Day 2 of the family trip to the north, it's Sarufutsu Village. Once mocked for its poverty due to overfishing of scallops in the 1940s, the village has since grown into a rich community with successful scallop seedling release projects. Leaving my wife and son at Hamatonbetsu Road Station, I visited Sarufutsu Road Station "Sarufutsu Park" alone to collect stamps. Just to clarify, Hamatonbetsu Road Station "North Okhotsk Hamatonbetsu" is a new facility with a play area for children, baby-friendly facilities, and nursing spaces. So, leaving them there to enjoy their time was a better choice than dragging them around in the car. My son played while my wife caught up with an old friend, and I indulged in my hobby of collecting stamps at the road station. Next, I visited the JF Sarufutsu Direct Sales Store, where I tried the "Tokimeki Soft." It's not soft-serve ice cream but scallop meat. The intense flavor and aroma of the scallop spread throughout my mouth instantly, making it the best scallop I've ever tasted. Highly recommended! Additionally, the "Tokimeki Soft" is also available at the Sarufutsu Park Road Station, but it's 100 yen more expensive there. I recommend visiting the direct sales store for this delightful treat.

One day, while driving on the national highway towards Sarufutsu Village, I saw a banner for "Tokimeki Soft". I thought they were selling soft serve ice cream, but it turned out that Tokimeki Soft was actually scallops. They were sold in packs of 2 for 350 yen and were delicious. The staff mentioned that occasionally people come to the shop thinking they sell soft serve ice cream. This is the "JF Sarufutsu Direct Sales Store" run by the Sarufutsu Village Fisheries Cooperative Association. They open from 9:00 am, but are closed during the winter season from December 26th to March 31st. They also sell frozen scallops and dried scallops. They have online sales available on their website. Thank you for the meal! JF Sarufutsu Direct Sales Store (Sarufutsu Village Fisheries Cooperative Association) 992-310 Hamakishibetsu, Sarufutsu Village, Soya District 01635-2-31110 9:00-16:45 (4/15-10/15) 09:00-16:15 (10/16-10/31) 09:00-15:45 (11/1-12/25) Winter closure (December 26th-March 31st) http://eihoka.exblog.jp/26007944/

Hokkaido Wanderlust Trip 62 Sapporo Village - A unique dish only found here: "Scallop Second Cooking". This dish became very popular after being featured on TV, but sales were halted due to rough seas. Finally, on this day, the scallops were brought in, but due to a large number of reservations, they were sold out. I ended up buying the "Excitement Soft" which is a quick-frozen version of the dish. The flavor of the scallops was concentrated and delicious! However, at ¥400 for a pack of 2, it was a bit expensive. I also bought some kimchi and clam strings as snacks. We drove from Cape Soya, the northernmost point of Japan, to the Soya Kaigan Road, passing by windmills and white roads. Unfortunately, the drive was not very enjoyable due to drizzle and strong winds.

On the first day of my trip to Hokkaido in 2020, I visited the "JF Sarufutsu Direct Sales Store" in Sarufutsu Village. Despite the name, it has nothing to do with Matsuda Seiko or Jeff-kun – just a joke! This shop offers reasonably priced scallops, a specialty of Sarufutsu Village. I wanted to keep it a secret, but here is my revisit review. I bought scallops to send to my parents as a souvenir. It's a way of showing filial piety, right? My parents' house? Which one? Both. I have to send them to both to avoid any conflicts. The scallop meat is 3S size, 1kg for 2900 yen, frozen. We enjoyed it at my wife's parents' house. Thawed and served as sashimi, it was incredibly delicious and rich in flavor. I didn't expect frozen scallops to be this tasty. Absolutely amazing!