We’ve been visiting Higashikawa in Hokkaido several times a year for nearly 10 years now. This summer was a bit hectic, so we ended up with a short 2-night, 3-day stay decided at the last minute. Since the food is amazing and we have friends in town, we usually eat at the same spots. But this time, we were thinking we hadn’t had French food lately and started looking for something different. That’s when we found “Wine Auberge Higashikawa Perican,” which just opened in April 2024.
Higashikawa is the kind of place that hosts the “Shashin Koshien” (Photography Championship) in summer. Even in the middle of town, the views of the rice paddies and the Daisetsuzan mountains are stunning. Higashikawa Perican sits right in the middle of those fields, allowing you to fully soak in the majestic landscape whether you’re inside your room or stepping outside.
They host only two groups of guests at a time for dinner and breakfast, though it seems you can also visit just for lunch or dinner. Since we already had dinner plans with friends for the second night, we booked a plan that included dinner only on the first night.
We’ve been coming to Higashikawa for about 10 years while dreaming of moving here ourselves. The owners, the Sanos, moved here in 2023. They started this auberge while sourcing local specialty ingredients and wines, and they’re even growing grapes in the field right out front, hoping to make their own wine in the future. It was lovely to hear them talk about their favorite ingredients; we even felt a little spark of joy when they mentioned names of shops or farms we knew. Also, the foie gras bowl served at the end was apparently a popular dish at “Perican,” their former French restaurant in Hiroo, Tokyo, before they moved here.
Breakfast was also fantastic, centered around grilled “Hakkaku” (sailfin poacher), a local Hokkaido fish, and plenty of local vegetables. We had tofu from the local Hirata Tofu Shop served with various soy sauces from Hokkaido and other regions, and the freshly cooked Higashikawa rice was so good we ended up eating way too much… The best part was how clearly you could taste the vegetables, prepared to highlight their natural flavors.
According to Mr. Sano, the grapes growing out front should be ready for harvest in about three years. By then, we might be able to enjoy a new local wine here, right alongside the town’s famous Kitoushi Wine.
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