Ueno Farm

As I have written in the previous post, hubby and I had been on a sightseeing trip to Hokkaido in mid June. On 20th June, we visited Ueno Farm in Asahikawa City. Although Ueno Farm is called a farm, it is actually a wonderful garden. The farm is based on an English-style garden that has been rearranged and adapted to suit the climate and soil conditions of Hokkaido. The farm extends over 7000 square meters and expresses the native seasonal plants of Japan’s northern lands. The farm has a wide variety of hardy perennial plants, and the atmosphere and colors of the garden changes according to the season. The farm is gorgeous in all the seasons with many colorful variations of flowers throughout the year. The farm also has variety of animals and birds which makes it a pleasant place to visit.

Ueno Farm was opened in 1906 by a farmer born in Miyagi prefecture, and since then the farm has passed from generation to generation. Ueno Farm originally sold rice. The farm directly dealt with the customers, so when the customers would stop by to pick up their products, they would be greeted with hospitality. This was partly achieved by planting flowers along the roadside and footpaths in the farm. Furthermore, from that desire to have visitors enjoy the rural scenery, the farm people made paths in the fields as well as planted many colorful flowers, and strived to create a picturesque view so that anyone could enjoy a stroll around. Such hospitality continued for several decades. However, Ueno Sayuki, the present owner and member of Ueno Family, went to United Kingdom in the year 2000 to study gardening. She was shocked at the style of English gardening she found there. She appreciated such gardening style very much and decided to bring the style back home. After returning to Asahikawa, she was given her own field to start a garden in Ueno Farm. She devoted more and more of her time to gardening in the farm and the style of the farm changed completely. After completing her English-style garden, visitors flocked from nearby Asahikawa and beyond to visit. And in just one season the farm received over 50000 visitors. The farm gives visitors an opportunity to view flora that thrives in Hokkaido’s unique climate at different times of the year.

As written in the previous post, hubby and I stayed at a hotel in Asahikawa City on the nights of 18th and 19th June. On 20th June, we left the hotel at about 10.15 am, and went to Ueno Farm located within Asahikawa City itself. The farm was located about 14 kilometers northeast of the hotel, and it took us about 30 minutes of car (rented) ride to reach the farm. We parked the car at a parking lot located near the entrance area of the farm and entered the farm premises. At the entrance area, we paid 800 Yen per person as admission fee to enter the garden area inside the farm. The moment we entered the garden, we felt as if we were transported to another world altogether.

I am standing near a board with Ueno Farm written on it

I am standing near the entrance area of Ueno Farm

We were given these cute stickers as tickets for entering the garden area inside the farm

It was a rainy day, and the drizzling rain put a bit of a damper on our spirits. But we were delighted to see a goose and her grown up goslings walking around freely at the entrance area inside the farm. We also saw a rooster and a hen roaming around freely in the farm. The rooster looked majestic and the hen with black and splendid feathers looked stunning. It was a wonderful and amusing experience to see the birds from such a close range. Afterwards, we sat on the resting chairs set up inside the garden and enjoyed the beautiful views all around us. It was so relaxing.

I am standing along with a goose and her grown up goslings

The goose and her goslings feeding on insects and grass

It was wonderful to see the goose and her goslings from a close range

The goose

Hubby enjoying seeing the goslings walking around inside the farm

A rooster

A hen

I am sitting on a resting chair and relaxing inside the farm

Next, we walked around inside the garden in the drizzling rain. The garden had a large variety of plants and flowers, and was overflowing with beautiful sights and smells. The plants had an amazingly gorgeous radiant glow with many colorful variations of flowers all around us. The sound of leaves of the different plants moving in the wind, the sight and fragrance of the wonderful flowers, and the scent of the damp earth were very pleasing to our ears, eyes, and olfactory sense. It was quite an experience walking in the garden on a showery day. We enjoyed the stroll and had a nice, relaxing, and peaceful time. I would like to mention here that the farm garden is divided into various segments like Long Border, Gnome’s Garden, Mother’s Garden, Circle Border, Mirror Border, Purple Walk, and several more segments. We enjoyed the flowers and the landscaping of each segment of the garden. However for the sake of brevity, I have clicked photos and written about the garden in general without focusing on individual segments. In fact, the garden is too beautiful to fully capture in just photos, but still we clicked a few photos of us enjoying a pleasant walk through the garden.

