Travel MAGAZINE A Journey to Discover Your Own BASE throughout Naganuma-cho, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan

Feel the blessings of the earth in Naganuma, Hokkaido.

Standing out against the blue sky, Maoi Distillery is perched on a hill with a panoramic view of the scenic Ishikari Plain.

"Wouldn’t it be nice to get away and relax once in a while?" My boyfriend and I always go to nearby places, but this time we decided to travel to Hokkaido. We found this terrace that is only about 30 minutes from New Chitose Airport and there, you can have a drink while enjoying the beautiful scenery all to yourself. We got so excited about it and told ourselves, "We have to go there!" We booked a flight right away.

Have a glass of wine created by mother nature at a distillery up on a hill.

We drove ourselves to Maoi Distillery which is located in Naganuma-cho, Hokkaido. The distillery not only produces wine but also distills brandy and whiskey, which seems to be quite rare in the world. I wanted to see Hokkaido's nature in panorama already, as it had been on mind since I saw pictures of it, but I suppressed that feeling and we decided to buy some wine at the distillery first.

It was fun picking the perfect fit for us with the help of the attentive staff. And since my boyfriend was driving, I was the one who did the tasting!

I asked for a wine unique to this place and was offered wines made from the Himalayan variety, an improved variety originating from mountain grapes that grow wild in the Himalayas, and the rare "Iwamatsu" variety. They said that Maoi Distillery is the only place in the world that makes wines from those varieties.

"Red wine made from mountain grapes is more acidic and astringent than the regular red wine, so it goes well with Hokkaido cuisine such as Genghis Khan (mutton barbeque) and game meat," said the staff. Maoi Distillery also values local production, mainly sourcing many of the ingredients for their wines and brandies from nearby places, such as neighboring towns.

Being here, I seem to forget the time and soak up the beautiful scenery.

After buying the wines, we headed to the terrace at the hill behind the distillery, which we had reserved through the MAOI SALUD website. We climbed up the hill and reached the terrace out of breath, but when we got there, I was overwhelmed by the seemingly endless vastness of the Hokkaido landscape, with the countryside stretching out beyond the lush green grass and trees, and the blue sky!

Here on this terrace, people spend the most blissful time with friends, couples, and families over drinks, while some even enjoy reading books alone. We, too, enjoyed our time alone while breathing in the fresh air of the great outdoors. We said to each other, "It's a luxury to have this view all to ourselves."

I had orange wine, which was refreshing and easy to drink, while my boyfriend brought some juice because he was driving. We toasted as we enjoyed the magnificent view.

Savor the taste of Naganuma at the Michi-no-Eki (roadside station).

We ordered the "Margherita," which was the waiter’s recommendation, and the "Naganuma Rustica" with mutton from Naganuma as a topping.

We suddenly realized it was already lunchtime, so we headed to Pizzeria TONINO Hokkaido Naganuma, which was in the Michi-no-Eki next to our hotel.

"We use Hokkaido wheat for the dough, and the vegetables for the toppings are locally grown," said the waiter. We were extremely satisfied with the pizza filled with the bounty of the land of Hokkaido, which is something we could not get back home.

The delicious aroma of pizza baked in a wood-fired oven by artisans wafted through the air.

My boyfriend exclaimed, "We can pop this in the toaster at the hotel and eat it there!" Orange wine, which goes well with a wide range of dishes, will surely go well with te-age (fried bean curd) too.

Then, we went to the shop in the Michi-no-Eki to look for some snacks to go with the wine we bought for the two of us to drink that night. Browsing through all the local foods and fresh agricultural products, we went with Naganuma’s specialty, the "Gensen Te-age" made by Gensen Tofu, salted tofu with a cheese-like texture, and jalapenos pickled in soy sauce.

The divine soft-serve ice cream you’ll crave for no matter the season.

Aichu-Land is a soft-serve ice cream shop in Naganuma that is loved by people of all ages. I was drawn by their name and the playful signage.

We wanted to eat something sweet, and when we searched online for options in the neighborhood, we found this soft-serve ice cream shop with a unique name – Aichu Land!

The daughter of Hataya, the owner, made the soft-serve ice cream for us.

When we arrived at the shop, cars were pulling into the parking lot one after another, and people were returning to their cars with soft-serve ice cream in their hands. It was hard to decide which one to choose, but my boyfriend opted for the simple vanilla soft-serve ice cream while I got a little greedy and had the fresh strawberry crepe topped with soft-serve ice cream.

I was curious about the shop’s name, so I asked about its origin. Hataya, the owner, replied, "First, we came up with something like 'Iceland', and during that conversation, the word 'Aichu' popped up. We thought that was cute, so we stuck to it and we named our shop 'Aichu-Land'."

This year marks the 28th year since. Hataya, a soft-serve ice cream lover himself, opened this "place where you can enjoy delicious soft-serve ice cream anytime you want." This shop is open all year round, until 9:00 pm at the latest, so in the evening, many people visit it on their way back from the hot spring.

The fun part is that you can choose and arrange your own topping. The illustration on the wrapper of the crepe was drawn by his daughter around the time she was in the third grade.

There are many regulars at Aichu-Land, and they get such requests as, "I hope you put that flavor back on the menu." Some even come up with ideas for the ice cream cups and parfaits, suggesting stuff like, "You can put this and this together. " Hataya looked happy as he said, "They come up with combinations that we would never have thought of. It's fun, you know." Seeing him talk like that, I realized that he was a shopkeeper beloved by the community.

After returning to the hotel, we spent some time relaxing while watching the sunset from our room window and then we headed to the lobby lounge to have a toast with the orange wine and snacks. We enjoyed the cozy moment of having a drink at the hotel and going through the camera roll to look back on the journey of the day. When I said, "This place looks like it has many different faces depending on the season," my boyfriend apparently thought the same thing.