[Matsuo Genghis Khan Takikawa Head Office] Secret Sauce and Tender Grilled Sheep Meats Are Very Tasty

Matsuo Genghis Khan

Matsuo Genghis Khan (松尾ジンギスカン) is a famous mongolian barbecue chain restraunt founded in 1956, and their head office is in Takikawa city located between Sapporo city and Asahikawa city, and is affectionately called "Matsujin (マツジン)" by Hokkaido people. Mr. Yoshihiro Matsuo (松尾 吉洋) is a company president now. Mongolian Barbecue (Genghis Khan) of Hokkaido has 2 styles, Takikawa style (滝川流) and Tsukisamu style (月寒流), and the Matsuo Genghis Khan is one of the most famous Takikawa style mongolian barbecue restraunts. It is also a feature that they produce and sell sheep meats and sauce themselves. Except the Takikawa, their branch restraunts and franchise restraunts also open a business in the Sapporo, New Chitose Airport, Kitahiroshima, the Asahikawa, Abashiri, Kushiro, Chitose, Iwanai, Iwamizawa, Shinjuku, Akasaka, Ginza and so on.

I visited the Matsuo Genghis Khan Takikawa Head Office to eat their mongolian barbecue. First I guess that visitors are surprised at large buildings, and A 4-story main building and a 3-story annex building are built at the site. Ordinary customers can enter the only main building. A Japanese garden is at the main building, and carps swim in a pond. Customers can enjoy meals while seeing the garden through windows. A souvenir shop is on the 1st floor of the main building, too, and customers must go the restraunt through the souvenir shop. The restraunt on the 1st floor of the main building is large, and has cleanliness. All seats are table seats, so I suppose that family customers also enjoy meals.

Speaking of the Takikawa, Canola Flower Fields is famous. Takikawa Canola Flower Festival is held in late May. Except that, Takikawa Sky Park, Roadside Station Takikawa, Maruka Highland Lookout, Science Museum for Child, Colonizers' House are relatively popular tourist attractions. Hot springs gush out in the Takikawa, and a day trip onsen can be enjoyed in Ebeotsu Onsen and Takikawa Onsen.

Canola Flower Fields

There are about 60 canola flower fields in Takikawa city. Planted area changes every year, but the total area is about 150 ha. The canola flower planted area seems to be the largest area in Japan and is in full bloom from late May to early June, during the period the canola flower field in the Ebeotsu district (江部乙地区) is opened to general public and tourists can enjoy a scenery of the canola flower field like a typical Hokkaido scenery. Because an observatory deck is built, tourists can look over the canola flower field from the top. The yellow canola flowers and the blue sky will take our breath away. There is a restroom in the site. A parking lot is not provided, and the tourists can park their cars on the shoulder of the road. Article is here

Ebeotsu Onsen

Ebeotsu Onsen (えべおつ温泉) is a hot spring place in Takikawa city located in the northeastern part of Sapporo city. Ebeotsu Onsen Ryokan (えべおつ温泉旅館) is built in front of Ebeotsu Station. Restraunts and convenience stores are relativelt near here. The distance between the Ebeotsu Onsen and the center of the Takikawa is around 10 km, and it is little far away. It is the origin of the Ebeotsu Onsen that an angler found a cold spring source in Taisho period. After that, it succeeded in drilling hot spring in 1982, and 2 types of springs can be enjoyed at the Ebeotsu Onsen. Article is here

Mongolian Barbecue of Hokkaido

Genghis Khan (ジンギスカン * Mongolian barbecue) is one of the most famous local dishes of Hokkaido, and is a dish to grill sheep meats and vegetables, and is called the comfort food of Hokkaido people. Except the Hokkaido, the Genghis Khan is also a familiar local dish in a part of Iwate Prefecture or Nagano Prefecture. The reason why the Hokkaido is closely related to the mongolian barbecue is that 5 national sheep breeding ranches were built in Takikawa (滝川), Tsukisamu (月寒), Tomobe (友部) in Ibaraki Prefecture, Hojo (北条) in Ehime Prefecture and Kumamoto (熊本) after Japanese goverment declared a production increase of wool in Meiji period. In those days, Japanese had no custom of eating meat, and did not like the taste since the sheep meats had unique taste. But the Genghis Khan is one of devised dishes for using the sheep meats as well as the wool without being wasted. Indeed, the sheep meats are different from beef and pork, and have the unique taste, so it has people divided between those that like it and those that hate it. On the contrary, the unique taste may captivate the Hokkaido people's taste buds. Article is here