Hokuryu Town's specialties "Newly harvested sunflower rice, Kurosengoku soybeans, sunflower oil, and rice crackers" will be sold in person at Sorachi Fair 2020 (Hokkaido Dosanko Plaza Sapporo store)

Monday, October 19, 2020

The Sorachi Fair 2020, featuring local specialties including newly harvested rice from Sorachi, the largest rice-producing region in Hokkaido, is being held at the Hokkaido Dosanko Plaza Sapporo store (located inside the north exit of Sapporo Station). Sponsored by the Sorachi General Subprefectural Bureau, the fair is being held at the Hokkaido Dosanko Plaza Sapporo store (located inside the north exit of Sapporo Station).

Sorachi Fair 2020

Venue: Hokkaido Dosanko Plaza Sapporo store

Period: 21 days from Wednesday, September 30th to Tuesday, October 20th

The event will run for 21 days from Wednesday, September 30th to Tuesday, October 20th, and 10 cities and towns, including Fukagawa City, Tsukigata Town, Naganuma Town, Uryu Town, Chishibetsu Town, Mikasa City, Yubari City, Minamihoro Town, Hokuryu Town, and Iwamizawa City, will take turns participating and setting up stalls.

Through face-to-face sales, they promoted the specialties of each town.


Hokuryu Town: Thursday, October 15th and Friday, October 16th for two days

Among them, Hokuryu Town will be opening a store for two days, October 15th (Thursday) and October 16th (Friday). The store will be open from 9:00 to 20:00 on both days.

Newly harvested rice from Hokuryu Town

We sell 5 goshu scoops of newly harvested "Kitakurin" rice grown with reduced pesticides, as well as glutinous rice (Kaze no Ko), germinated brown rice Nanatsuboshi, Oborozuki, Yumepirika, and Kitakuri rice!


Kurosengoku soybeans, sunflower oil, rice crackers from the fields

In addition, we sell a variety of local specialties, including processed Kurosengoku soybeans, Sansan sunflower oil, Kurosengoku dressing, and rice crackers from the fields!!!

Staff from Hokuryu Town Hall, JA Kitasorachi Hokuryu Branch, and Kurosengoku Business Cooperative participated from Hokuryu Town and enthusiastically promoted Hokuryu Town.

Thursday, October 15th - opening day

Customers before the store even opens!

Customers began gathering in front of the store and waiting in line 20 to 30 minutes before the shutters opened at 9:00 a.m.


Sales began as soon as the shutters were opened, and we were able to see firsthand how popular it was.


Customers continued to come in one after another without interruption, and by lunchtime there were many customers again!!!


Around noon

In light of the current situation with the coronavirus pandemic, customers are not scooping the rice themselves; instead, staff wear vinyl gloves, disinfect, scoop the rice into 5-go (approx. 1.5 go) measure cups, and bag it!


A 5-go masu (Japanese rice measure) usually weighs 750g of rice. As a token of our appreciation, we are offering a bag weighing over 1kg!!! This will bring a smile to your face!

Many customers in the afternoon

Many Kurosengoku soybean fans also came to the store in the afternoon and purchased lots of products! Thank you very much!


Kurosengoku Soy Meat

This time, when we were developing the Kurosengoku Soy Meat product, we left out instructions and samples, and many people showed interest and listened attentively to the explanation.


Many people connected to Hokuryu Town also came to visit, and there was lively conversation about Hokuryu Town with nostalgia in the air!

Yoshiko Ito, the eldest daughter of former Hokuryu Town Agricultural Cooperative Association Chairman Mitsuo Goto, visited our store.

Among the visitors was Yoshiko Ito (88 years old), the eldest daughter of former Hokuryu Town Agricultural Cooperative Association president Mitsuo Goto. She looked very youthful and energetic, and had a nostalgic conversation with Yukio Takada, chairman of the Kurosengoku Business Cooperative Association.


Promotional activities for Hokuryu Town's specialty products

Visit to Veggy Way (Holistic Bio Cafe Veggy Way, Sapporo)

In between, together with Takada Yukio, Chairman of the Kurosengoku Business Cooperative Association, and Noshirogawa Yasuto, Deputy Director of the Hokuryu Town Office Sunflower Project Promotion Office, we visited Veggy Way (Holistic Bio Cafe Veggy Way, Sapporo City), which sells soy meat, as part of our PR activities for Kurosengoku soy meat. We enjoyed dishes made with soy meat. (Veggy Way website here >>)

▶ Reference article [Enjoy! Happy life of a senior couple]:
・Holistic Bio Cafe Veggy Way (Maruyama, Sapporo) Owner and chef Natsuyo Ando serves vegan soy meat dishes(October 26, 2020)
　

Visit to TOMIZ CUOCA (Tomizawa Shoten, Sapporo Stellar Place Center 4F)

In addition, Chairman Takada of the Kurosengoku Business Cooperative Association visited TOMIZ CUOCA (Tomizawa Shoten, Sapporo Stellar Place Center 4F), a specialty store for confectionery ingredients that supplies Kurosengoku soybeans, and promoted Kurosengoku soy meat to store manager Naomi Nakamura! (TOMIZ CUOCA (Tomizawa Shoten) website here >>）


▶ Reference article [Enjoy! Happy life of a senior couple]:
・Tomies (TOMIZ, Tomizawa Shoten, Sapporo City) Sapporo Stellar Place store has a wide selection of products and is fun to just browse(October 27, 2020)
　

