Photographed at the Flower Culture Garden. I was fascinated by the contrast between the yellow of the sunflower and the green of the praying mantis. Two shots of insects and flowers that have become difficult to see in modern times. I envy you when you think that it used to be full of such scenes.

Today, we Prayer the Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine.
Hikawa Kaikan is open as Ryokazeso for a limited time.
It is a dream wind chime jelly cider.

Bon Odori Alive with Costumes and Food Stalls
Nishiokoppe Village’s Bon Odori takes place each year
in the Kamiokoppe area on August 14 and in the Nishiokoppe area on August 15.

You can enjoy Bon Odori in the village for two days.

Each day features different food stalls,
so deciding what to eat is part of the excitement.

Children’s Bon Odori and the Hokkai Bon Uta
Both have about 30 minutes set aside for dancing.

If you plan to keep dancing, you need a lot of stamina…!
Those in costume especially worked up a sweat.
Thank you for your impressive costumes!

Summer nights are lively and uplifting.


#Nishiokoppe Village
#Hokkaido
#Bon Odori
#Summer
#Costumes
#Food stalls

2025 Ina Festival

Date and Time: Saturday, August 23, 2025, 4:00 PM–9:15 PM
※Canceled in severe weather (no postponement)
Fireworks scheduled to be launched at 8:10 PM

Venue: Ina Town Commemorative Park
※If you set up sheets or similar for viewing the fireworks,
please use the Second Baseball Field.
※The Second Baseball Field is scheduled to open from 4:00 PM

📍Access

By Train 🚃
From Ōmiya Station, take the Saitama New Urban Transit New Shuttle to Uchijuku Station and walk 10 minutes

By Bus 🚌
From JR Ageo Station East Exit, take the bus bound for Inagakuen and get off at Inagakuen—right there
Alternatively, please use the temporary shuttle bus serving the town.

By Car 🚗
⚠️Parking spaces are limited; please use public transportation.
⚠️Please refrain from parking that inconveniences nearby shops or parking on the street.
⚠️The Saitama Prefectural Citizen's Activity Center parking is not a dedicated parking lot for the Ina Festival.

Ina Town's major summer event 🔥
Come and join us!

#Ina Festival #Summer Festival #Fireworks Display #Fireworks Launched

Photographed on August 16, 25.
This is CAFE ANDON's morning. It had turned into a pot-au-feu. The bread is Campagne.
The body warms up.

The delicious Japan of Water can be drunk at once even in the summer if you Spring Water from the mountains (Spring Water "Kinmei Water" of Mt. Iou, Toyama Prefecture)!

Photographed on August 9, 25.
It is Hanachozu of Kawagoe Hachimangu Shrine. 🌻

Wild bird paradise in Gyotoku, Ichikawa City, Chiba Prefecture
In the forest in Tokyo's commuter town Gyotoku
Summer in Japan is all about cicadas, and their shells, "sky cicadas"
It's been a hot day, so I tried to take a picture a little cooler

Photographed on August 9, 25.
It is Hanachozu of Kawagoe Hachimangu Shrine. 🌻

Lake Utonai on a clear, calm August day ✨
Enjoy the spectacular view from the Lake Utonai observation facility!
(Image courtesy of Roadside Station Lake Utonai)

Photographed on August 9, 25.
It is Hanachozu of Kawagoe Hachimangu Shrine.

The sea is great, but the mountains are also worth visiting!
Minami-Echizen Town has the sea, of course, and also rivers and waterfalls☆

Even at this time of year the river water is very cold and feels wonderful♪
Refresh yourself while soaking in the negative ions.

Photographed on August 15, 25.
This is CAFE ANDON's homemade lemonade. 🍋

This is a meyer cat taken at Maruyama Zoo in Sapporo City, Hokkaido in July.
It was impressive to see him leaning against the glass in the severe heat of Japan.
Animals are hot, too!