I am standing in the Purple Walk (no flowers yet) area of the garden

I am standing in the Mirror Border area of the garden

I am standing with fresh plants and a few colorful flowers

The garden is wonderful

Hubby standing in the Gnome’s Garden area

I am standing in the Gnome’s Garden area

I am standing next to colorful flowers along with Gnome’s home in the background

Hubby enjoying the beautiful flowers

I love ferns

Next, we observed some of the plants and flowers in details while strolling in the garden. We were delighted to see so many species of unique and exotic plants and flowers. The explosion of colors from the huge variety of plants and blooms was amazing and impressive. We enjoyed viewing the colorful and magnificent flowers in full bloom. The picturesque views of the garden just blew us away. Afterwards, we stood in the center of the garden, closed our eyes, and just listened to the sounds and smelled the scented fragrance all around us. It was so peaceful and relaxing. Below are a few photos we took of the plants and colorful flowers while strolling in the garden.

Fresh green plants in Ueno Farm garden

Tiny white colored columbine flowers in the background, yellow colored patrinia flowers in the middle, and violet colored hardy geranium himalayense flowers in the foreground

Plants, colorful flowers, and a pond located at the Gnome’s Garden area. The flowering plants of mullein in the foreground make a great impact on the surroundings.

Explosion of colors at the Gnome’s Garden area with violet-blue colored anchusa capensis flowers and red or pink colored oriental poppy flowers

Pleasant view of oriental poppy flowers

A type of red colored rose

A stalk of violet-blue colored flowers

A bulb of purple colored giant allium flower

A pair of pink colored roses

Beautiful tiny violet-blue colored anchusa capensis flowers

Clusters of purple colored digitalis (foxglove) flowers

Clusters of pink-gin colored digitalis flowers

After enjoying viewing the colorful flowers in the garden, we walked along a pathway among the woods just outside the garden. The pathway led us to the base of a small mountain named Shatekiyama located adjacent to the garden. The mountain has an altitude of 171 meters and it actually seemed like a hill to me. We walked further a short distance up the mountain to reach the top. From the top, we got beautiful unbroken views of the surrounding landscape, nearby agricultural fields, and Daisetsuzan National Park in the far background. Standing at the mountaintop, we enjoyed the fantastic views all around us. In addition, we saw two stone statues of Enmusubi Jizo located at the top. These Jizo statues are considered to be the deities of matchmaking and marriage.

A pathway among the woods just outside the garden leading to the base of Mount Shatekiyama

While walking along the pathway, we saw a stone statue of a standing bear in the agricultural field

I am walking along the pathway

I am walking up Mount Shatekiyama

Hubby standing at the mountaintop

Surrounding landscape and agricultural fields as viewed from the mountaintop

Daisetsuzan National Park in the far background as viewed from the mountaintop

I am standing along with the two stone statues of Enmusubi Jizo located at the mountaintop

Afterwards, we walked down Mount Shatekiyama via a different route and saw stalks of brightly colored lupine flowers in full bloom near the base of the mountain. The blooming flowers created quite a picturesque view.

Walking down Mount Shatekiyama

Stalks of lupine flowers in full bloom near the base of the mountain

Hubby enjoying the flowers

The flowers and I

Stalks of pink and violet colored lupine flowers

Stalks of violet colored lupine flowers along with tiny white colored anemone dichotoma flowers in the background

A stalk of violet and white bi-colored lupine flowers

At this point, we finished the tour of Ueno Farm garden. We returned to the entrance area of the garden and went to a cafe and gift shop located within the garden premises. We bought delicious ice cream and enjoyed having it while watching the goose and her goslings feeding on insects and grass.

