kuromatsunai Roadside Station / Roadside Rest Area “Kuromatsunai” |
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| The bakery inside the roadside station sells delicious bread |
🐦 Kuromatsunai Roadside Station / Roadside Rest Area “Kuromatsunai” |
| Matsuryuyamahorasan Temple |
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| The jizo and the Buddhist statues inside the temple grounds |
🐦 Matsuryuyamahorasan Temple
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| Otori Shrine's torii gate |
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| Otori Shrine |
🐦 Otori Shrine
We were still far from Hakodate City so we skipped Oshamambe from our itinerary and then proceeded to the town of Yakumo instead.
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| Next stop: Yakumo (八雲町) |
These are the places that we visited in Yakumo (八雲町):
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| Black Rock Formation (Shumakamuy) |
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| There was also a distinct small shrine near the Black Rock Formation |
📍 Black Rock Formation (Shumakamuy)
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| Yakumo High School |
📍 Yakumo High School
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| Yakumo Shrine's torii gate |
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| Yakumo Shrine |
📍 Yakumo Shrine
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| Asahigaoka Parking Area with the panoramic view of Mt. Komagatake |
On our drive out of town, we stopped at the Asahigaoka Parking Area along National Route 5 to admire the panoramic view of Mt. Komagatake.
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| Next stop: Mori (森町) |
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| Mori Roadside Station / Roadside Rest Area “You-Yu-Mori” |
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| Mt. Komagatake as seen from the observation deck of Mori Roadside Station |
Our next stop is the town of Mori (森町). We almost skipped it too, but since the Mori Roadside Station / Roadside Rest Area “You-Yu-Mori” was along the way, we decided to stop by so that we could get its roadside station stamp for our Hokkaido Stamp Rally roadside station stamp collection.
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| You can see Mt. Komagatake from National Route 5 |
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| Next destination: Hakodate City (函館市) |
From there, we skipped the town of Nanae to reach Hakodate City earlier. These are the places that we visited in Hakodate City (函館市):
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| Goryukaku Tower |
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| Goryukaku as seen from Goryukaku Tower |
✯ Goryukaku Tower
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| Hakodate Gokoku Shrine's torii gate |
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| Hakodate Gokoku Shrine |
✯ Hakodate Gokoku Shrine
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| Hakodate Park |
✯ Hakodate Park
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| Children’s World |
✯ Children’s World
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| Statue of Sakamoto Ryoma |
✯ Statue of Sakamoto Ryoma
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| St. John’s Church |
✯ St. John’s Church
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| Russian Orthodox Church |
✯ Russian Orthodox Church
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| Catholic Church Hakodate Motomachi |
✯ Catholic Church Hakodate Motomachi
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| Monument of Shoichiro Kamei's Birthplace |
✯ Monument of Shoichiro Kamei's Birthplace
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| Nijukkenzaka |
✯ Nijukkenzaka
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| Lucky Pierrot Bay Area Main Shop |
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| Dinner time! Itadakemasu |
Before leaving Hakodate City, we ate at Lucky Pierrot Bay Area Main Shop. I ordered the Chinese Burger Set meal, and my wife and daughter tried the Lucky Burger. It was truly a perfect meal to end our first day in Hakodate City. Since I am on leave tomorrow, we will come back to visit other places that we missed today.
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| Toyoko Inn Shin Hakodate Hokuto Eki Minamiguchi |
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| Zushihokki Statue |
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| We were given Room 404 |
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| Time to rest. Thanks for joining us on the second day of our trip! |
Before sleeping, we made sure to do the essential things like taking a bath and updating our itinerary so that we wouldn’t have to skip any more towns like yesterday. I'm very excited to see the new destinations that we'll visit tomorrow.
Lerch Memorial Park
Kutchan Shrine
Kyogoku Roadside Station / Roadside Station Meisui no Sato
Fukidashi Park
Kyogoku Hachiman Shrine
Makkari Roadside Station
Makkari Shrine
Annupuri Gondola Station
Niseko Roadside Station / Niseko View Plaza Rest Area
Niseko Kaributo Shrine
Annupuri Gondola Station
Shiribetsugawa Lan Lan Park
Rankoshi Roadside Station / Roadside Rest Area “Rankoshi Furusato no Oka”
Rankoshi Menayahata Shrine
Kuromatsunai Roadside Station / Roadside Rest Area “Kuromatsunai”
Otori Shrine
Kuroiwa Strangely Shaped Rocks (Shumakamuy)
Yakumo Shrine
Mori Roadside Station / Roadside Rest Area “You-Yu-Mori”
Goryukaku Tower
Hakodate Gokoku Shrine
Hakodate Park
Statue of Sakamoto Ryoma
St. John’s Church
Russian Orthodox Church
Catholic Church Hakodate Motomachi
Nijukkenzaka
Shin-Hakodate Hokuto Station 10 Things to Do in Kutchan
10 Things to Do in Kyogoku
10 Things to Do in Makkari
10 Things to Do in Niseko
10 Things to Do in Rankoshi
10 Things to Do in Kuromatsunai
10 Things to Do in Yakumo
10 Things to Do in Mori
10 Things to Do in Hakodate City
10 Things to Do in Hokuto City
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Japan Diaries 4: Week 75
Japan Diaries 4: Weekend 75
Enjoy your trip Team Nicerio!
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