Week 75: April 3 – 7, 2023
Day 518: April 3, 2023
Monday – Birthday Road Trip Day 3
It’s a beautiful sunny Monday morning here in Hokuto City. It’s also the last day of our 3-day Birthday Road Trip.
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| Breakfast at Toyoko Inn Shin Hakodate Hokuto Eki Minamiguchi |
Our first agenda of the day is, of course, to eat breakfast before checking out at Toyoko Inn Shin Hakodate Hokuto Eki Minamiguchi in Hokuto City (北斗市). The breakfast selection wasn't that much but it was good enough to fill up our tanks and fuel us for the day. From the hotel, we crossed the street to check out Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station. Turns out there are a lot of things to see in and around the station. These are the interesting things that we saw there:
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| Zushihokki Statue |
🍣 Zushihokki Statue
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| Zushihokki Post Box |
🍣 Zushihokki Post Box
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| Michiya Mitsuhashi Monument |
🍣 Michiya Mitsuhashi Monument
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| Former Oshima-Ono Station Oil Storage / Aburako |
🍣 Former Oshima-Ono Station Oil Storage / Aburako
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| Bronze Statue of Kenshiro |
🍣 Bronze Statue of Kenshiro
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| Itomihi Shrine's Torii Gate |
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| Itomihi Shrine |
Before leaving Hokuto City, we visited Itomihi Shrine to pay respects, offer prayers, and make wishes, which are part of our tradition.  |
| Tomoe Big Bridge |
We then drove back to Hakodate City to visit the places we missed yesterday. These are the places that we visited in Hakodate City (函館市): |
| Kanemori Red Brick Warehouse |
✮ Kanemori Red Brick Warehouse
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| Starbucks Coffee – Hakodate Bayside |
✮ Starbucks Coffee – Hakodate Bayside
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| Hachiman-Zaka Slope |
✮ Hachiman-Zaka Slope
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| Jo Niijima Statue |
✮ Jo Niijima Statue
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| First Place of Entering Hokkaido Monument |
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| There's a viewing platform near the monument |
✮ First Place of Entering Hokkaido Monument
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| Cape Tachimachi |
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| The view of Hakodate City as seen from Cape Tachimachi |
✮ Cape Tachimachi
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| Hakodate Tropical Botanical Garden |
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| Inside Hakodate Tropical Botanical Garden |
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| The famed Hot-tubing monkeys of Hakodate |
✮ Hakodate Tropical Botanical Garden (Hot-tubing monkeys)
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| 2nd Street Hakodate Tokura Shop |
✮ 2nd Street Hakodate Tokura Shop
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| Matsukura River Walkway |
✮ Matsukura River Walkway
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| Filling up Ruru's tank at Apollo Station in Tokuracho |
We filled up our tank at Apollo Station in Tokuracho on the southeastern side of Hakodate. From there, we followed National Route 278 to the city's eastern side. These are the places that we stopped at:
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| Cape Shiokubi |
- Cape Shiokubi (closest point to Honshu)
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| Roadside Station Natowa-Esan |
- Roadside Station Natowa-Esan. It was closed when we visited but we were able to get its digital stamp.
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| Roadside Station Jomon Roman Minamikayabe |
- Roadside Station Jomon Roman Minamikayabe. It was also closed when we visited but we were able to get its physical and digital stamps.
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| Kakinoshima Site of the Jomon Era |
- Kakinoshima Site of the Jomon Era
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| Off to our next town - Shikabe |
Our next stop was the town of Shikabe. the town's economy is primarily centered around fishing, supported by three major and minor fishing ports in the area. The town's fisheries include a variety of sea creatures such as octopus, Pleuronectidae (righteyed flounder), Okhotsk atka mackerel, salmon, and sea cucumber. In the winter, Shikabe is particularly known for producing its famous pollack roe. These are the places that we visited in Shikabe (鹿部町):
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| Ichiro Toba “Hokutosen” Monument |
- Ichiro Toba “Hokutosen” Monument
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| Shikabe Inari Shrine's torii gate |
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| Shikabe Inari Shrine |
- Shikabe Inari Shrine
We then continued on our way and revisited the town of Mori. It is located on the eastern coast of the Oshima Peninsula, overlooking Uchiura Bay, also known as Funka Bay. The bay is abundant in squid and is a key site for scallop aquaculture, which plays a major role in the town's economy. These are the places that we visited in Mori (森町):
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| Roadside Rest Area “Tsudoru-Plaza Sawara” |
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| The roadside station stamp of Roadside Rest Area “Tsudoru-Plaza Sawara” |
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| Mt. Komagatake as seen from the observation deck of the roadside station |
- Roadside Rest Area “Tsudoru-Plaza Sawara”
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| Morimachi Inari Shrine's torii gate |
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| Morimachi Inari Shrine |
