insights from frontier Japan

Projection mapping, in which light and images are projected onto buildings and snow-covered ground, began on December 17 at the Otaru Art Village and in front of JR Yoichi Station. The event, sponsored by Hokkaido Chuo Bus (Otaru), is held as part of the ‘Otaru-Yoichi Yuki Monogatari’ (snow story) winter tourism campaign, in which locals and tourists can enjoy magical scenery decorated with rainbow-colored lights.

More and more businesses in Hokkaido are taking up the challenge of producing high-quality whisky using local resources, making the most of the environment – ideal for producing barley and ageing unblended whisky – with which it is blessed.

Domaine Takahiko (Yoichi) has been selected for the 4th consecutive year as a “5-Star winery”, the highest accolade of the ‘Japan Winery Award (sic) 2021’, which rates wineries and makers of high-quality wine throughout the whole of Japan. What’s more, the same region of Shiribeshi in central Hokkaido boasts three wineries that received a 4-star rating, ten that received a 3-star rating and two more that received the next best ‘connoisseurs’ award, increasing the presence of Shiribeshi’s wineries among Japan’s wine industry.

Wine and the like that cannot be made elsewhere; initiatives in pursuit of thorough quality are beginning in regions throughout Hokkaido.

The winter tourism campaign "Otaru - Yoichi Snow Story " opened on November 1 under the joint-organization of the Otaru City and Yoichi Town Tourism Associations.

A Spanish cuisine restaurant opened in front of JR Yoichi Station in central Hokkaido's Yoichi Town on September 16. The restaurant serves authentic Spanish cuisine using Yoichi ingredients.

With the arrival of July, tourist orchards in central Hokkaido's Yoichi Town and other places are crowded with people enjoying cherry picking. Orchards are taking precautions against the novel coronavirus, including placing antiseptic solutions on the premises and providing containers to put cherry pits in.