Japan Diaries 4: Weekend 43

Weekend 43: August 27-28, 2022

Day 299: August 27, 2022

Saturday – "8/27" Family Road Trip

It’s another weekend. It only means one thing, I’m off on another road trip with my family. For this adventure, we plan to go on another overnight camping to Sorachi Sub-prefecture.

Uryu (雨竜町)
We made a brief stopover on one of the scenic roads of Uryu

Uryu (雨竜町)
Uryu (雨竜町)

We left our home in Rumoi City at around 8AM. For this trip, we used the Rumoi Interchange for the first time. This also meant we finally got to drive over the 50-speed limit for the first time.

Uryu manhole cover

Uryu Roadside Station

Inside Kyoun Tsujii Gallery


Our first destination is the town of Uryu (雨竜町). We did a stopover at the Uryu Roadside Station. We were in luck as it was the 25th Anniversary of the roadside station. We received a 300-gram rice packet for free. 

From there, we went to the Uryu Shrine to pay respects and offer some prayers.

Our next stop is the town of Shintotsukawa (新十津川町). We visited the following places in Shintotsukawa:




➢ Shintotsukawa Town Museum

From there, we drove to Takikawa City (滝川市), only a few kilometers away. These are the places that we visited in Takikawa City:


2nd Street Takikawa

Inside 2nd Street Takikawa

➣ 2nd Street Takikawa



Takikawa Tourist Information Center

I got a collectible Takikawa Manhole Cover card from the Takikawa Tourist Information Center

➣ Takikawa Tourist Information Center


Takikawa JR Station

A glider on display in front of the Takikawa JR Station

Takikawa JR Station eki stamp

➣ Takikawa JR Station




Takikawa AEON

KFC for dinner!

Then crepe for dessert

➣ Takikawa AEON

We planned to go camping in Chippubetsu but because it rained hard, we decided to cancel the plan and just drive back home after eating at KFC in Takikawa AEON.



Day 300: August 28, 2022

Sunday – A Road Trip with Matsuda-sensei

Last week, Matsuda-sensei sent me a message asking me if I was available today to accompany him to tour his former students who are visiting Rumoi from Wakkanai. Well, of course, I made sure I’m available. Matsuda-sensei picked me up from home at around 11AM. We then drove to Rumoi Roadside Station to pick up his former students.

Cloudy day at Senbodai

We ate lunch at C-Restaurant

We first brought them to Senbodai so that they could enjoy the panoramic view of Rumoi City. We didn’t stay there long though as it was already lunchtime when we got there. Hence, we drove to C-Restaurant for lunch.

We drove to Mashike via Route 231

Maruzen Sato Orchards

Grape Picking at Godokaisha Maruzen Satokaju Orchards

The grapes here are juicy and delicious


After the sumptuous meal, we drove to Maruzen Sato Orchards, or simply Sato Orchards in the town of Mashike. For 850 yen per person, we got to pick and eat grapes until we couldn’t anymore. I didn’t miss the opportunity to buy a bunch of grapes to bring home to my family too.

Mashike Riverside Park

Shokanbetsu River

After eating our limit, we went to the nearby Mashike Riverside Park to talk for a walk and enjoy the beauty of the Shokanbetsu River and the nature surrounding Mashike.

Kunimare Sake Brewery

From there, we went to Kunimare Sake Brewery to see if there were omiyage/souvenirs that we might like. Luckily, we were already indoors when it started to rain hard. We stayed in Kunimare Sake Brewery for about an hour waiting for the rain to stop. Sadly it did not, instead, Matsuda-sensei braved the rain and walked back to the car to drive it to Kunimare Sake Brewery to pick us up.

We explored Uminofurusatokan


For the last stop for the day, we drove back to Rumoi and then went to Uminofurusatokan. We explored its museum and then headed up to the viewing area on the second floor. Although we wanted to go down Cape Ogon, it was still drizzling so we just contented ourselves with the view from the observation area.

To wrap up the day, we drove Matsuda-sensei’s students back to Rumoi Roadside Station and bid them goodbye. After which, Matsuda-sensei drove me home and we bid each other goodbye as well.

Here's our food for tonight

Overall, it was a fun experience hanging out with my JTE and his former students. What’s more, is that I got to do an ocular of the town of Mashike and found interesting activities that I think are really enjoyable to my wife and daughter. Well, that’s it for today, it's another work week again tomorrow. See you!

Read more:

Japan Diaries 4: Week 43
Japan Diaries 4: Day 299
Uryu Roadside Station
Uryu Shrine
Shintotsukawa Shrine
Shintotsukawa Town Museum
Takikawa Shrine
Takikawa Roadside Station
Senbodai
Mashike Riverside Park
Kunimare Sake Brewery
Uminofurasatokan
Location: 28-3 Manju, Uryu, Uryu District, Hokkaido 078-2600, Japan

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