Category Archives: Destinations

A Night in Kushiro

Last night we stayed in a nice little dorm like place, the 坂の上会館 (“The Meeting Place at the Top of the Hill”).. After I took care of some errands at a local coin laundry, we wandered downtown to grab some dinner and drinks.

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The town has a bit of a European feel, with the broad river and riverside shops. 20130913-072914.jpg

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We wandered the streets a bit before coming upon the restaurant which Gary had found online, 居酒屋たぁ. This place was great…
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Before we even sat down I spotted a monster skewer of pork on a neighboring table, and I had to order one right away. The portions in this place are simply out of scale. As the food piled up I decided to take a panorama shot as a small jibe at Gary, who has a terrible panorama habit. Seriously. The guy has been taking about 30 panoramas a day…
20130913-072949.jpgWe walked back to the dorm in a nice fog, which really drove home the European feel. I look forward to coming back to Kushiro again someday.

The Milk Road: Route 272

The Milk Road, route 272, is a long straight road through cow country in eastern Hokkaido. The earthy smells and endless fields to either side make for a relaxing ride.

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20130912-211749.jpgMost of the fields are littered with large rolls of hay, wrapped in either white or black. At times, it rather resembles a giants forgotten checker set…

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Nemuro; The Easternmost Point of Japan

Nemuro is a peninsula on the east coast of Hokkaido, and it is the easternmost point of Japan. The signs in this area are all in Japanese, English, and Russian, as Russian islands are viewable off the coast. The peninsula is littered with signs saying things such as “返せ!” (“Return the islands to Japan”). Feelings about the islands claimed by Russia after the war are strong here, and oddly, there seems to be a Russian presence as well. As we pulled Into town I noticed a few Russians guys in a parking lot (racial profiling, or keen observation?), and a blond Russian gal in a Prius decided to drag race me at a red light.
I wonder how the relations ar between the Russian residents and the locals considering all the “返せ” signs…

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The area at the tip of the peninsula looks a bit like a monument contest, as there is an oddly large number of monuments there.

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The very end point of the peninsula has what looks like a lighthouse, but it also houses a nice little bird watching station.

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For a few minutes at least, I was the easternmost man in Japan…

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