In doing this and seeing the predominately sasa[bamboo] cover landscape has made me think about home much snow this area gets!

Hotel for sale in Niseko, slight snow damage

Sanma or Pacific Saury is one of the many autumn foods that you get in abundance in Japan. It is cheap and can be eaten raw as sashimi or sushi(mmmm:) and cooked in various ways from baked, bbq’ed or in Sanma Takikomi Gohan [Japanese Mixed Rice with Pacific Saury] which you can cook by following dogs recipe in the great You Tube show Cooking with Dog. Enjoy!

So what’s in the pot and on the table this time of year? If you have time to get out into the of nature of Niseko or Hokkaido then you’ll find that mushrooms are everywhere this time of year. One very tasty mushroom I have found is rakuyo kinoko. It is a little different from a normal mushroom as it has a spongy underneath and would have stared well clear of it if it wasn’t for Hiromi showing me what it looked like!

Once you have found enough rakuyo kinoko go home and try Hiromi’s homemade soup. Happy hunting!

Hiromi’s Wild Mushroom Miso Soup

• 3 tea spoon dashi [Japanese fish stock powder]
• 2 table spoon miso paste
• 500 ml water
• 5 medium sized rakuyo mushroom
• 1 small nasubi
• 1 cup grated daikon

Cut mushrooms, nasubi into small cubes. Boil the water and put in dashi, mashrooms and nasubi. Put miso paste before the water boils and turn off. Put daikon just before you serve.

Hiromi mentioned to me that you could add almost anything to this jiryu[soup] but reckons the nasubi is needed. ENJOY!

From Sounkyo village you can ride the rope way, the pair chairlift and then hike to the peak just like in winter. The only difference is like in the village of Sounkyo you will have to deal with lots of people. Don’t be put off though as the quick 1 hour hike to the peak of Kurodake is rewarding and once at the top  you can easily wonder off into the roof of Hokkaido.

The day before I arrived, Kurodake had received Hatsuyuki [first snow] (in Japan) and some fresh snow was still present on the trails and on the close by Ryoun Dake [Mt. Ryoun] which stands about 150M taller at 2125M. Even if it hadn’t snowed I would have still been pleasantly surprised to have seen permanent snow on the peaks and valleys in this “Artic Daisetsuzan” where permafrost is distributed at elevations over 2000M. Check out the photo below of Ryoundake or for more images check out Black Mountain Lodge’s photos. Also don’t forget to check out the other artilces on Sounkyo.

This year also saw the first Niseko River Festival organized by nisade a local development company and with great support from many other local businesses. The festival was enjoyed by locals from all over the Kutchan and Niseko area under the Saint Moritz Bridge.

Kanronomori Summer Festival

When ever you come to Niseko there will always be something to do that you did not plan to do. Even though I live here this is still true and it wasn’t till after watching the All Blacks beat the Wallabies last Saturday that a friend told me about the Kanronomori Summer Festival or kanronomori natsu matsuri.

So off I went to Kanronomori, a boutique hotel at the western end of the Niseko resort area tucked away at the foot of Moiwa Ski Area in the mori [forest]. The festival was small and relaxed and had all the usual Japanese food stalls from Okonomiyaki to barbecued hotate [scallop]. Japanese singers entertained the mostly seated crowd as they ate, drank and talked or just soaked up the atmosphere.

But then unexpected and in show of the Japanese great acceptance and adoption of good things a large group of drummers appeared and before we knew it the whole court yard was full of amazing samba sounds and dancers, an awesome and totally energizing experience. Not to any ones surprise the night was finished off with hanabi [flower fire] or fireworks

Japanese love their festivals so no matter what time of year you are here you will sure be treated to one somewhere on your travels and don’t forget if you are around Hokkaido during summer to drop by the Odori Beer Garden which is part of the Sapporo Summer Festival.

Odori Beer Garden kicks off tonight 21 July 2009

Kanronomori Samba an awesome atmosphere for all the family

Chris driving straight down the fairway at Konbu Yama

Six weeks ago at the Niseko Charity Golf barbecue I won a few pair tickets for a few rounds of golf at one of Niseko Village’s golf courses.

So after a few days practicing my short game and driving at the golf centers just south of Kutchan on route 5 I ventured out for my first game of golf in a very very long time. I grabbed a friend who didn’t have the Niseko Village Golf Season pass and two friends that did and headed out for a 8AM tee off at the Arnold Palmer designed Niseko Golf Course nestled in the foothills of Konbu Yama (mountain) about 5km south of Niseko on route 5.

The Niseko Golf course is very challenging and fun requiring accurate drives and iron shots to get you on the green. Niseko Golf Course is set in a magnificent forested area with sweeping views of the mountains and valleys all around and at some points you can see Mt. Niseko Annupuri, Mt. Konbu and Mt. Yotei all by just turning your head!

Well that was such a fun day that I will head out again very soon. Thank you to my playing partners on the day and Niseko Village for such a great prize!

Ash teeing off at the 16th Niseko Golf Course