Furano – Asahikawa 46 miles Furano is famed in summer for its fields of lavender, and with the season’s sudden change farm labourers were out in force maintaining the crop in readiness for the hive of tourists that would shortly follow. Being slightly too early I would miss out on the lavender at its peak but would however as the day progressed into another absolute belter witness Hokkaido’s agricultural splendour. Milk, beef, potatoes, soybeans, sugar beet, pumpkin, onions, wheat, corn and of course rice are all consistent in making the island Japan’s number one producer of agricultural products. And it’s no surprise when you consider that Hokkaido farms a fourth of Japans arable land. The idyllic panorama and patchwork roads just outside the small rural town of Biei offer up a fine and scenic example of
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