An evening to deepen love and ties with one's hometown: the 2025 Sapporo Hokuryu Festival was held in grand style

Tuesday, July 9, 2025

The 2025 Sapporo Hokuryu Festival will be held in grand style

On Sunday, June 29th at 6pm, the 2025 Sapporo Hokuryu Festival was held in grand style at the Gyokuyo Room on the second floor of Sapporo Sun Plaza (Sapporo City).

The Sapporo Hokuryu Association is a social gathering for people from Hokuryu Town. It was established in 1968 with members who had moved from Hokuryu Town to the Sapporo area or had ties to the area.

They hold meetings to exchange information and deepen ties, and also hold activities such as supporting their hometown, Hokuryu Town.
This year, 23 people from Kitaryū town, including council members and town hall staff, as well as our town association members, totaling 58 people, participated.

General MC: Kenji Miyawaki, Auditor (from Wakabata)

Chairman's Message: Takashi Takebayashi, Chairman

"Although it is June, Sapporo has been experiencing temperatures exceeding 30 degrees for the past two weeks. Today the maximum temperature was 30.2 degrees, and it feels like summer has arrived.

I would like to express my gratitude to the people of Hokuryu Town and to all the members of the Hokuryu Association for taking the time to participate despite the current circumstances.

We were also joined by over 20 people from our hometown of Hokuryu Town, including Mayor Sasaki and Chairman Nakamura. Today is a Sunday, a day off. You have come from far away, and we are grateful that you have all contributed your own membership fees. Given the circumstances, all of us at the association would like to express our sincere gratitude to you all for coming. Thank you very much.

I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to Mr. Okita, Mr. Yamada and all the other executives for their tremendous efforts in making today's meeting possible.

Well, this week Hokuryu Town has been featured quite a bit in the news. Yesterday, Hokuryu Town's sunflower watermelon was featured in a 30-minute special on HBC's Agri Kingdom, which described it as a small watermelon with yellow flesh and a very sweet content. Also, from Wednesday to Friday, the Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper ran three consecutive articles titled "The 20-Year Story of the Revival of the Lost Kurosengoku Soybeans." As people from Hokuryu Town, I was very happy to watch them.

Well, I think our guests will be talking about the latest situation in Hokuryu Town later, but I'd like to say a few things in advance. This spring, the former mayor, Yutaka Sano, was honored with an award. Former Mayor Sano always cared about the Hokuryu Association and provided various forms of support. I would like to offer my congratulations.

In addition, in relation to the town office, Mr. Yoshiki Tanaka was appointed as the Superintendent of Education in January of this year. Mr. Tanaka and Mayor Sasaki were classmates in elementary, middle, and high school, and after serving as the principal of a junior high school in the Sorachi area, he served as an education committee member in Iwamizawa. He was appointed this January. He is a man with a great deal of experience and wisdom, so we hope that he will demonstrate his skills in the educational administration of Hokuryu Town, and we ask for your continued support.

Now, Hokuryu-kai was established in 1968 with the aim of promoting friendship among people from Hokuryu Town and supporting their hometown. However, as the years have passed, the number of members has gradually increased and the number of members has decreased, and we are currently active with around 90 members.

This time, Harumitsu Ito and Toru Takebayashi joined as new members. However, I think there are still people from Hokuryu Town who don't know about Hokuryu-kai, so if you know anyone from there, please let them know.

Although we have limited time today, I hope we can have a fun time discussing and getting to know each other while cherishing the bond we share in Hokuryu Town. Thank you very much for joining us today. Thank you very much," said Chairman Takebayashi.

Guest speech: Mayor Yasuhiro Sasaki of Hokuryu Town

"Today, 23 people from Hokuryu came to visit us.

I believe that spending time with all 35 members of the Sapporo Hokuryu-kai is a valuable experience, so I look forward to working with you all.

There are 23 members of parliament, as well as organization leaders, and I would like all of you to sit together at the same table and hear about the situation in Kitaryū.

Mr. Takebayashi Takashi has been the chairman since last year and is a former Director General of the Agriculture Policy Department, and I thought his speech was wonderful and flawless.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to you for knowing so much about the recent situation in Kitaryū, as I assume you are always concerned about it.

After this, I think that the people of Hokuryu Town will give a speech one by one, with Mr. Minami as the moderator. I would like to hear a little bit about each group and how they are doing.

This year's Sunflower Festival will be held from July 20th to August 18th. We have introduced this year's poster.
And also, I think we distributed this flyer, which was an A4 sheet folded in half.

This year, the Cabinet Office doubled the amount of grants it is allocating to promote the new regional revitalization policy, "Regional Revitalization 2.0," from 100 billion yen to 200 billion yen.
I want my hometown, Hokuryu, a small local government, to once again support Japan. The local revitalization subsidy has been increased because this small local government is a source of vitality for Japan. The town of Hokuryu came together and the town hall staff made a proper application.
We applied for a whopping 2 billion yen and were able to receive 50% of that amount.

All 1,747 local governments across Japan applied for this grant at the same time, and this is the largest amount in the country.

Thanks to the efforts of our staff, the support of the town council, and the expectations of our townspeople, we were able to secure this large grant.

In the midst of all this, I would like to ask everyone in my hometown, where today began, and the members of the Sapporo Hokuryu Association who helped create this hometown, to please keep an eye on us as we move forward, striving to make Hokuryu a town that can shine once again, a small but shining town.

I will do my best to bring a breath of fresh air to the town, so I hope you will continue to give me your support from Sapporo.

This time, the main focus of this large grant is on related population, and one of the ideas is to cherish these relationships with people in their hometowns.

I truly believe that today's Sapporo Hokuryu Association is the origin of the organization that is working towards regional revitalization. Thank you for your continued support.

