insights from frontier Japan

Short-tailed shearwaters migrate from their breeding grounds in southeastern Australia, flying more than 30,000 km per year between the northern and southern hemispheres. They follow shoals of fish and dive into the sea to prey on krill that float near the water’s surface.

The Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremony on July 23 featured the "Olympic Rings" wooden sculpture crafted in ring shapes designed to represent the Olympic logo. This logo was made with wood from trees grown in the town of Engaru in the Eastern Hokkaido Okhotsk region. The wood used was forest thinning timber from trees that have grown from seeds given to Japan as a gift from countries that participated in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. The choreography for Opening Ceremony scenes, including this scene and the scene representing the feelings inside the hearts of athletes during the COVID-19 pandemic, was designed by Central Hokkaido Otaru-raised dancer and choreographer Shintaro Hirahara.

Services on the low-cost carrier (LCC) Peach Aviation’s Memanbetsu–Kansai route began on July 1.

A summer slope, compatible with normal skis and snowboards, opened on June 26 at the Engaru Rock Valley Skiing Area in the town of Engaru in the Okhotsk region of Eastern Hokkaido. Visiting enthusiasts from throughout Hokkaido and beyond could be seen enjoying the mid-summer slopes dressed in T-shirts and the like.

Orange Siberian lilies (Lilium pensylvanicum) and other colorful wild flowers have begun to bloom at the Koshimizu Genseikaen Wild Flower Park, a popular tourist spot in the Okhotsk region of eastern Hokkaido. According to the Information Center Hana, the peak of the viewing season for Siberian lilies is from the end of June to early July.

‘Chimikepp’, a restaurant in the Chimikepp Hotel accommodation facility in the town of Tsubetsu in eastern Hokkaido, which acquired a 1-star rating in the ‘Michelin Guide Hokkaido 2017 Special Edition’ ranking book, has been selected as the only Hokkaido restaurant among 10 from around Japan in 2021, by three gourmets with extensive knowledge of cuisine throughout the world.

In the town of Takinoue in the Okhotsk region of eastern Hokkaido, moss phlox is in full bloom at Shibazakura Taninoue Park, which is open for the first time in two years. On May 20, hillsides in the park were a vivid pink color and a sweet aroma drifted beneath the clear blue sky.

At Eastern Hokkaido's Lake Saroma, the harvest season for the short-spined sea urchin is in full swing. Harvesting is being conducted robustly, using a method of collecting sea urchins from the lake floor by pulling nets fitted with iron claws. Lake Saroma sea urchin harvesting is being conducted by the three fishery cooperatives of Yubetsu, Tokoro, and Saroma. This year, it started on April 12.

Yezo sika deer have survived a winter that blankets the earth in snow and deprives them of sufficient food sources, and now they eat the soft, newly sprouted grasses and rejoice in the coming of spring. From April through May, male deer shed their old antlers and start to grow new ones. Just like baby teeth in human beings, the antlers fall off suddenly with no warning.