Today was a busy day full of lots of travel. We decided early to take
in two of Sapporo's popular sights -- a daytime trip for a tour of the
Sapporo Brewery and a nighttime look at Mt. Moiwa and some great views of
the city.
There was an interesting exhibit that showed where in the world all of the beer ingredients such as wheat, hops, etc... are sourced from. Wheat is sourced from three areas -- Australia, Europe, and Canada. In fact, Sapporo recently won an award from Agriculture Canada regarding its products and the use of Canadian wheat. There were many pictures of Canadian wheat farms -- no doubt these pictures were from Saskatchewan. Sapporo even has buyers and quality control people from Japan in the field in Western Canada. It was really interesting to learn that Saskatchewan commodities are making their way into a Japanese product that is sold all over the world.
We took the train back to Sapporo station and made our way back to our hotel room for a rest. As night approached we decided to make our way to the Mt. Moiwa tramway to get some spectacular views of the city. We were not disappointed.
The tramway is quite similar to the one in Jasper, Alberta if you're familiar with that one. We took a street car to the base of the mountain and then walked uphill for what seemed like miles to get to the tramway entrance. We rode the tram up and took a slight hike up to the observation deck -- what a view! Sapporo is laid out on a large and very flat plain at the base of this mountain. You can see for miles and the lights of the city went off in all directions. This is very similar to going to the top of Grouse Mountain in Vancouver and gazing down at the city. It was quite breathtaking (unfortunately, my nighttime pictures did not turn out as well as I hoped they would).
I'm starting to fall in love with Sapporo. Of all the Japanese cities that I've been to, this has got to be one of the most livable for a prairie boy like me. There are mountains, prairie, and all of the big city amenities that one would want without all of the congestion of places like Tokyo and Osaka. This city is a hidden gem -- not many foreign tourists here. I guess that they spend all of their time in the historical sites of Kyoto, etc...
It is starting to get hotter
here as the week progresses -- in the high 20'sC. Hopefully it will
cool down a bit before our vacation is over. The heat and humidity are
tough to manage.
Many of you have no doubt tried Sapporo beer back in
Canada. It is widely available and is brewed under contract by
Sleeman's in Ontario. It is one of the oldest beers available in Japan
-- the brewery originally opened in the latter 1800's. Having never
been on a brewery tour, we thought that it might be interesting to take a
tour of this mega-facility. If you recall the old Molson brewery
in Regina, this place is about 1000 times larger. Unfortunately, no
pictures were allowed inside the facility -- protection of trade secrets
I guess.
The guided tour took us through the heart of the facility with exhibits on how beer is brewed, what kind of ingredients are used, and a full view of both the canning and bottling production lines. Needless to say, this was very impressive. The production technology at work here is no doubt world-class. The brewery pumps out around 500 bottles of beer per minute -- all to required quality specifications. There is so much beer in storage that it would take one person constantly drinking a 350ml can 2000 years to drain the storage vats! The scale of the operation was incredible. There are mega-breweries like this in Canada and the U.S. but this was the first time that I saw one of them close up.
The guided tour took us through the heart of the facility with exhibits on how beer is brewed, what kind of ingredients are used, and a full view of both the canning and bottling production lines. Needless to say, this was very impressive. The production technology at work here is no doubt world-class. The brewery pumps out around 500 bottles of beer per minute -- all to required quality specifications. There is so much beer in storage that it would take one person constantly drinking a 350ml can 2000 years to drain the storage vats! The scale of the operation was incredible. There are mega-breweries like this in Canada and the U.S. but this was the first time that I saw one of them close up.
There was an interesting exhibit that showed where in the world all of the beer ingredients such as wheat, hops, etc... are sourced from. Wheat is sourced from three areas -- Australia, Europe, and Canada. In fact, Sapporo recently won an award from Agriculture Canada regarding its products and the use of Canadian wheat. There were many pictures of Canadian wheat farms -- no doubt these pictures were from Saskatchewan. Sapporo even has buyers and quality control people from Japan in the field in Western Canada. It was really interesting to learn that Saskatchewan commodities are making their way into a Japanese product that is sold all over the world.
At the end of the tour we were treated to some samples of Sapporo products. Some were good (ie. smooth) while others were a bit challenging (ie.
bitter). Regardless, it was nice to try these out. We even got to eat a
bit of malt -- which actually tastes very good in its raw form! We
were getting hungry so we decided to drop in at the brewery restaurant
for a "Ghengis Khan" barbecue. Basically you cook your own meat
and veggies -- and you get a huge amount. You're supplied with your
very own bib given that the barbecue process tends to splatter fat. It
was a great meal -- we haven't been that stuffed and bloated in a long
time. Why "Ghengis Khan" you might ask? It has something to do with
the barbecuing of meat and the perception that this is how the Mongols
used to cook and eat.
We took the train back to Sapporo station and made our way back to our hotel room for a rest. As night approached we decided to make our way to the Mt. Moiwa tramway to get some spectacular views of the city. We were not disappointed.
The tramway is quite similar to the one in Jasper, Alberta if you're familiar with that one. We took a street car to the base of the mountain and then walked uphill for what seemed like miles to get to the tramway entrance. We rode the tram up and took a slight hike up to the observation deck -- what a view! Sapporo is laid out on a large and very flat plain at the base of this mountain. You can see for miles and the lights of the city went off in all directions. This is very similar to going to the top of Grouse Mountain in Vancouver and gazing down at the city. It was quite breathtaking (unfortunately, my nighttime pictures did not turn out as well as I hoped they would).
I'm starting to fall in love with Sapporo. Of all the Japanese cities that I've been to, this has got to be one of the most livable for a prairie boy like me. There are mountains, prairie, and all of the big city amenities that one would want without all of the congestion of places like Tokyo and Osaka. This city is a hidden gem -- not many foreign tourists here. I guess that they spend all of their time in the historical sites of Kyoto, etc...
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