Healthy Sapporo
Thursday, June 25. 2009
There’s a quaintness about Sapporo that takes me back to my childhood in Kent (now suburban London), 55 years ago. It’s a comfort zone that’s delightful to revisit and a reminder of how community pride and concern, home grown produce (a war time legacy when I was a kid), for the family and sharing with neighbours and the consequent slow cooking improves one’s wellbeing.
In our street the young mum’s seem happy to be working at home, maybe a luxury in this modern world because house prices are affordable to pay off on a single income here. Cars are driven with caution allowing children to play in the road with confidence; tiny tots walk to school unescorted without fear and seniors are active in their gardens, taking a stroll or enjoying their cross between ‘pitch and put' and putting golf-like game. In essence the streets are alive and therefore, safe. In nearly a year of living here now I’ve not witnessed an act of vandalism; seen a drunk or had hoons dropping ‘wheelies’ on the street in the early hours of the morning.
Apart from the home grown food Sapporo benefits from a rich volcanic soil, it’s still host to dormant volcanoes and frequent earth tremors (you seldom feel them and get used to the TV. announcements); subsequently agriculture is evident on a massive scale. On my now regular summer drives into the country I’ve witnessed onions, melons (in hot houses), rice, asparagus and potatoes on farms stretching as far as the eye can see. Fish and other seafood are plentiful and cheap here too.
Yesterday we visited Kyogoku park which sits on the foothills of Yotiezan (Hokkaido’s Mt Fuji), and hosts a magnificent spring. The water is fast running, cold, pure and sweet. The authorities of this beautiful park have been thoughtful enough to supply mugs for visitors to capture a taste from the water cascading through wooden pipes running adjacent to a waterfall.
Peace of mind, Japanese Green Tea and a healthy diet have improved this scribe’s life immensely. Thanks Sapporo.
In our street the young mum’s seem happy to be working at home, maybe a luxury in this modern world because house prices are affordable to pay off on a single income here. Cars are driven with caution allowing children to play in the road with confidence; tiny tots walk to school unescorted without fear and seniors are active in their gardens, taking a stroll or enjoying their cross between ‘pitch and put' and putting golf-like game. In essence the streets are alive and therefore, safe. In nearly a year of living here now I’ve not witnessed an act of vandalism; seen a drunk or had hoons dropping ‘wheelies’ on the street in the early hours of the morning.
Apart from the home grown food Sapporo benefits from a rich volcanic soil, it’s still host to dormant volcanoes and frequent earth tremors (you seldom feel them and get used to the TV. announcements); subsequently agriculture is evident on a massive scale. On my now regular summer drives into the country I’ve witnessed onions, melons (in hot houses), rice, asparagus and potatoes on farms stretching as far as the eye can see. Fish and other seafood are plentiful and cheap here too.
Yesterday we visited Kyogoku park which sits on the foothills of Yotiezan (Hokkaido’s Mt Fuji), and hosts a magnificent spring. The water is fast running, cold, pure and sweet. The authorities of this beautiful park have been thoughtful enough to supply mugs for visitors to capture a taste from the water cascading through wooden pipes running adjacent to a waterfall.
Peace of mind, Japanese Green Tea and a healthy diet have improved this scribe’s life immensely. Thanks Sapporo.
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