Japan Diaries 4: Day 573

Day 573: May 28, 2023

Sunday: Flower Festival Road Trip Part 2

It’s a cloudy morning, and the weather forecast says that there is a small chance of rain in the afternoon. With that said, we didn’t waste the opportunity to head out early for the second part of our Flower Festival Road Trip today.

Flower Festival Road Trip Part 2

We set our alarms at 4:30 AM so that we can prepare breakfast to bring with us on this trip. What we have learned from our numerous road trips is that preparing our breakfast is economically wise, as it lessens eating out or stopping at many convenience stores along the way.

Takinoue manhole cover

We ate our breakfast first before exploring Shibazakura Takinoue Park

We left Rumoi at around 5:40 AM and reached the town of Takinoue (滝上町) at around 8:30 AM. Our first stop was the Shibazakura Takinoue Park to experience the Takinoue Shibazakura Festival 2023. However, before exploring the park, the first thing that we did was eat the breakfast that we prepared earlier today.

Takinoue Shibazakura Festival 2023

We enjoyed exploring the Shibazakura Takinoue Park

We even tried the Shibazakura soft cream

Team Nicerio attends the Takinoue Shibazakura Festival

After our hearty meal, we went around the vast park and enjoyed the sea of pink shibazakura. These beautiful, small pink flowers are called pink phlox in English. We also tried the shibazakura soft cream, which had an interesting taste like that of a cherry. It was an amazing experience as we saw a sea of yellow yesterday, and now it’s a sea of pink.

Takinoue Shrine's torii gate

Takinoue Shrine

From there, we visited the Takinoue Shrine as part of our tradition of visiting shrines to offer prayers and make wishes in every new town that we visit. The shrine was on top of a small hill adjacent to the Shibazakura Takinoue Park, so it also has a nice view of the pink phlox-covered hill.

Rainbow Bridge

The view from the Rainbow Bridge

Ella is trying out the slide of Rainbow Bridge

Liberty Bridge

Check out this fairytale decoration on the Liberty Bridge

Sakuru River as seen from Liberty Bridge

Shokotsu River and Rainbow Bridge as seen from the Liberty Bridge

Just below the shrine is an interesting-looking bridge called Rainbow Bridge. The bridge has a built-in slide for kids. It looks like a small medieval watch tower that you’d usually see in fairy tale books. The bridge has a nice view of the Shokotsu River and the Shibazakura Takinoue Park. It's not the only bridge that we visited, though. We also checked out the nearby Liberty Bridge, which has an interesting fairytale decoration. It also has a nice view of the Sakuru River, Shokotsu River, and Rainbow Bridge. 

Takinoue Roadside Station / Roadside “Kaori no Sato Takinoue”

Pikoro - Takinoue's mascot

Ella as Pikoro

Before leaving, we got the stamp of Takinoue Roadside Station

Before leaving Takinoue, we visited another fairytale-inspired establishment, which is the Takinoue Roadside Station / Roadside “Kaori no Sato Takinoue”. The roadside station has a souvenir store that offers woodwork products and some delicious food. My daughter and I didn’t miss out on the roadside station stamp for our collection.

Welcome to Mombetsu City

Mombetsu City manhole cover

Oyama Mountain Top Garden

Okhotsk Sky Tower

Okhotsk Sky Tower's Observation Area

Our next stop was the city of Mombetsu / Monbetsu (紋別市) on the eastern coast of Hokkaido. We first drove up the hill in the Oyamacho District to visit the Oyama Mountain Top Garden and the Okhotsk Sky Tower. The tower has a picturesque panoramic view of Monbetsu City. There is also free coffee in the establishment.

Kogenji

From there, we drove to the city center to visit its main shrine. We parked at the Kogenji parking area, and of course, I didn’t miss the opportunity to take photos of the beautiful temple.

Mombetsu Itsukushima Shrine's Torii Gate

Mombetsu Itsukushima Shrine

Mombetsu Itsukushima Shrine was just a few meters away from the temple. As always, my daughter and I did our tradition when visiting a new shrine, and after doing it, we walked back to the parking area and discovered that the Okhotsk Garden was also nearby.

Okhotsk Garden

Mopetu Falls

Family picture with Mopetu Falls as our backdrop

Inside Okhotsk Garden is the scenic Mopetu Falls. We were the only ones there during our visit, so in a way, we had the place for ourselves. It was quiet and relaxing. Had we had no other plans for the day, we’d probably stay longer.