Hubby having ice cream and watching the goslings from a close range

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Ueno Farm. The garden with many plants and colorful blooming flowers was a wonderful sight to behold. In the evening we went to Hakodate City where we stayed overnight at a hotel located near the railway station. The next morning, on 21st June, we had a grand breakfast at a restaurant located within the hotel about which I will write in the next post.

My birthday

My birthday was on 19th June. Although hubby and I are not into celebrating birthdays or anniversaries in a grand way, we usually have some simple funny celebrations to create happy memories for us. But this year hubby planned a surprise sightseeing trip to Hokkaido about which I will write later in this post.

Hubby knows about my love of all things in pairs. So he bought several pairs of cute dolls from shopping malls in Akita City over a couple of months. He also bought a few beautiful souvenir dolls during our sightseeing trip to Hokkaido. In fact, now while writing this post I realized that he bought a total of five pairs of dolls, namely, a pair of cute ceramic owls, a pair of tiny ceramic Dairibina dolls, a pair of Dairibina dolls painted on an ornamental ceramic plate, a wonderful pair of wooden carved owls, and an amazing pair of wooden carved Nipopo Kokeshi dolls of an Ainu couple with painted costumes. Hubby presented me all these pairs of dolls on my birthday. I was thrilled to get so many cute pairs of dolls. All the dolls are fascinating and fantastic additions to my curio collection.

A pair of 5-centimeter-tall ceramic owls

A pair of 3-cenitimeter-tall ceramic Dairibina dolls

A pair of Dairibina dolls painted on a 10-centimeter-tall ornamental ceramic plate

A pair of 10-centimeter-tall wooden carved owls

A pair of 12.5-centimeter-tall wooden carved Nipopo Kokeshi dolls of an Ainu couple

Hubby often goes to Thailand for business trips. Every time he returns home, he brings back some presents for me and most of the time they are some sort of jewelry. Hubby had been to Thailand during mid-June and brought back two colorful chunky stone beads necklaces. I was very happy with these additional birthday presents.

I love the blue colored and the brown colored chunky stone beads necklaces that hubby brought back from Thailand

On the weekend two weeks prior to my birthday, hubby and I went to a shopping mall named Aeon Mall in Akita city where we watched a Hollywood movie at a theater named Toho Cinemas. We had almost two hours of free time before the movie started. So hubby took me to one of the watch shops in the mall. I was very surprised that hubby asked the shop staff to show pair wrist watches for couples. Initially I thought that he was just killing time, but he really bought a pair of wrist watches. Hubby chose the design and pattern of the watches and they are really very cute. Afterwards he told me that the pair wrist watches are for celebrating our companionship and togetherness. Thanks hubby for the wonderful present for ourselves. I am thankful that God put the most wonderful husband in the world in my path. I am very happy and thankful for all the joy of having a loving and understanding hubby.

The shop staff packed the pair of wrist watches for couples in a beautiful box

Thanks hubby for the pair of wrist watches

I had been wanting to travel by Hokkaido Shinkansen bullet train ever since it officially started its service in the month of March this year. It is the first Shinkansen bullet train line directly linking Hokkaido and Honshu islands through undersea Seikan tunnel. Therefore for my birthday hubby arranged a sightseeing trip to Hokkaido! On 18th June, we traveled by Hayabusa train service of Hokkaido Shinkansen from Morioka Railway Station in Aomori prefecture to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station in Hokkaido. It was really a wonderful thrilling experience and we loved the travel by the newly introduced bullet train. Later we used two other express trains to reach Asahikawa City where we stayed at a hotel for two nights.

