Day 1: Sapporo & Surrounding

Meeting in the hotel lobby at 10:30 AM:

We start at the historical Clocktower where the city of Sapporo originated. After our initial ramen lunch, (well, you can find so many ramen shops in Hokkaido and they sometimes serve mini-ramen!), we'll be heading to Sapporo Beer Factory/Museum where we'll take a bus to visit Moerenuma Park. What makes Sapporo special is that there are so many parks and forest that people can enjoy outdoor activities throughout the season. This park designed by Isamu Noguchi is the biggest scale Noguchi ever designed and it's worth the visit. We'll have two-hour free time at this park. You can walk around or spend some time at the cafe. After the park, we'll be heading back to the city center and have a dinner at Moliere, the French restaurants using the best ingredients from Hokkaido. The service here is exquisite and you'll enjoy the fine dining at the first night!

Lunch: Ramen Q -Amazing chicken clear stock ramen that is different from any chicken soup you ever had!! We learn what makes the difference from the owner-chef!

Sweets: Rokkatei Sapporo

Dinner: Moliere (French, Michelin 3 stars. The chef is now appointed to the advisor position at Four seasons hotel in Tokyo)

Accommodation: Keio Plaza Hotel or Monterey Hotel Sapporo (Walking distance from Sapporo station)

Day 2: Shakotan Peninsula & Otaru

Uni is in season at Shakotan peninsula until the end of August. "Shakotan blue" ocean is as striking as California blue sky. We'll hike up to cape Kamui, about half an hour on one way, to enjoy the nature and enjoy the fresh Uni or any sashimi/seafood of the day for lunch. You'll also spend the afternoon at Otaru and dine at the Sushi Matsumoto who was trained under Sushi Saito in Ginza. He is a funny chef and not expecting us to be quiet! I had booked all the counter seats for our group. As he serves seafood we probably never had before, i.e. I had a whale bacon, salt-cured uni, sole fish sashimi and such, I will be asking and explaining a lot to you as usual. If the dinner ends early, I would like to take you to the bar in Susukino where you can try sake, wine and whiskey from all over Hokkaido.

Breakfast: Not Included

Lunch: Uni Donburi or pick the Seafood Donburi you like! (Not included in the tour)

Dinner: Sushi Matsumoto (Sapporo)

Accommodation: Keio Plaza Hotel or Monterey Hotel Sapporo (Walking distance from Sapporo station)

Day 3: Sculpture gardens, Otokoyama & Ueno Farms

Departing from Sapporo, our first stop is Kan Yasuda Sculpture garden called Arte Piazza which took over the old elementary school premise and hill behind the school. As you walk from the field to hill and walk into the old school building, you'll discover the Yasuda's every work fit perfectly in the specific secluded space. Before lunch, we also stop by Otokoyama Sake brewery, one of the most well-known sake brands in the United States. They produce a lot more varieties of sake than we know and will learn the difference by tastings. Try as many as you like! As Hokkaido is known widely for the "Soup Curry" in Japan, I have to include it for the lunchtime and picked the shrimp base "soup curry" with ala-cart toppings!(They have chicken soup curry option, too.) We then visit the Ueno Farm and blue pond. For dinner, we visit a very special place: Valore is an Italian restaurant in Biei with just about 10 seatings. I had a wonderful solo dinner last week. They opened the restaurant just for me as it's currently offseason. I'm very much looking forward to dining here with you.

Lunch: Okushiba Shoten: Find out Hokkaido's obsession with "Soup Curry" (Not included in the tour fee , there are also many toppings you can choose from. Make your own special curry soup!)

Places to visit: Ueno Farm & Otokoyama Sake Brewery, Blue Pond

Dinner: Valore (Italian)

accommodation: JR Inn Asahikawa or KunpuSha B&B (depends on how many single participants, I'll book the different accommodations.)

Day 4: Biei & Night stroll in Asahikawa

Bi-ble is located on the hill where you can look over the famous 'patch-work' colorful hill. The view of this restaurant is absolutely the best in this region. The food is rustic yet sophisticated as it's one of the Molier's groups restaurant. "Farmers in Biei are wealthy enough by doing what they have been doing and not going to run for commercialism just because of the tourists flooding. Not like Furano, you don't see the banners for tourism here." And that's exactly what I like about Biei. We'll spend more time in nature in between our meals. For dinner, however, we'll be heading to Asahikawa for the lamb BBQ, Hokkaido-min's Favorite. If they do BBQ outdoor, it's always the lamb. Even if you don't like lamb, you may like this one as it's so fresh and not so gamey! Also, Asahikawa is famous for Ramen. As we stroll the city after dinner, you may be able to try a good bowl of ramen! (Santouka is from Asahikawa.)

Lunch: Bi-Ble (Included)

Dinner: Daikokuya ("Jingisukan", Lamb BBQ Hokkaido Style)

Accommodation: JR Inn Asahikawa or Kunpu-Sha B&B in Biei.