Hello Hokkaido, Salmon Aquarium

We land at Chitose airport, about 1 hour from Sapporo, in the evening. The first hurdle is picking up our rental car. The rental car office closes at 8 pm and our flight lands at 7:30 pm, cutting it quite close. Papa Bear had called to confirm and gave them our flight number and they seemed ok with it. But I still worry because things in Japan close when they close and it’s very final. So I send Papa Bear ahead to the car rental office while I wait for the luggage. We get to the rental office successfully.

Hurdle 1 is complete. I worried for nothing, but it is better to be overcautious than stuck without a car for the night. At this point, it should be smooth sailing. This is now rental car number 7, so we know the drill. If there’s no line, the signing process takes only 10 minutes.

Papa Bear had called the car rental office weeks ahead to ensure we get an ETC card, a highway access card without which we would need to stop at every toll booth and pay 30% more. It’s a rather important card because as you now know from our posts, highway tolls in Japan are “plentiful.” They confirm that they will have one, we don’t need to reserve.

There is no line, yay. So we check in for our rental car. And they tell us they have run out of ETC cards. 🤯 Dah! Are you kidding me?

The joys of traveling.

So Papa Bear insists, and being Japanese, the rental car people are very polite. They don’t turn us away and say “Tough luck, next customer please.” But they also don’t know how to fix the problem because it’s outside protocol. However, they do let us stand there and make suggestions. So we ask if they could check whether another car is coming back tomorrow with an ETC card. We ask if they have a sister branch that may have an ETC card we can go pick up. They don’t really know how to do any of that, because it’s outside protocol. So two hours later we are still there. It’s now 10 pm. But eventually, they dig out an ETC card from somewhere. 😲 Yay!

I guess that in the two hours we were waiting there, somebody returned a car with an ETC card. Anyway, with a sigh off we go.

Papa Bear is excellent at planning, and 20 minutes or so later we are at our booked room for the night.

The next morning, we debated whether we should visit the Salmon Aquarium or not. “It’s just Salmon, I’ve seen Salmon runs before. They won’t even have garden eels,” I say. But since we’re bears and bears love salmon, the other bears in the group outvoted me and we went.

Chitose Salmon Aquarium

Because it’s Japan, they do have garden eels. It’s in fact, the very first tank you see.

And some very cute crabs as well.

They have a whole Okinawa section, with Papa Bear’s favorite puffer fish

And not just one small puffer, but 2 large ones in the same tank.

I was wrong. It’s Japan after all, and every aquarium seems to collect the cutest fish.

Of course, they have a great salmon display. We learn that in Japan, popular salmon types include **Sake** (Chum Salmon), commonly used in traditional dishes like salted salmon and salmon roe; **Masu** (Cherry Salmon), known for its delicate flavor and often enjoyed as sashimi or grilled; **Benizake** (Sockeye Salmon), prized for its rich red flesh and robust taste, frequently used in sushi and sashimi; and **King Salmon** (Chinook Salmon), valued for its high fat content and luxurious flavor, often served as sashimi or grilled. Yes, they talk about how to cook fish in an aquarium in Japan. And as bears, we are very excited about eating salmon as well.

Unfortunately, they’re onto us bears, because we find this sign.

They also have rich freshwater displays with sturgeon, rays, electric eel, axolotl, otters, and Dr. Fish.

And I find my new favorite fish. They are called Spotted Green Puffer. I didn’t know that there are freshwater puffers!!!! I need to get some of these in my aquarium. I wonder if they will fight with my betta fish.

They even have windows out to the river next to the aquarium. Unfortunately, it’s not salmon spawning season, so we don’t see much. But in the fall this window will be full of wild salmon swimming by!

After the aquarium the bears are hungry, so we walk across the parking lot and discover the roadside station. Let’s grab a quick lunch here.

Roadside station Salmon Park Chitose

Turns out it’s a food court!! Jackpot!!

Not only that, they have a store that has a sampling of every kind of soup. Japanese people are really good at making condensed soups. They have crab, fish, kelp, shrimp, clam, and much much more. So our quick lunch turns into a one-hour sampling experience, and another hour in the food court. And it is glorious.

My favorite soup was the Kani - crab soup, pictured on the far right. They even have a claw game where you can pick up a stuffed salmon or stuffed salmon egg sac, third photo below. 🤣 We also try Hokkaido ramen for the first time this trip, now our ramen has corn in it, yum!!