- Station Bento (Northern Family) - 1100 yen (tax included) Located on the platform of the Shinkansen after transferring from the local line, there is a small convenience store kiosk on the right hand side. I glanced inside and to my surprise, I found the "Northern Family" station bento, which was sold out at Hakodate Station, with one left. I quickly purchased it. As expected from a station kiosk, the cashier's cashless payment was quick. I returned home and ate it. I didn't know much about it when I bought it, but this bento has been a long-selling item since 1973. The rice portion was small, but it included scallops, cuttlefish rice, simmered herring, salmon roe, and other Hokkaido specialties. It goes well with alcohol, and I was lucky to be able to eat it as a lucky end to my trip! Thank you for the meal!

"Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station" is a place I often visit for work, but the area around this station has extremely few dining options, making it a hellish place for food bloggers. It may change if the situation improves with the pandemic and more tourists start coming, but there is no sign of that happening. Instead, it seems like more shops are closing down... There are no new restaurants to try while waiting, just the kiosks. There are two kiosks inside the station building, one of which is inside the Shinkansen ticket gate, which I never go through just to visit the kiosk. I bought a beer, butter peanuts, and potato chocolate grand mini. I boarded the express train "Hokuto" bound for Sapporo, taking a longer route around the Uchiura Bay via Muroran, which seems like a waste of time and money compared to a more direct route. The butter peanuts were surprisingly cheap at 108 yen for the amount. The potato chocolate grand mini was a unique combination of chocolate-covered potato chips, but they melted in the warm weather. The taste was a strange mix of sweetness and saltiness... not a good match for alcohol. There was a customer looking for the popular "Migaki Bento" but it was sold out, leaving them disappointed. Perhaps they have reduced the stock due to the low number of customers. That's all for this kiosk review. Thank you and apologies for any inconvenience caused. m(_ _)m"

The kiosk has already been changed to Newdays. It was a quick trip from Hakodate to Tokyo via the Shinkansen. I only had 6 hours in Hokkaido, so I tried some Hokkaido limited edition beer and snacks. The journey was quite tiring, taking 4 and a half hours to get back to Tokyo.

First, the smell was strong. The rice was hard. The herring was tough. The kazunoko had a good texture.

Celebrating our 60th birthday and retirement with a full moon trip to Hokkaido Part 1 - After working on the 25th, we departed from Nagoya early in the morning on December 26th for Hokkaido, using JR for the journey. We heard that Hokkaido is experiencing a severe cold wave, especially on the Sea of Japan side with heavy snowfall. However, as a couple in our sixties with experience in heavy snow in Kutchan, we bravely embarked on our journey! We took the Tokaido, Tohoku, and Hokkaido Shinkansen from Nagoya, transferring at various stations, and finally arrived at Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station at 12:20 PM. While it wasn't a blizzard, there were strong winds of over 5m/s (-_-;). It was lunchtime when we arrived, and with only a 12-minute transfer time, we had pre-ordered bento boxes to pick up at the station platform. We were able to catch the Super Hokuto train bound for Sapporo without any issues. It seems that there have been cases of people missing their trains due to the crowded transfer process from the Shinkansen to the local trains in the past. Drawing on our experience of boarding the wrong train direction in Niigata, we decided to take the stairs down to the opposite platform towards Tokyo instead of using the transfer gates on the 2nd floor. This way, we were right in front of the transfer gates for the local trains, and the bento kiosk was also right in front of us. It's like turning a disaster into good luck, isn't it? The bento boxes from Hokuto Shichisei and Hokkaido Bento-ya were both priced at 1,300 yen each (tax included) and were worth every penny. In Honshu, you would probably pay at least 2,000 yen for similar quality, but sourcing these ingredients is probably more challenging. The smoked scallops in the Hokuto Shichisei bento were particularly delicious, while the Hokkaido Bento-ya had herring fillets, making it a very satisfying meal. We are currently passing through Oshamambe, with the snow and wind temporarily subsiding, and a glimpse of blue sky appearing. Enjoy the details in the photos!

At JR Hakodate-Kitaodori Station, there is a kiosk called "Kiosk Hakodate-Kitaodori Platform Store" on the Shinkansen platform. Since it takes about 4 hours from Hakodate-Kitaodori to Omiya, let's buy some alcohol and snacks for the train ride. When I visited around 1 pm during Golden Week, there were about 8 customers already busy choosing souvenirs and bento boxes. With the departure time of the Shinkansen approaching, I quickly made my selection and paid. As I left the store, I heard the announcement of the Shinkansen's arrival. I decided to take out my camera and wait for it to arrive. The train that arrived had an E5 series with the upper part painted in Tokiwagreen, the lower part in Hikari White, and a "Hayate Pink" band in between. By the way, the H5 series trains produced by JR Hokkaido have a band in a color called "Sai Ka Purple," reminiscent of lilac, lupine, and lavender. As the front car approached, I thought it was finally time for a photo opportunity, but the elbows of the man in front of me suddenly popped up. Oh no, his elbow ruined the photo! Reflecting on the incident, I thought to myself, "Phew... when taking photos, you need to keep your arms close to your body." The review also includes two recommended items from the kiosk: "Promenade Hakodate Night View White Half 669 yen" - a white wine produced by Hakodate Wine Co., featuring a label with Hakodate's night view, fruity and slightly dry, pairs well with seafood, and "Yamakai Hotate Meshi 900 yen" - a bento box with colored rice (made from Hokkaido rice), simmered scallops, seasoned mountain vegetables, candied chestnuts, simmered bamboo shoots, simmered baby carrots, and pickled shiba. The bento includes three large scallops and is well-balanced with the addition of candied chestnuts. Enjoyed with white wine, the scallops, mountain vegetables, and rice complement each other. Adding pickled shiba in between refreshes the palate. Finishing with the chestnut dessert leaves a satisfying aftertaste. I highly recommend trying this combination.