We went to Obihiro in Hokkaido for sightseeing and we had a really good experience there last weekend. We stayed at Sapporo on Friday one night and the next morning, our trip in Hokkaido started by boarding the express train “Furano Lavender Express” from Sapporo to Furano. Furano is located east of Sapporo and about a two hour train ride. The train was quiet, not crowded, no traffic jams and we could see a beautiful view of the Furano landscape. I think this was the best way to go to Furano. After Furano, we headed to Obihiro by train and bus.
Obihiro is east of Sapporo and famous for agricultural products, such as wheat, sugar beet, corn and potato, so we visited the Museum of Beets in Obihiro city. That museum is not so large, but the display about the agriculture ,history and the making process of sugar in Obihiro were really interesting, plus the director of the Museum explained it to us by himself. We learned a lot about the the making process of sugar and we had a great time there.
Around 5PM, we went to Obihiro Keibajo (Racecourse) down town and Banei horse racing took place there on Saturday. Banei is not regular horse racing, because the horses pull heavy sleds on a sand course, so it's the only type of this race in the world. These horses are not the Thoroughbreds which are a horse breed known for racing, so Banei racing is using stronger and larger horses. They were originally for use in agricultural work a long time ago and used to pull farming machines and sleds in Hokkaido. They needed power more than speed for agriculture back then. Now, of course we don't use horses in agriculture, but this style is kept in horse racing. It was the first time we've been there and bought the betting tickets. We enjoyed the two races and finally my wife lost money, but I got money at horse racing. We hope to visit the Banei horse racing again and join some backyard tours in Banei horse racing someday.
