[Ikeda Wine Castle] True Name Is Tokachi-Ikeda Reseach Institute for Viticulture and Enology

Ikeda Wine Castle

Ikeda Wine Castle (池田ワイン城) is tourist facilities in Ikeda town located in the northeastern part of Obihiro city. The official name is Tokachi-Ikeda Reseach Institute for Viticulture and Enology (池田町ブドウ・ブドウ酒研究所), and it is called Wine Castle because the appearance of the building looks like an European-style castle in the Middle Ages. The distance is about 1 km away from Ikeda Station, and it is relatively near the castle. The building is built on a small hill of about 25 m elevation, so a view is good. Especially, the sunset is beautiful, so it has been chosen as one of Japan Sunset Best 100 (日本の夕陽百選). Admission free. A parking lot is free of charge.

Movie of Ikeda Wine Castle

Grape Exhibition Garden (ブドウ展示園) is at a garden beside the Ikeda Wine Castle, so "Kiyomai (清舞)" and "Yamasachi (山幸)", original varieties, can be seen closely. Besides, DCTgarden IKEDA is build at the site, and items in relation to Ms. Miwa Yoshida (吉田美和 * Dreams Come True, a famous Japanese new wave/rhythm and blues band) from Ikeda town are displayed. As for an event, Ikeda Town Autumn Wine Festival (池田町秋のワイン祭り) is held only in a day, early October. By the way, Happiness Dairy (ハッピネスデーリ), a popular sweets shop, is relatiely near here. I visited there, and gelato was tasty.

Movie of Ikeda Town Autumn Wine Festival

Happiness Dairy

Happiness Dairy (ハッピネスデーリィ) is a sweets and cheese shop in Ikeda town located in the northeastern part of Obihiro city. They sell dairy products such a cheese, a pizza and a gelato. Shimaki ranch (嶋木牧場) runs it and sells their's products. There was a building near Ikeda Wine Castle, and I happened to pass there by chance, too. Because many cars were parked at a parking lot, I thought that it must be tasty, and I dropped in. Article is here