I am able to meet with you all twice a year, but the 22 people from Hokuryu Town only meet once a year. I believe I will be able to speak to each of you in a way that will reach your hearts, so I look forward to meeting you all.

Thank you so much, Toru Takebayashi. It's been a long time.

"Those with ties to the area" are those close to the members, so we hope that you will spread the word and that we will see an increase in the number of diverse members.

"I am grateful to have been invited here today. I look forward to discussing many things and having fun, so I hope you will join us. Thank you very much for joining us today," said Mayor Sasaki.

Introduction of Guest of Honor: Participants from Hokuryu Town

Presented by: Hajime Nanba, General Affairs Division Manager

Mayor of Hokuryu Town, Sasaki Yasuhiro; Chairman of the Hokuryu Town Council, Nakamura Shoichi; Honorary Resident, Kikura Ryoji; Representative Director of JA Kitasorachi Hokuryu District, Nagai Minoru; Chairman of the Hokuryu Land Improvement District, Fukase Junichi; Chairman of the Hokuryu Town Chamber of Commerce, Fujii Masahito; Vice-Chairman of the Hokuryu Town Council, Ozaki Keiko; Members of the Hokuryu Town Council, Sato Minoru; Members of the Hokuryu Town Council, Teragaki Nobuaki; Members of the Hokuryu Town Council, Kimura Kazuo; Members of the Hokuryu Town Council, Sawada Masato; Members of the Hokuryu Town Council, Hayashi Yoshiko; Members of the Hokuryu Town Council, Okino Manabu; Deputy Mayor, Okuda Masaaki; Superintendent of Education, Tanaka Yoshiki; Counselor of the Hokuryu Town Children's and Lifestyle Support Division, Mori Yoshinori; Director of the Hokuryu Town Industry Division, Iguchi Junichi; Secretary-General of the Hokuryu Town Council Mr. Ikuo Hase, Hokuryu Town Future Strategy Division Counselor Ms. Chiaki Mori, Hokuryu Town General Affairs Division Assistant Director Ms. Keiko Banda, Hokuryu Town Community Supporters and Hokuryu Town Portal Site Administrators Noboru and Ikuko Terauchi

Nakamura Shoichi, Assembly Speaker

“This marks my second year as chairman since last December, and I am extremely pleased to have been invited here today.

Agricultural products are growing well. Although it is only June, we have been experiencing midsummer temperatures recently, which is a little worrying. I think it is better than being cold. I hope you will eat lots of sunflower rice.

Chairman Takebayashi mentioned yesterday's broadcast on Agri Kingdom and the Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper, but there is one more piece of news. Yesterday, Tetsuro Degawa came from Rumoi and went to Takikawa, and asked if he could recharge his batteries in Iwamura, so the Iwamura area responded. After that, he ate at the restaurant Himawari. TV Tokyo's Saturday night show "Tetsuro Degawa's Charge Me Up, Please?" will be broadcast in August. I hope you will check it out.

I'm so glad you're here today and in good spirits, and I hope you have a great time today.

I hope that the Hokuryu Association will continue to grow in the future, and I ask for your continued support for Hokuryu. I would also like to propose a toast to the health and happiness of all of you who are attending today.

<さっぽろ北竜祭、乾杯！どうもありがとうございました」と中村議長。

"I graduated from Hokuryu Junior High School in 1975. At that time, I had about 80 classmates in two classes, and I am grateful to them for their help. I look forward to your continued support in the future.

"I used to be a teacher at Hokuryu Junior High School, and I'm very sorry for the trouble I caused everyone at Hokuryu. I was lacking in some areas when teaching social studies, so I would like to take this opportunity to apologize. I look forward to your continued support," said Takebayashi.

Banquets and social gatherings

cooking

• Menu
• Assorted Sashimi
• Sawara grilled with oil and Japanese pepper
• Boiled gyoza with gomoku bean paste
• Chicken and Romanesque cream sauce
• Scallop and Kinpira Chirashi Sushi
• Yuzu sorbet

entertainment

The event was a great success, with a variety of sumptuous dishes and entertainment including karaoke bragging, a stunt chorus singing exchange, a bingo game, and a special prize raffle.

1. Karaoke Pride Hosted by: Shiro Fuse and Yoichi Fujita

2. Singing exchange and stunt chorus Host: Isamu Okita

The team splits into A and B, and each team sings a different song at the same time. The game is about matching songs with similar chord progressions to make them sound nice.

Songs: "Momotaro" & "Kintaro", "Snow" & "Spring Has Come", "Den-den-mushi" & "Shojoji's Tanuki Bayashi", Te "Shoes are Crying" & Te "Yuyake Koyake", etc.

3. Bingo game; Hosted by Ikuaki Nozawa and Isamu Okita

4. Special Prize Drawing

• Prizes from Hokuryu Town: Mayor Sasaki will draw prizes to present to members of the Hokuryu Association

  

  

  

• Prizes from Sapporo Hokuryu-kai: The Takebayashi-kai Town will hold a lottery to give away prizes to the people of Hokuryu-cho
  　
  

  

A gift of "Hima Ring" from Kurosengoku Business Cooperative Association Chairman Takada Yukio!!!

Closing ceremony: A toast by Harumitsu Ito, Class of 1971!

This marked the end of the grand Sapporo Hokuryu Festival.

57 years have passed since the Sapporo Hokuryu Association was founded, and the precious spirit of Hokuryu Town is being passed down.

With boundless love, gratitude, and prayers, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the members of the Sapporo Hokuryu Association who love their hometown of Hokuryu, share with us the "spirit of harmony" and "spirit of compassion" that is the frontier spirit that has been passed down, and watch over and support us.

Youtube Video

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