🎆 Shintoku Fireworks Festival 🎆
🎇 “Kagayaku Ichiya” (A Shining Night) 🎇

Date: Saturday, August 23, 2025
Time: 17:00 – Venue opens
19:00 – Fireworks start
Venue: Shintoku Town Municipal Baseball Stadium

If it rains, the event will be postponed to Sunday, August 24.
In that case, an announcement will be posted on Shintoku Town’s website at 10:00.

Six local stalls will be at the event💁‍♀️
@ramen_miurashouten
@rocky_kitchencar
@yuka_cyoko
@hokkohmilk
@tasogare_na_showashokudo
#Koyanagi Foods

Enjoy delicious ramen, yakisoba, frankfurters, sweet desserts and more—Shintoku’s tasty treats all in one place! 😋
There will also be a bingo tournament for children up to junior high school and a performance by the brass band. 🎷

We will hold a countdown before the 19:00 fireworks start, so we look forward to everyone cheering and adding to the atmosphere! 🎆

#Hokkaido
#Tokachi
#Shintoku Town
#Shintoku
#Fireworks Festival
#Kagayaku Ichiya
#2025
#Shintoku Town Tourism Association
#Shintoku Station
#Tuktuk Complex in front of the Station
#tuktuk
#Tokutoku
#hokkaido
#firework
#hokkaidotrip
#hokkaidotourism
#tourism
#tokachi
#shintoku
#welcomeshintoku
#discovershintoku

🌳 Today at the “Tokachi Ranch Birch Avenue” 🌳

This birch avenue in Otofukecho has been designated a “beautiful forest.”
Right now the leaves have turned a deep green, and the contrast of the blue sky with the white trunks is strikingly beautiful.🍃

Come experience this Tokachi-only landscape in person!

Photographed on August 15, 25.
CAFE ANDON's peach and lime Parfait. 🍑🍋‍🟩

The base is layered with sweet and sour framboise and peach sauce, vanilla crumble, lime panna cotta, heavy cream, and peach and lime confiture.
I put forest/ranch soft serve ice cream on top and decorated with peaches, vanilla crumble, raspberries and mint.

It is a very, very luxurious parfait. 😊

Fireworks festivals are nice

Photographed on August 15, 25.
CAFE ANDON's hot sandwich set, tuna & onion.

Shirakawa Township on a family trip
When you enter the wooden gassho building, the summer heat is as cool as a lie
When I looked at the wall, I saw a gaping hole in the knot of the wood
Immediately, the photo taken by my nephew in the sixth grade was so Traditional Charm that it reminded me of the late Township of Japan somewhere

The fireworks festival in Echizen City, called “Old Takefu,” is a source of local pride. The fireworks take many shapes, and you can truly appreciate them in photos. They represent the fireworks master’s crowning achievement. Perhaps it’s the viewer’s state of mind, but impressions and preferences change with how you watch. Right now, I prefer thin, flowing trails.

Ichijo Falls in Fukui Prefecture. This is a place deep in the mountains, where you can find flowers, flowers, and cobwebs everywhere. Ichijo Falls in the middle of summer is very thin, but even so, the hydrangeas, which have become unbearable in this year's heat, have become dry and have been webbed by spiders everywhere. Nature is not only beautiful, but I don't want to lose it.

When I went to Ichijo Falls in Fukui Prefecture, I saw summer hydrangeas. In Japan, where summer began early, the hydrangeas, which had been beautiful, were turned into carakaras and ephemeral appearances.

Asakura Ruins in Fukui Prefecture. This is the place just past the Kara Gate. There was a road like this. I wonder if I can peek, walk, and peek into that era.

In Fukui Prefecture, the Takefu Fireworks that used to be held in the old Takefu draw local pride every year on the same day of Obon. Although the city merged and became Echizen City, this fireworks festival remains something the people of Takefu boast about.
The fireworks reflected in the Hino River were not only beautiful but somehow wistful.

Date and Time ◆ Saturday, August 23, 2025 (Canceled in severe weather)
◆ Opening Ceremony: 7:15 PM
◆ Fireworks Display Time: 7:30 PM–8:30 PM


Location ◆ Fukuda Fishing Port special venue

Please check the Iwata City Chamber of Commerce website for details.