First-generation Garinko exhibit of Kaiyokoen

Mombetsu City's colored manhole cover

Mombetsu City's Pokémon manhole cover

Okhotsk Tokkari Center (Seal Land)

However, we were still halfway through our itinerary for the day, so we decided to proceed to our next destination, which was the Kaiyokoen Area of Mombetsu City. There were several attractions in Kaiyokoen, like the Okhotsk Tokkari Center and the Seal Sea Paradise, but we just went to see the Mombetsu Pokémon Manhole Cover and the Mombetsu colored manhole cover.

First Generation Garinko Exhibit

Giant Elephant Seal Statue

As a bonus, we also took a lot of photos of the First-generation Garinko and the giant elephant seal displayed in the park.

Crab Claw Statue

From there, we drove a short distance to see the iconic Crab Claw Statue. They said that you have not visited Monbetsu City if you didn’t have a picture with the giant crab claw.

Monbetsu Roadside Station

Inside Monbetsu Roadside Station with the friendly polar bear 

Mombetsu City seal mascots

Near the Crab Claw Statue was the Monbetsu Roadside Station / Roadside Station “Okhotsk-Monbetsu”. It houses the Okhotsk Sea Ice Museum, which was a museum that I really wanted to visit, but then again, we were pressed for time, so we decided to skip it and visit it sometime in the future instead. So after getting the roadside station stamp, we went on our way.

A brief stop at the 711 in Yubetsu to buy some snacks

We didn't miss the opportunity to take photos with the standee in Kamiyubetsu Tulip Park

Kamiyubetsu Tulip Festival

To complete our Flower Festival Road Trip, we drove south to the town of Yubetsu (湧別町) to see the Kamiyubetsu Tulip Festival held at Kamiyubetsu Tulip Park. We arrived just in time as the staff were already clearing the fields to mark the end of the festival. We still got great pictures before leaving.

To my horror, I discovered that Ruru's coolant was leaking

On our way home, we decided to gas up at the Shell Serufu in the next town of Engaru (遠軽町). To my horror, I discovered that the coolant of Ruru was leaking. I called up my father-in-law for his wisdom and knowledge about vehicles, so with that, we decided to not risk driving the car back to Rumoi and instead call the car insurance.

The insurance company sent a tow truck to pick up Ruru and bring him to Yellow Hat in Rumoi City

After contacting the car insurance, they sent a tow truck to pick up Ruru to bring it to Yellow Hat in Rumoi. I also informed my supervisor, who, in turn, provided me with information after he thoroughly discussed the matters with the car insurance company. He also helped us plan our trip back to Rumoi to the extent of contacting rental cars and taxi services.

We walked to Engaru Station

We caught the last train to Asahikawa City, and it was the Taisetsu Express Train

It was a two-hour train ride to Asahikawa Station from Engaru Station

Asahikawa JR Station

With that, we walked from the gas station to Engaru JR Station. We managed to ride the last train going to Asahikawa JR Station at 7:19 PM. From there, we rode a taxi from the taxi bay of Asahikawa JR Station to our home in Rumoi City. The 75.2-kilometer taxi ride costs 24070 yen.

The taxi ride from Asahikawa JR Station to our home in Rumoi City

Overall, I think that whatever happened today was God’s will and is meant for us to experience. Hence, we are thankful that we were all safe and the damage was minimal. As for our weekend trips, we were able to attend three big flower festivals. We also visited a new town and a new city, which means we have already visited 90 / 179 municipalities of Hokkaido.

Read more:

Japan Diaries 4: Week 82

Japan Diaries 4: Weekend 82
Japan Diaries 4: Day 572
Shibazakura Takinoue Park
Takinoue Shibazakura Festival 2023
Takinoue Shrine
Rainbow Bridge
Takinoue Roadside Station / Roadside “Kaori no Sato Takinoue”
Okhotsk Sky Tower
Monbetsu Itsukushima Shrine
Okhotsk Garden
Kaiyokoen
Crab Claw Statue
Monbetsu Roadside Station / Roadside Station “Okhotsk-Monbetsu”

Kamiyubetsu Tulip Park
Kamiyubetsu Tulip Festival 2023

Hokkaido Manhole Covers

Japan's Awesome Manhole Covers

Hokkaido Pokémon Manhole Covers

A Guide to Collecting Eki Stamps

Unique Soft Cream Flavors of Hokkaido

10 Things to Do in Rumoi City

10 More Things to Do in Rumoi City

10 Things to Do in Takinoue 

10 Things to Do in Monbetsu City

10 Things to Do in Yubetsu

10 Things to Do in Engaru

10 Things to Do in Asahikawa City

10 More Things to Do in Asahikawa City

Hokkaido 179

Japan Diaries 4: Summary