- Morimachi Inari Shrine
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| Mori Chamber of Commerce |
- Mori Chamber of Commerce
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| Mori JR Station |
- Mori JR Station
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| The last town in our itinerary - Yakumo |
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| Harvester Yakumo |
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| いただきます |
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| We enjoyed the view after eating |
Originally, from Mori, we would drive straight home. It would take us around 7 hours to reach Rumoi City. Then again, our last full meal was during breakfast so we decided to eat dinner at Harvester Yakumo in the town of Yakumo (八雲町). The chicken that they sell tastes really much like KFC. Turns out the founder of Harvester Yakumo worked with the Colonel years ago.  |
| Passing through Yakumo's Panorama Road |
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| My wife did a quick power nap at one of the roadside stops as it was already past midnight |
From there it took us 6 hours to reach Rumoi City. We drove through Routes 230, 229, 276, 5, 337, 225, and 231. We arrived home at around 30 past midnight. To date, it was the longest continuous drive made by my wife. Sadly, it is also our last road trip for this month as my wife’s International Driver’s License will expire tomorrow and my Japan Driver’s License retest is still in May.Overall, we only visited one new town today but we were able to visit numerous new spots in Hokuto, Hakodate, Mori, and Yakumo. I’m looking forward to the time when I will be able to drive as there are still a lot of places that we skipped and missed during our trip.Day 519: April 4, 2023
Tuesday – Rumoi
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| Rumoi High School 4.4.2.3 |
It’s a beautiful 7-degree morning. I’m back to work at Rumoi High School after a 3-day road trip with my family.
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| I updated my Hokkaido Travel Map |
The students are still on their spring vacation, so I didn’t have any collaboration work today. Like last week, I used the day to study Japanese.
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| I went to Asuka after work... |
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| ... to attend the Rumoi English Chat Club |
After work, I attended the Rumoi English Chat Club, where we had a free talk session.
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| Another year as an ALT! |
The highlight of my day was receiving my reappointment papers from the new Kouchou-sensei. These papers mark my contract for the second half of my second year as an ALT under the JET Programme.
Day 520: April 5, 2023
Wednesday – Rumoi
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| Rumoi High School 4.5.23 |
It’s a cloudy day today. I’m back reporting for work at Rumoi High School. The students are still on their Spring vacation so I don’t have any collaboration work today. Like yesterday, I spent the day studying Japanese.
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| VLJ Japanese learning - Today's topic: "Must Not" |
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| After work, Ella and I went out to enjoy the cool weather. |
Today also marks the first day this year that we started biking again as I brought Basky out from the storage area. As expected Ella immediately biked around the neighborhood the whole afternoon.
Day 521: April 6, 2023
Thursday – Rumoi
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| Rumoi High School 4.6.23 |
It’s a rainy morning here in Rumoi City, and I’m back at Rumoi High School for work. Today is also a special day—it's Ella’s first day as a 5th grader!
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| Another day of studying Japanese. |
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| It has been a while since I walked around the school. I forgot how beautiful the view was from the second floor |
Since the students are still on their spring vacation, I didn’t have any collaboration work today. Like yesterday, I focused on studying Japanese using the VLJ online course and was pleased to finally complete the unit.
Day 522: April 7, 2023
Friday – Rumoi
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| Rumoi High School 4.7.23 |
It’s a cloudy Friday morning. However, Rumoi would be cloudy the whole day starting noon according to the weather forecast.
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| It's another day to learn Japanese. |
For today’s work, I’m back at Rumoi High School. The students are still on their Spring vacation, so I don’t have any collaboration work today. Like yesterday, I spent the day studying Japanese using the VLJ online course. I was able to accomplish several chapters.
Overall, we were able to complete our 3-day Birthday Road Trip this week. As for my work, I did not go to any other visiting schools except Rumoi High School. It wasn’t a tiring week for me, but in a way, I missed going to the classroom and doing collab teaching with my JTEs. Regardless, everything will be back to normal starting next week, when the students come back from their Spring break.
Read more:
Japan Diaries 4: Weekend 75
Japan Diaries 4: Day 518
Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station
Itomihi Shrine
Kanemori Red Brick Warehouse
Starbucks Coffee – Hakodate Bayside
Cape Tachimachi
Hakodate Tropical Botanical Garden
Cape Shiokubi
Roadside Station Natowa-Esan
Roadside Station Jomon Roman Minamikayabe
Shamisen Falls
Shikabe Roadside Station
Shikabe Inari Shrine
Roadside Rest Area “Tsudoru-Plaza Sawara”
Morimachi Inari Shrine
Harvester Yakumo10 Things to Do in Hokuto City
10 Things to Do in Hakodate City
10 More Things to Do in Hakodate City
10 Things to Do in Shikabe
10 Things to Do in Mori
10 Things to Do in Yakumo
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