◆ About the Shuttle Bus ◆
A shuttle bus will run from the north exit of Mikurigaoka station to the area near the venue.
For details, please check “About the Shuttle Bus Operation.”

Contact ◇ Iwata City Chamber of Commerce (0538-36-9600)
https://sci-iwata.or.jp/2024/06/20/%e3%81%84%e3%82%8f%e3%81%9f%e5%a4%8f%e3%81%be%e3%81%a4%e3%82%8a%e8%8a%b1%e7%81%ab%e5%a4%a7%e4%bc%9a/

Komu Museum of Art’s Wood Play Experience Market
A workshop festival celebrating the village’s 100th anniversary
The “Wood Play Experience Market” was held
at Komu Museum of Art!

Vendors from across Hokkaido gathered
for a hands-on making event using wood and natural materials.

When the museum opened at 10:00, visitors came to the event space without pause.

We offered six experiences.

Make a wooden kaleidoscope
Make a wooden clock
Make BUG BUG from nuts and seeds
Make wooden brooches and keychains
Make a wood shaker
Make mushroom magnets.

@do.mono
@tek_toys

Visitors chose beads and peered into the finished kaleidoscopes,
walked around with insects made from acorns and pipe cleaners,
and shook bean-filled wood shakers.

On the clock faces, participants decorated not only numbers but many other embellishments.

In one corner, poisonous-looking mushrooms and irresistibly cute mushrooms sprouted in abundance.

Animal keychains and brooches, each with its own expression, were adorable.

Many people didn’t stop at just one experience but walked around to multiple booths, which made us very happy 😆

Including the reception staff, the day brought together people skilled in wood education and woodcraft 🏋️🏋️🏋️

Thanks to the staff who watched over and supported the participants, it became a truly lovely time ✨

Thank you very much!!!

#Nishiokoppe Village
#Hokkaido
#Komu Museum of Art
#Summer
#Wood Play Experience Market
#Hands-on experience
#Workshop
#Woodworking
#Making things
#Woody Summer School
#August 2

We would like to introduce our recommended agricultural experience.

This tour lets you discover the appeal of our signature products: beans and fresh vegetables.

You will visit a farm that independently cultivates a variety of beans, including rare types. While walking through fields normally closed to the public, you will hear about the careful methods used to grow beans and take part in everyday farm work.
You will also create an original spice blend that pairs well with beans, and prepare onigiri, an essential part of Japanese food culture, for lunch.

In the afternoon, you will visit a vegetable farm and experience crops from a farmer’s perspective.
In the evening, you will assemble hamburgers using a range of vegetables and compare the flavors of fried potatoes made from different potato varieties, a signature local product. Enjoy the distinctive tastes of each potato.

For more details, please visit the URL below.


We would like to introduce our recommended agricultural experience.

This tour allows you to learn about the appeal of our representative products, “beans” and “fresh vegetables.”

You will visit a farm that grows various beans, including rare varieties, on its own. While strolling through fields you normally cannot enter, you will hear stories about the careful cultivation of beans and try the day-to-day fieldwork the farmers do.
You will make an original spice mix that pairs with beans and, for lunch, make onigiri, a staple of Japanese food culture.

In the afternoon, you will visit a vegetable farm and engage with crops from the farmer’s viewpoint.
In the evening, you will make hamburgers combining various vegetables and taste-test fried potatoes made from different potato varieties, a representative product of the region. Enjoy the differences in potato flavor.

For details, please see the URL below.

https://slow-life-hokkaido.com/tour/tokachi-beans-and-vegetable-farms-gastronomy-tour/

At the summer festival in Obihiro City
Fireworks festival and Bon Dancing every year
Various events are held.
Street performances are one of them.

Performer SYO!'s
Performance.

When Obon is over, Hokkaido
It becomes autumn-like all at once.

Photographed on August 15, 25.
It is a wind chime at the edge of Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine.
The wind chimes on the veranda had changed to the color of love.