With its magnificent natural splendor, Hokkaido is full of captivating allure. It has long claimed the top position in Japan’s Most Attractive Prefecture rankings, drawing admiration from people in Japan and abroad. This land of beautiful scenery is a treasure trove of natural bounties, including vegetables, fruits, dairy products, meat, and seafood. Throughout the region, you can savor exquisite culinary delights, and it is also renowned for crafting alcoholic beverages like wine, sake, and beer. Hokkaido even offers a wide array of activities, such as professional and winter sports. Welcome to the great northern island of Hokkaido! Enjoy an exceptional trip as you explore the bounties of nature and traditions here.
This tour will take you to Okurayama Ski Jump Stadium,the competition venue for the 1972 Winter Olympics,where you can have a relaxing lunch while enjoying the magnificent scenery.
In addition to watching baseball games,we will also tour a ball park where there are many ways to enjoy the game.前文
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Experience the history of the Olympics and the thrill of winter sports
Okurayama Ski Jump Stadium
Located in the Okurayama Ski Jump Stadium compound, the Sapporo Olympic Museum allows visitors to experience the allure and excitement of the Olympics and Paralympics. The museum showcases the history and spirit of the Olympics, the legacy of the Sapporo 1972 Winter Olympic Games, and more. It also features simulators for six winter sports, giving visitors a chance to feel like athletes. The observation lounge affords a panoramic view of Sapporo, and there is an adjoining restaurant where you can enjoy dishes prepared using Hokkaido’s finest ingredients.
The museum’s second floor provides an opportunity to learn about the evolution and history of the Olympics from their ancient beginnings to modern times, highlights from past Winter Olympics, and the history of winter sports in Sapporo, including their connection to the Imperial Family. These exhibits are complemented by actual medals, sports equipment used by athletes, a wealth of photographs, and more. In the 180-degree Panorama Theater, visitors can watch dynamic footage from past Olympics, experiencing the athletes’ excitement and emotions.
The ski jump simulator on the first floor allows you to experience the sensation of speeding down the ramp and launching into the sky, with thrilling visuals projected right before your eyes on a large screen. The bobsled run lets you shift your weight left and right to steer the bobsled through the corners of the course.
The observation lounge offers a sweeping view of Sapporo’s cityscape, with Odori Park and TV Tower in clear view from the front of the jump ramp. The lounge allows you to experience the feeling of an athlete standing at the start of a jump as if you are about to fly towards Odori Park.
Near the museum is an annex where, on the second floor, you’ll find Nouvelle Pousse Okurayama, a French restaurant showcasing Hokkaido ingredients. During the season when the 40th Asian Racing Conference will be held, the restaurant serves a vichyssoise made with the sweet Hokkaido potato variety Kitakamui. Highly recommended is charcoal-grilled Kuroge Wagyu beef from cattle raised by Mr. Takada on Shikishima Farm in Shiraoi. Top sirloin cap and top sirloin butt, with a perfect balance of marbling and lean meat, are grilled over charcoal and served with vegetables. This menu item showcases the rich flavors of Hokkaido’s ingredients.
A ballpark beyond baseball spectating that the world has yet to see
Hokkaido Ballpark F Village
Located in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaido Ballpark F Village, centered around the Es Con Field Hokkaido stadium, home of the professional baseball team Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, offers much more than just baseball spectating. Even on non-game days, the park is bustling with visitors enjoying stadium tours, gourmet food, saunas, and more, as admission is free.
To explore the stadium, stadium tours are ideal. The Basic Tour (approx. 50 min.) covers VIP-level Diamond Club Seats, season seats priced from 1.06 million yen per seat; the Club Lounge, where you can watch games from the same level as the field; Dugout Club Seats, located below field level; and the History Area, where the stadium’s retractable roof and innovative lighting systems are explained, among other features.
During the stadium tour, you can step onto the field and explore the dugout benches. The benches, where the players sit, have raised seats at both ends for the manager. Tour participants are welcome to have a seat and see what it feels like to be a manager.
The Premium Tour (approx. 60 min.) provides access to typically off-limits areas, such as locker rooms used by Fighters’ players and team meeting rooms.
The stadium also features Tower Eleven Onsen & Sauna, the world’s first indoor hot spring and sauna facility with a panoramic view of the field. Here, you can watch games while wearing a swimsuit from either the cold bath or the open-air natural hot spring bath.
F Village boasts other world firsts as well. “Sora to Shiba by Yona Yona Ale” (“Sora to Shiba” means “sky and turf”) is the world’s first craft beer brewing restaurant with a sweeping view of the field. Beer is brewed inside the center back screen, where tanks are lined up. The beers served at the restaurant are the brewery’s flagship session IPA “Sora to Shiba Play Ball! Ale,” saison “Sora to Shiba Big-Fly Saison,” a seasonal beer, and three brews from YOHO Brewing Company. The restaurant offers food that pairs perfectly with beer, such as rolled pizzas and fried potatoes, which are easy to eat with one hand.
A “circular farm” restaurant producing natural ingredients like vegetables and meat
Agriscape
Agriscape is a small restaurant nestled in a forest about 20 minutes by car from the center of Sapporo. Here, in the refreshing air different from that of the city center, you can hear the bleats of goats. Most of the ingredients used in their dishes, such as vegetables, meat, and eggs, are produced right on the premises. Chef Kaori Yoshida hopes that guests can sense the vitality of the animals and the energy of the fields, thus nourishing both their bodies and souls.
Agriscape has cultivated vegetables since its opening in 2019, eventually embarking on raising chickens, pigs, goats, and sheep. They also keep honeybees and produce cheese. The generously portioned salads and grilled vegetables accompanying the grilled pork thigh are noticeably fresh. The meats, while tenderly cooked, retain a firm and juicy quality that reflects the vitality of the animals, giving diners a sense of appreciation for the life that sustains them and making them feel invigorated.
