Bright and early Saturday morning (7 am to be exact!), Yoshi came to pick me up and we headed north to her hometown, Fukugawa. Her parents wanted to join us on our day to see the lavender fields at Furano, and wanted to be our hosts. Yoshi`s parents do not speak English, but they are a very warm-hearted pair who are very sweet. Yoshi and her brother have both had the opportunity to be abroad, and have had kind people take care of them. So, they wanted to return the kindness to me, and they sure did!
We stopped at her house to pick them up...a very nice house with a beautiful Japanese garden cared for by her father. He reached the age of retirement from his previous job, and now works in the driver’s education school as a clerk, not a teacher. Her mother, after the children were grown, went to school to become a nurse, and now works at a preschool. By Japanese standards, Yoshi`s family are very well off.
We changed cars and began our drive to Furano, through lush wooded mountains and fields of potato, wheat, beets, and soybeans.
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| Ignore the date...still trying to figure out the new camera |
As we neared the town of Furano, the fields began to turn to many shades of lavender, and the traffic began to increase. But, all that was worth it when we arrived...what a sight and what a scent! Just spectacular color and aroma! (This is one of the countries best ski resorts as well as home of beautiful flowers.) I even tried lavender soft ice cream...not bad, particularly when it is about 95 degrees outside! We spent about 2 hours there looking at the many flowers (I bought some seed to bring back as well) and watching the crowds.
We
went to Farm Tomata a week before the lavender
festival was to begin, and I’d hate to see what the crowds would be like
then. The area is well known for skiing
in the winter, and with the exception of a couple of flower farms, had no summer
income. Then, they decided to plant
lavender along the mountainside to bring in tourism to the area during the
summer months. In about 2 years, the
mountainsides will be filled with lavender and other flowers and will be even
more beautiful then what it already is. The
variety of flowers in this area include lunaria, silene which is the bright red flowers, cosmos, coreopsis which is the bronze to orange colored
flowers, poppy, and several varieties of lavender.
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| Yoshi's dad and mom |
I
have been to over 40 states in the domestic USA, and I have yet to see anything
as beautiful as this. Yoshi’s parents,
Isao and Emiko Yamanishi, who are in the bottom picture,
were perfect hosts even though they could not speak English well. The mountains in the picture are the beginning of Daisetsuzan National Park, which contains
volcanoes, hot springs, and gorgeous scenery.
Unfortunately, the day ended before we could make that area.
We then left and had lunch in traditional Japanese style table, complete with tatsumi mats, of tonkatsu, which is pork that is breaded, deep fried, and served with a special sauce and shredded cabbage. I also tried a little nato beans, which is fermented beans...can’t say too much for that - if you get too close there is quite an odor, and the taste is a little too bitter for me! But, I tried it.
After lunch, we continued to drive further into Daisetsuzan National Park...just a spectacular area. We stopped at a museum of one of Japan’s famous photographers, and also at a pottery factory that makes pottery that is preferred by the Emperor’s family...Yoshi`s parents wanted to purchase something for me there but it was SO expensive that I begged them not to. From this area, we could see Mt. Tokachi-dake (2077 m) and Mt. Tomuraushi-yama (2141 m), and the active volcano! It only made me want to come back with my 35mm camera and spend about 2 weeks just taking pictures of the area! There are many spas, or onsens, in the area, but they were very busy so we didn’t stop.
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| Yoshi and I in front of pottery business preferred by the Emperor. |
We returned to Fukagawa about twilight, and after stopping to take a few more pictures we headed into town for dinner. This time, sukiyaki, with beef. The food and many veggies are cooked in a broth
of soy sauce, sugar, and sake. After cooking, you dip the ingredients in raw egg and eat - ok, sounds gross but actually it is very good. We were joined by Yoshi`s sister and her 13 month old niece, who I refer to as `the little princess` because she has all of them wrapped around her finger. She wasn’t too sure of me at first, but warmed up by the time we left. After dinner, we returned to Yoshi`s folks house for final goodbyes then started back to Sapporo at about 8:45 pm. Yoshi and I had a pleasant time chatting about families, religion, education, desire for children, etc. that the nearly two hour drive flew by.
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| Sunset |
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| Yoshi's father and niece |
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| Yoshi with parents, sister and 'the little princess' |
Today, Sunday, Ms. Yamada picked me up at 2:30 and we headed to the department store (big mistake!) to purchase a housewarming gift for her sister, who has just moved closer to Sapporo. (Ms. Yamada is the baby of her family) Of course, I found a few more things to take home (and I just shipped box number 2 today!) then we headed to the school secretary’s home for dinner. She has two lovely daughters, ages 21 (who works in a travel agency) and 20 (a university student) who spoke a little English and wanted to practice. Mrs. Suyuki had a yukata and a kimono laid out for me to try on...please bear in mind that these were her oldest daughters who is probably a size 3...we had a very humorous time getting them to fit (kimono’s are very forgiving!) and they were very beautiful. You’ll have to wait for the pictures though...Ms. Yamada forgot to take any with the digital camera. We then sat at the table and enjoyed dried seaweed wrapped rice and veggies (you get used to it with a little soy sauce!), beef sushi (it was cooked, however), chicken drumsticks, mum leaves in a sauce (not sure I’ll try that at home!), and eggplant filled with beef. The youngest daughter had prepared cheesecake and strawberry ice. We had a great time just chatting about life in USA, traditions, television shows, and my teasing the girls about sending them some mistletoe for their boyfriends and Christmas.
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| Coming of Age Kimino |
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| Mrs. Yamada, me and Mrs. Suyuki |
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| Yakata |
The
Coming of Age kimono was hand made by Reiko-san and her mother for when she
turned 21. It is made of silk and is
worn only for that day and special occasions later on, like being a guest at a
wedding, etc. The yakata is made of cotton and worn in the
summer as clothing for events that happen during the summer. It could also be worn as just everyday dress.
It is now 10 pm and my final week is beginning. School will be half days this week with teachers meeting with parents to explain progress of students. When the weather permits, I will go to the Hokkaido Historical Village. Tuesday night is the symphony and Thursday there is plans to see the fireworks and have a Genghis Khan dinner. Somewhere in there, Yoshi and her husband want me to experience Pachinko (a cross between slot machines and pinball) and possible the karaoke box again.
I’ll take my cue from Yoshi`s father, who insisted that we not say goodbye because that would mean I would never return. Instead, he said, `We’ll meet again soon` which meant that I will return in the future. If you have never been to Japan, or only have a limited time to see things, I recommend Hokkaido as your choice if you want scenery and friendly people. It is a place you will never forget.
I’ll send another update in the middle of the week, then will prepare to head to Tokyo for the last days. I can’t believe that nearly 6 weeks has passed already! I thank you all for your words of encouragement and your kind comments regarding the long emails...if I have done nothing else but help to teach a little English over here, and helped you to learn more about the Japanese people and culture, then I will feel successful in my trip!
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