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「Tales of my Tongari town」

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vol.5　Hiroo

Capturing the footprint of the cattle

 

I am a staff member at a farm called Kikuchi Farm in Hiroo, Hokkaido.
 I take about 30,000 pictures of cows a year.

Cows are not pets, but economic animals. 
I wanted to capture the lives of these cows in the form of photographs and share them on social networking sites in hopes that people would become more familiar with cows and dairy farming… That’s why I personally created the 2020 calendar using my photography.

Kikuchi Farm, where I am currently working, has a café on the farm, and I had my calendar displayed in the store.

One of our customers saw the calendar and asked for one. 
For that person, we decided to market the 2021 calendar.

It may have been because it was the year of the cow, but it was touching that someone who had never heard of Hiroo Town or Kikuchi Farm bought the calendar.

This year, we also started a new project to have the public name calves that are born on the farm.
I hope that people who named the calves are inspired to visit Hiroo Town and Kikuchi Farm to meet them!
 I love Kikuchi Farm because I can coexist with the cows.

I hope that everyone will visit the Kikuchi Farm Cafe and feel more familiar with cows and dairy farming.

Kikuchi Farm

8-4, Nozuka 11 line, Hiroo-cho, Hiroo-gun
TEL 01558-2-0008
Website:　：　https://kikuchifarm.jp/

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Photo・Written by

Suzushii Natsu。（Hiroo／Team Tongari）

 

 

 

 

Born in Niigata Prefecture. After graduating from an agricultural high school, I came to Hokkaido with no friends or acquaintances to fulfill my dream of working on a farm in Hokkaido.
 For the first three years, I worked at a ranch in Shintoku-cho, and thanks to the cows I love and my camera, I was able to find my place here at Kikuchi Farm, surrounded by the people I love and of course, the cows.

The location information is also available on Google Map as “Tales of my Tongari town”!

Team Tongari will continue to publish this “Tales of my Tongari town”.
We’ll be updating this regularly from now on, so stay tuned!

▼Hokkaido Camera Girls’ Association Website　https://hokkaido-camera.com/

「Tales of my Tongari town」

 

In 2019, we started the project “Team Tongari” in collaboration with Tongari Road Wide-area Cooperation Council and Hokkaido Camera Girls’ Association.
Team Tongari has been working on a project to promote the charms of Urakawa, Samani, Erimo, and Hiroo through photography and words to supplement.
“Team Tongari” was initiated by a group of camera-loving local girls. 
23 women living in Tongari Road area have been taking photographs while rediscovering the beauty of their hometowns.
As the next series of “Tongari Cuisine Blog”, “Tales of my Tongari town” is a new series of reports about the team’s recent discoveries of local gems of Tongari Road.

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vol.4　Samani

The Hidaka region, home of racehorses

 

About 500 racehorses are born every year at farms in Urakawa, Samani, and Erimo towns. Many of the farms are small and family-oriented. Since they are small and family-oriented, they love each and every horse and take good care of them as if they were their own family.

The birthing season for these horses is in the middle of the winter. After ten months in the belly, the foal is born weighing about 50 kilograms(100 lbs), it stands up in about an hour after being born, and gains about one kilogram every day.

The foal, called “Tonekko”, is always with its mother. From winter to spring, you can see them snuggling up together just like in a nursery rhyme.

As they grow, the foals begin to play with each other, and in the fall they are weaned and separated from their mothers.

In the fall of the following year, they are moved to a farm where they are trained to become racehorses, and when they are two years old, they make their debut as racehorses.

Although they are physically large, horses are sensitive and fearful. Loud noises, flashing lights, and sudden movements may startle them and cause injury to both horse and person.

Come and enjoy your time with the horses, but keep these precautions in mind to make them feel comfortable.

Website

Samani Kyoei Bokujyo Facebook page　Facebook page　

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Photo・Written by

Makiko Tsuji（Samani／Team Tongari)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Samani is a town rich in nature and full of seasonal attractions.
Delicious food, charming people, beautiful scenery, cute animals and interesting plants…
I would like to share these wonderful things that can only be found here through my photographs.

The location information is also available on Google Map as “Tales of my Tongari town”!

 

Team Tongari will continue to publish this “Tales of my Tongari town”.
We’ll be updating this regularly from now on, so stay tuned!

▼Hokkaido Camera Girls’ Association Website　https://hokkaido-camera.com/