A restaurant has opened in the city of Sapporo where you can taste Ainu cuisine

  • A restaurant has opened in the city of Sapporo where you can taste Ainu cuisine

    2017.06.06

    Experience

    by Shungo Hanaoka

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    DSC_6151“Umizora no Haru”, a restaurant with private rooms based on “chise,” the traditional Ainu house, opened this May. You can experience Ainu culture while dining in the heart of Sapporo.

    DSC_6123Located in the J-BOX building close to Tanukikoji. This building is famous locally as the “building that Santa hangs from.” The restaurant is on the 5th floor.

    DSC_6126The entrance to “Umizora no Haru”. This izakaya has been renovated and has reopened. The “Haru” in the name means “food gifted from nature” in the Ainu language.DSC_6129Mains include crab, fish and shellfish, beef sukiyaki,  and other Hokkaido dishes, and spirits produced in Hokkaido can be enjoyed.DSC_6139The private rooms based on the traditional Ainu house are laid with tatami. Walls are thatched, and clothing with Ainu patterns are displayed in the four person room. These are genuine items, managed by the Ainu Museum in Shiraoi.DSC_6145Limited to only eight servings a day, the “traditional Ainu meal set” which must be preordered by at least the previous day, is made up of four dishes: “ohau,” a soup containing potato and salmon, “chitatapu,” salmon tataki, venison skewer, and potato dumpling topped with salmon roe. In addition, it comes with a sake made from millet, “kamuitonoto”. This brings out the real taste of the ingredients.

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    When it is meal time, boards are laid over the hearth and it quickly becomes a table.DSC_6163A section of the “chise” as seen from the entrance hall. A unique restaurant where within Sapporo city you can easily come into contact with Ainu culture. After 7:00 p.m. it is open for viewing, and you can wear traditional costume and take photos.

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