I am standing on a platform of Morioka Railway Station along with two Hayabusa trains of Hokkaido Shinkansen in the background

I am about to enter inside the Shinkansen train

Hubby and I sitting inside an express train while going to Asahikawa City in Hokkaido

Beautiful sea as viewed from the express train

Nighttime illumination of Asahikawa City as viewed from our hotel room

Asahikawa is an interesting city

On the day of my birthday on 19th June, we hired a car and traveled from Asahikawa City to Cape Soya situated in Wakkanai City. Cape Soya is located about 250 kilometers north of Asahikawa and it took us about 4.5 hours of car ride to reach the cape. On our way we saw lush green fields and many cattle farms. There was hardly any traffic and it was so quite and peaceful throughout the way. We reached Cape Soya at about 2 pm. Cape Soya is the northernmost point of Japan and on a clear day Sakhalin Island of Russia can be clearly seen further north. The view of the wide sea (Soya Strait) from the cape was spectacular. Standing with hubby on a stone monument at the northernmost point of Japan on my birthday was absolutely wonderful and so peaceful. I felt a sense of fulfillment and it was a unique experience. We returned to the hotel in Asahikawa City at about 10 pm. We were exhausted but it was such a memorable day!

I am standing in front of a Michinoeki Roadside Station on our way to Cape Soya

Cattle grazing in a farm on our way to the cape

We stopped our car for some time to breathe in the fresh air and appreciate the nature

I am standing at Cape Soya

I am standing with hubby on a stone monument at the northernmost point of Japan at Cape Soya

Two deer grazing on a hilltop at Cape Soya

On 20th June, we visited a farm named Ueno Farm in Asahikawa City. The farm is modeled on an English-style garden where we saw many hardy perennials and unique flowers that are suitable for the climate of Hokkaido. In the evening, we returned to Hakodate City where we stayed at a rather expensive hotel named Hakodate Kokusai Hotel. It is considered to be a luxury hotel and overlooks Hakodate Bay. Our room was big and very comfortable, and we enjoyed the stay. On 21st June, we had an impressive buffet breakfast at the hotel. The one thing I will not forget about this hotel is the fantastic breakfast spread. It had both western and Japanese food and the variety is most memorable. We had various kinds of delicious food items. I loved Kaisendon dish very much. It was the best breakfast I have had in Japan. In fact the breakfast of this hotel is ranked fourth in the 2016 ranking of ‘hotels with delicious breakfasts’ (webpage in Japanese) in entire Japan. The stay and the wonderful breakfast at the luxurious hotel were a present from hubby for my birthday. I am very much thankful to him.

I am standing inside Ueno Farm in Asahikawa City

The farm is based on English-style garden

I am watching some television program inside our room at Hakodate Kokusai Hotel

I am standing at the hotel lobby

Our breakfast at the hotel

I am very happy seeing so much food for breakfast

On 21st June, after breakfast, we went to see Kanemori red brick warehouse buildings in Hakodate City. The warehouse buildings were built in 1909 and have great historical significance in the development of the city. Later in the evening, we traveled by Hokkaido Shinkansen bullet train and returned to our home in Yurihonjo City.

I am standing in front of one of the buildings of Kanemori red brick warehouse

This year my birthday became even more memorable when on returning home, I received a hand-written birthday card from hubby’s two nieces by post. They live in Ichinomiya City and it was really thoughtful of the girls to send a colorful birthday card by post in this era of internet. I am very thankful to the girls. The card is very precious to me and I will keep it safely. Lastly, I am thankful to my relatives as well as all my real and virtual friends who send me birthday wishes and messages on Facebook, WhatsApp, e-mails, and made phone calls.

A colorful birthday card from hubby’s nieces

To summarize, I am very thankful to hubby for presenting me a pair of wrist watches for couples (actually they are for us), two necklaces, and several pairs of cute dolls, as well as for arranging the memorable sightseeing trip to Hokkaido by Hokkaido Shinkansen bullet train and the wonderful stay at a luxury hotel in Hakodate City. What a memorable birthday I had this year. I made many pleasant memories. I will write in details about our travel by Hokkaido Shinkansen bullet train, visit to Cape Soya in Wakkanai City, visit to Ueno Farm in Asahikawa City, our stay and buffet breakfast at Hakodate Kokusai Hotel, and visit to Kanemori red brick warehouse buildings in Hakodate City in several blog posts later on.