Daifuku craftsman Atsutoshi Nakamura, owner of Sasaya Daifuku (Sapporo city), visits our store

Atsutoshi Nakamura, the owner and daifuku craftsman of Sasaya Daifuku (Sapporo City), which makes Kurosengoku salted bean daifuku (smooth bean paste and whole bean paste) using Kurosengoku soybeans, came to meet Takada Yukio, the chairman of the Kurosengoku Business Cooperative Association, whom he regards as his father. (Sasaya Daifuku's website is here >>）

Visit to Himawari Fresh Bread Bakery Kansuke (CEO: Yoshinobu Yamamoto)

We also visited Bakery Kansuke (CEO: Yoshinobu Yamamoto), which is exhibiting at the basement event in Marui Imai Sapporo Main Store. We spoke to them about their Sunflower Bread, which they have developed and are selling using Hokuryu Roasted Sunflower Oil produced in Hokuryu Town.

▶ Reference article [Enjoy! Happy life of a senior couple]:
・Bakery Kansuke (Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Iwamizawa City) - "Sunflower Fresh Bread" made with time and effort using sunflower oil(October 20, 2020)

Friday, October 16th: Second and final day

On the second day, Friday, October 16th, the store was bustling with customers as soon as it opened!

Sorachi Flower Promotion Activities

In the neighboring section of Hokuryu Town, free flowers were being distributed as part of a campaign to promote Sorachi Flowers and encourage people to decorate their homes with Sorachi Flowers.


Meeting with Ms. Yokomizo Mako of Zensai Co., Ltd. (Sapporo City)

During the event, Yokomizo Mako, CEO of Zensai Co., Ltd. (Sapporo), a vegetarian food manufacturing, sales and wholesale company that handles soy meat, visited the store and held a meeting with Chairman Takada and Deputy Director Noshirogawa about Kurosengoku soy meat. (Zensai Co., Ltd. website is here >>）


Mr. Keiichi Hamada visits our store

In the evening, Mr. Keiichi Hamada, who was seconded from the Hokkaido Prefectural Government to Hokuryu Town Hall until fiscal year 2017 and was in charge of sunflower oil, visited us. He and Deputy Director Noshirogawa had a lively discussion about sunflower oil.

All of the scooping rice "Kitakurin (10kg x 45 bags)" has sold out.

By 7:30pm, just before closing time, the 2kg of glutinous rice, 5kg bags of rice, and the "Kitakurin" rice for scooping (10kg x 45 bags) that we had brought with us were all sold out!!!


The last customer to scoop the rice!


The two days were packed with the charms of Hokuryu Town's sunflower rice, sunflower oil, and Kurosengoku soybeans, and were met with a huge response!
Thank you for your hard work!!!


Additional coverage of stores using Hokuryu Town specialty products - Saturday, October 17th

Visit to Sasaya Daifuku Japanese sweets (Sapporo City)

The next day, on the way back to town, we visited Sasaya Daifuku, a Japanese confectionery shop that uses Kurosengoku soybeans and Himawari Farm's glutinous rice. We spoke to the owner, Atsutoshi Nakamura (55 years old), about his encounter with Kurosengoku soybeans. (Sasaya Daifuku's website is here >>）


▶ Reference article [Enjoy! Happy life of a senior couple]:
・Sasaya Daifuku (Maruyama, Sapporo) Daifuku craftsman and owner Atsutoshi Nakamura creates salted Kurosengoku soybean daifuku that tastes like the bounty of Hokkaido.(October 22, 2020)

Visit to Karamatsuen Soba Restaurant (Naie Town)

We also visited Karamatsuen, a soba restaurant that uses sunflower oil. We spoke to President Masamitsu Sato about sunflower oil.Karamatsuen's website is here >>）


The dressing for the cold soba noodle dish "Sorachino Salad" uses sunflower oil.


▶ Reference article [Enjoy! Happy life of a senior couple]:
・Karamatsuen (Naie Town) Masamitsu Sato's handmade soba noodles "Sorachino Salad" are made with sunflower oil from Hokuryu Town(October 23, 2020)

We send our boundless love, gratitude, and prayers to the many wonderful connections that have been made by passionate people who love Hokuryu through its charming local specialties.

"Heaven, earth, water and the hearts of farmers" With gratitude for the rice of Hokuryu Town, which is filled with the spirit of rice!

Other photos

・Hokuryu Town's specialty products "Newly harvested sunflower rice, Kurosengoku soybeans, sunflower oil, and rice crackers" were sold in person at Sorachi Fair 2020 (Hokkaido Dosanko Plaza Sapporo store). Photos (129 photos) are available here >>
　

Related articles

・Newly harvested sunflower rice was a big hit and exhibited in Hokuryu Town (10/16) @ Sorachi Fair 2020 (Sapporo City)(October 19, 2020)
・Newly harvested sunflower rice was a big hit and exhibited in Hokuryu Town (10/15) @ Sorachi Fair 2020 (Sapporo City)(October 16, 2020)
・(Notice) October 15th (Thurs) and 16th (Fri) Hokuryu Town Exhibit at Sorachi Fair 2020 (Hokkaido Dosanko Plaza Sapporo Branch, JR Sapporo Station North Exit)(October 15, 2020)

◇ Photography and editing: Noboru Terauchi Interview and text: Ikuko Terauchi