“Everybody’s welcome here
Everybody welcome to my city
We ain’t got no worries here
I know you’re gonna like it in my city”
– Priyanka Chopra, “In My City“

So let me introduce you to the city I now call “home”.

Obihiro is the only designated city in the Tokachi Subprefecture. Tokachi is a subprefecture of Hokkaido and is considered the “Food Basin of Hokkaido” because of its vast agricultural produce. Hokkaido is the northernmost part of Japan, famous for its natural beauty.

Going back to Obihiro, Japanese settlers from Honshu founded this place in 1883. They designated it as a city in 1933. Although it is a “city”, its characteristics are more of a rural town than an urbanized city. As of 2014, there are just 168,170 people living in Obihiro with a density of 271 people per square kilometer. Except for the city’s downtown, you can barely see people on the streets late at night. I can say that it is a good location candidate for filming a zombie apocalypse TV series or movie, lol.

What I like about Obihiro is that its location seems to be a great starting point for traveling around Hokkaido. It is like the gateway between East and West Hokkaido. Aside from that, there are still many things to enjoy inside the city, which I recommend when you visit Obihiro.

THE SIGHTS

Ban’ei Horse Racing. This is not your typical horse racing. Ban’ei is unique in Obihiro. Draft horses, which are crosses of Percheron, Breton, and Belgian breeds, are used. These metric-ton-weighing horses compete by pulling sleds. The sleds weigh between 400 kg and 1 ton. They pull these sleds up sand ramps. Jockeys command them while sitting on top of the sleds. Animal cruelty you might say, but this makes Obihiro an interesting place to visit.

Obihiro Zoo. Though the zoo is not very big, it is still worth a visit, especially for the two polar bears.

THE FOOD

Soup Curry. I definitely love soup curry and this is my favorite food here in Japan. And among the restaurants that offer soup curry here, Sama Curry and Cafe is the best. Originating from Sapporo, the soup curry is a mix of vegetables and various toppings. In Sama, you can choose your soup base from tomato, shrimp, coconut, and their original soup. Then, you can choose the meat, whether it will be chicken, burger, steak, or just pure vegetables. The spiciness level ranges from 0 to 30. Be careful if you are not so fond of spicy food. My favorite is the chicken in coconut soup with cheese toppings in a spicy level of 5. You can also try their monthly soup curry special. As far as I know, almost all the foreigners here in Obihiro are hooked on the soup curry in Sama.

Butadon. Butadon literally means pork bowl (“buta” means pork and “don” from “donburi” means bowl). As the name says, it is a dish with a rice bowl topped with pork. The pork is simmered in a sweet sauce (called “butadon” sauce). This dish can be found all over Japan. It originated from Obihiro, so it is a must for all the tourists to try. They even said that Obihiro is synonymous to “butadon”.  There are a bunch of butadon shops in Obihiro, but my favorite one is probably Ippin.

Jingisukan or Genghis Khan. Until now, I still don’t know why this food is named after the great Mongol leader. Jingisukan is a grilled mutton dish. While being served raw, you can grill it from medium-rare to charred black (which I don’t recommend, of course). The fresh, juicy, and tender taste of the lamb’s meat slices will make anyone drool. Shirakaba Jingisukan is a famous restaurant for this dish in Obihiro.

THE EVENTS

Obihiro Ice Festival or Obihiro Koori Matsuri. Obihiro has a long winter thus this was used as an advantage to make its own festival during this season. Still, this is just a small festival as compared to the one held in Sapporo every February. Held at Midorigaoka Park in late January, Obihiro citizens create snow and ice sculptures. The military from the Japanese Self-Defense Force also contributes to these sculptures. At night, there will be fireworks and illumination, creating a magical atmosphere with the snow and ice sculptures. But beware, it will be very, very cold there at night. So you should better gear up to survive the night.

Kachimai Fireworks Festival or Kachimai Hanabitaikai. Regarded as one of the largest fireworks show in Japan, this event attracts tourists from other parts of the country. This is held every year on August 13th at the Tokachi river banks. The show uses about 20,000 fireworks, particularly the high-quality artistic Japanese fireworks called “Geijutsu-dama.” It features musically harmonized lights and a fireworks display. The golden fireworks “Nishikikamuro” always end the festival covering the sky in gold.

THE LONG WINTER

Yes. We have a long winter here. If you want to enjoy Winter Wonderland for almost half of the year or hang out with Frozen’s Elsa while singing “ari no mama no sugata miseru no yo” (of course, you should sing the Japanese version of Let It Go!), Obihiro is the place to stay! The winter usually starts in November or December. It ends in April. Sometimes it can even extend up to May. So far, the lowest temperature I have experienced here is -20°C. I definitely don’t want it to be any lower than that.

There is not much to do here in Obihiro. I really enjoy living here. Heavy snowfall is the only exception.