Limit to 4-5 Bulbs a Day

Posted on Jun 23, 2017 in Hiroko's Blog, Recipes

Two powers which this bulb possesses: It is aphrodisiac. It was banned to be consumed at Buddhism temples. Consumption should be limited to 4-5 bulbs a day. Overeating causes minor, unpleasant health problems. Have you eaten sweet pickled, extremely crunchy, little garlic like bulbs, which are served with thick, stew-like Japanese curry dish? A little bulb is neither garlic nor shallot. It is rakkyo. Rakkyo, belongs to the Lily family, Allium. Onion, scallion and shallot...

Read More

Rained Out/Cancelled Out

Posted on Jun 10, 2017 in Hiroko's Blog

Some day is hard to swallow. My teruteru bozu (which should have brought fine weather….) is not cooperating…. Rain and winds prevented two cruises from operating in the morning in Shiretoko and in the afternoon in Abashiri. Plan B was to walk to Fall Fureppe. Fall Fureppe is one of the three falls running down over the cliff (200 meter high) along the peninsula. The amount of water running down (ground water) is little, making very fine line of waterfalls. Hence it got a...

Read More

Rausu & Early Fish Market Visit

Posted on Jun 10, 2017 in Hiroko's Blog

We drove Shiretoko Crossing Highway from Utoro(Okhotsk side) to Rausu (Pacific side). From the top of the Highway we saw Kunashiri island, the nearest Europe/Russia/Disputed island. We visited early morning fish market in Rausu. Rausu is a fishing town with about 5,300 populations. Between Knashiri Island Rausu is mere 25 kilometer in distance and is one of the most richest sea. Complex floor bed formations with different depths are an ideal habitat for many varieties of...

Read More

Morning Canoe and Lake Mashu

Posted on Jun 10, 2017 in Hiroko's Blog

Morning Canoe! and Lake Mashu What was a pleasure experience again to join Gaku-san for his canoe tour in Lake Akan in the early morning! The water was very calm and he let us venture on many areas in the lake. We spotted herron, ducks, white tailed eagle,…Serenity. We witnessed Marimo in three different groups. Gaku made a cup of coffee for us by the water. We watched him grinding coffee and completing it with zen-like calmness. His home-made chocolate scones was a perfect...

Read More

Lake Akan and Ainu Culture

Posted on Jun 10, 2017 in Hiroko's Blog

Lake Akan, which was created by repeated gigantic eruptions 31,000 years ago, today sits calm on the eastern part of Hokkaido. If you take a walk, you find out that the Mother Nature is not sleeping. There are small areas where we can see bubbling mud; volcanic gas escaping from the vent. Anyway, this is the hot spring area. Lake Akan is famous for Marimo, algae, which build community in three different ways – sphere shape, dense community on the rocks and floating...

Read More