insights from frontier Japan

Amid the expansive fields of Tokachi, straight stretches of roads that look as if they reach to the heavens are dotted here and there. The Minami 10-sen road that runs almost east-west through Tobetsu in the town of Makubetsu is one of those roads. Here, just twice a year – in the period after the spring equinox and just before the autumn equinox – the sun can be seen rising from a point that is an extension of the road. Each time is a magical spectacle that’s limited to just a few minutes.

Roses are beginning to bloom one after another at “Tokachi Hills”, a tourist garden in eastern Hokkaido's Makubetsu Town. Some of the rose types have a honey or pear fragrance, so the garden is filled with a sweet aroma.