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.

This summer's fireworks festival was insanely good to feel the summer!

This is a photo of when I went to the wind chime temple in Uji. The Scene with beautiful wind chime such as blue and red are lined up in an orderly manner is also beautiful, but when the wind blows and the wind chime illuminated by the sun, it is beautiful and I felt cool. In addition, there are teru teru bozu and sunflower wind chimes that you won't notice unless you look closely, so you can enjoy it both visually and audibly!

This is a photo of when I went to the wind chime temple in Uji. The Scene with beautiful wind chime such as blue and red are lined up in an orderly manner is also beautiful, but when the wind blows and the wind chime illuminated by the sun, it is beautiful and I felt cool. In addition, there are teru teru bozu and sunflower wind chimes that you won't notice unless you look closely, so you can enjoy it both visually and audibly!

【👒Summer in Gokase 2025 Photo Submissions — Spotlight 1👒】

We are featuring photos submitted to the "#Summer in Gokase 2025" contest currently running on the Gokase Tourism Association Instagram account!

@goto0619
@niidome2110
@sakai_0808

Thank you for your submissions 😆✨
We are still accepting entries!!

How to enter (Submission period — through September 15)
Follow the Gokase Tourism Association Instagram account (@gokase_kanko) and post with the hashtags "#Summer in Gokase 2025" and "#Gokase" 📸
We look forward to your entries 🙇‍♀️✨

Photographed on August 15, 25.
It is a kazaguruma in front of the Otorii Gate of Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine.
I took it around 7 o'clock in the morning.

In August 2014, I visiting the site Yomitan Village Eisa Festival (Yomitan Village Sports Square).
In the heat, the young people were lively!

I found a wind chime with a red thread.

"Shinshu Shinmachi Rokaku Lake Toro Nagashi and Fireworks Festival"
Held in today 8/15 (Friday)!
While eating delicious food, you can enjoy it up close as if you were looking up at the fireworks!
Specialties Genghis Khan can also be purchased in the stall area!

*Please check the official website for details.

#Lake Rokaku Toro Nagashi and Fireworks Festival #Shinshu Shinmachi

#010

Long time no post!! Today I’ll introduce Tsuno Town’s fireworks display and river festival, held on Friday, August 22.

Tsuno Citizens’ Fireworks Display
Organized by the Tsuno Citizens’ Fireworks Display Executive Committee, this show launches from rice fields where the harvest is finished. No specific viewing areas are designated, so many watch from the concurrently held river festival site, while others enjoy clear views from farther away. The fireworks look different depending on where you watch, and about 3,000 shells will light up the night sky over Tsuno.
The highlight is that you can look down on the fireworks from the hillside parking lot of Tsuno Winery. Why not come for a fireworks experience you can’t usually have?

Date: Friday, August 22, 2025
Time: From 8:00 PM
TEL: 0983-25-5501 (Tsuno Winery)
If it rains, the event will be postponed to Sunday, August 24.

Tsuno Town River Festival
Held at the same time as the Tsuno Citizens’ Fireworks Display, this river festival is organized by the Tsuno Chamber of Commerce and Industry Youth Division. Food stalls line the Tsuno River Fureai Street beside Tono Shrine, and the event features plenty of fun stage programs for children.

Date: Friday, August 22, 2025
Time: 3:00 PM–9:00 PM
TEL: 0983-25-0200 (Tsuno Chamber of Commerce and Industry)
Parking: Please use Roadside Station Tsuno.

On the day of the event, Tsuno Winery and the area around Tono Shrine are expected to be crowded with cars and visitors from about one hour before the fireworks launch. Please take care when you come.

Today, I attended the Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine Monthly Festival and the End of the War Memorial Festival.

Event Announcement 📣

On Sunday, August 17, 2025, the “Shihoro 7,000-People Festival” will take place 😊

The festival is packed with attractions, including food stalls, the Shihoro Highlands Taiko drum performance, hot-air balloon trial rides, and stage events.

On stage you can enjoy a variety of performances, from a baton routine by the Shihoro Baton Mates and dance shows to Shihoro Ondo and Gujo Odori folk dances, yosakoi dance performances, and a calligraphy performance 🎵🎵

Don’t miss the spectacular “flower mikoshi” made with Mino washi paper, a specialty of our sister city, Mino in Gifu Prefecture! 🤩🤩

There are plenty of hands-on activities too, such as a tractor display, rainbow trout fishing, calf petting, fire truck rides, ranger experiences, and water-spraying demonstrations.

On August 20, there will also be a children’s bon odori and a costume bon odori for individuals and groups. 😍😍

Join the unique local festivals in each area and enjoy the summer 🤗🎶🎶

📌 Main Festival
📍 Date and Time: Sunday, August 17, 2025, 10:30–16:00
📍 Location: Around Shihoro Town Community Plaza
*The festival will go ahead in light rain; in heavy rain it will be held at the Comprehensive Training Center*

📌 Costume Bon Odori
📍 Date and Time: Wednesday, August 20, 2025, 18:00–21:00
*In case of rain the event will be postponed to the backup date, August 21*
📍 Location: Nishi 2-sen, Shihoro Town

https://www.shihoro.jp/tourism/detail.php?content=126

A Long-Awaited Hike up Mt. Shiraiwa 👟

From the 13th to the 17th, the town road Hon’yashiki–Hagisen reopened to regular vehicles, so I left my car at Gokasecho Highland Ski Area’s Ski Center and hiked up Mt. Shiraiwa 💪

Because the management road up to the ski area still prohibits ordinary cars, I first headed on foot for the Gobobatake trailhead ✨

About 30 minutes after starting, I reached the Gobobatake trailhead 💡
From there I set off on my long-awaited hike up Mt. Shiraiwa 😊

The trail was rough at first, but it was generally easy to walk and the cool weather made the climb comfortable ✨
At the summit I exchanged valuable information and learned about conditions on nearby peaks 👍

The photos show an asagi-madara butterfly and alpine wildflowers I encountered along the way 🥰
It felt great to hike Mt. Shiraiwa again and it was a refreshing experience 😆