Among the many roadside stations in Hokkaido, one station that has attracted a great deal of attention is the Atsugishi Gourmet Park. Known as the Atsugishi Taste Terminal Conchiglie, residents of Hokkaido may have been taken aback by the eccentric commercials featuring dancers in a dancing frenzy.

The many dishes, mainly oysters, are delicious and leave an unforgettable impact on your mind once you have tasted them. Located on a hill facing Lake Atsukishi, it also serves as a "disaster prevention roadside station" due to its importance in terms of disaster prevention.

Such a multifunctional roadside station is rare in Japan and attracts many tourists every day. In this article, we will introduce the charm of Conchiglie, a roadside station in Atsukishi with such various faces.

Source: "Atsukishi Taste Terminal, Conchiglie"

.
Atsugishi-Conchiglie is located on a hill overlooking Lake Atsugishi and the Pacific Ocean. If you go to the observation room, you can see the big red bridge "Atsugishi-ohashi", the first marine bridge in Hokkaido, and the beautiful nature of the mountains beyond.

The shape of the building is very unique, inspired by the shells of oysters, a specialty of Atsugishi.
First of all, let us give you an overview of what kind of facility Atsugishi-Conchiglie is.

If you have ever been to Obihiro, Kushiro, or Nemuro, you may have stopped by at Atsugishi-Konchirie for a rest. Follow National Route 44 from Kushiro to Nemuro, and follow the signs to the top of the hill, and you will see the parking lot of the conchiglie.
In the Hokkaido Jaran Roadside Station Satisfaction Ranking, Conchiglie has achieved the feat of being No. 1 in the food and beverage category for 11 consecutive years. In addition, in the "Hokkaido Roadside Stations Ranking 2020 by Stamp Rally Completers" conducted by the Hokkaido Development Bureau, Conchiglie was ranked No. 1 in the following categories.
This indicates that the roadside station is highly rated both inside and outside of Hokkaido as a roadside station where visitors can stay for a long time and where oysters are delicious.

Atsukishi has long been known as an area rich in marine products, and is a very rare place in Japan where oysters are landed all year round. Therefore, many original oyster dishes can be enjoyed at restaurants regardless of the season.

The secret of this is the special environment of Atsukishi. Lake Atsukishi and Atsukishi Bay, the ideal environment for growing delicious oysters, make it possible to ship oysters all year round.
Lake Atsugan, a brackish lake with salt content between sea water and fresh water, and Atsugan Bay, which is directly connected to Lake Atsugan, provide an environment where oysters can easily take in abundant nutrients. The mixture of plankton-rich seawater from the outside world and nutrient-rich freshwater from the mountains and marshlands is ideal for oyster growth.

The low water temperature also slows oyster growth and helps control the timing of oyster cultivation. Thus, an environment is created in which delicious oysters can be shipped year-round.
Restaurant "Escal" offers many popular menu items, one of which has remained popular over the years is the "Kaki Buta Gassen Don" (oyster and pork bowl). This innovative menu item, a bowl of rice topped with oysters and pork combined together, was the No. 2 most popular dish as of December 2021, and has attracted many visitors since its introduction in 2010.

One bite of the fried oyster gives you a rich, sweet taste, and you can enjoy the flavor of the oyster without the tartar sauce. The pork is "Hokkaido Hamanaka Hoeiton," a brand of pork from Hamanaka Town, and its tender yet chewy and juicy meat is perfect with rice.
There is no official order for eating oysters and pork, but a white plate is provided to put oysters on, so you can enjoy oysters in a separate style without eating them with pork. The fact that they care about their customers and can casually suggest multiple ways of eating shows their high level of hospitality.
By the way, as of December 2021, the No. 1 menu item at Escal is the "Akkeshi Oyster Steak Bowl. The idea of using oysters as steaks is also innovative and surprising.

It seems that many of these innovative menu items were invented by the representatives of each Conchiglie facility, but ideas sometimes came to them during chats, or when staff members went on business trips and saw other restaurants' menus.

When we asked for other staff recommendations,

Source: Restaurant "Escal "

.
The "Oyster Benten Island Bowl" imitates "Benten Island" where the Benten Shrine, which has long protected the safety of the sea in Atsukishi, is located, and

Source: restaurant " Escal "

.
The restaurant offers a variety of mouthwatering and delicious dishes, such as the "Zankaki Set Meal," which combines Hokkaido's famous zangi and oysters.

Atsugishi-Conchiglie is making numerous attempts to make "Atsugishi oysters," which are famous only in Hokkaido, a household name throughout Japan. The concept of Gourmet Park, "excitement and thrill" is important, and various ways of eating oysters are proposed, including oyster pizza, pasta, and barbecue.

At "Oyster Bar Pitoresque," you can enjoy fresh oysters and whiskey at a location overlooking the town of Atsukishi.

Source: "Oyster Bar Pitoresque"

Oyster pizza baked with homemade dough, tomato sauce and Hokkaido cheese, and

Source: "Oyster Bar Pitrescu"

.
Recommended for those who want a light meal menu, including Japanese-style pasta with plenty of oysters and clams.

Source: "Charcoal Aburiya "

Another recommended menu item at "Sumiyaki Aburiya," where you can taste freshly caught ingredients on the barbecue, is the specialty "Original Bucket Oysters," which sells 5 to 6,000 servings a year. This bold menu item, in which 10 oysters are steamed in a bucket with sake, is one of Conchiglie's specialties.

Another attraction of Conchiglie is the selection of items that can only be found in Atsugishi. The wide selection of souvenirs ranges from the standard to the original.
Atsugishi Conchiglie's original product series "Kin's☆Oyster Premium Series" is a luxurious seasoning made from the rich broth of oysters. Kin no Oyster Soy Sauce can be used in simple dishes such as rice with egg to give it a rich flavor different from the soy sauce you normally use.
Atsugishi Oyster Sauce is another popular product. Unlike most oyster sauces, Atsugishi Oyster Sauce is not dark in color but has a strong flavor, making it widely used in salad dressings, yakiniku sauce, and as a secret ingredient.
Retort curry produced by a local company is another popular souvenir, containing a wide variety of ingredients such as snow crab, king crab, scallops, and oysters. You can enjoy the luxurious taste of Atsukishi even after you get home.

Source: "Atsugishi Distillery Tour"

.
As an activity that can be enjoyed year-round, Atsugishi-Conchiglie offers a tour of the Atsugishi Distillery, which began distilling whiskey in 2016.

The cool and humid climate of Atsugishi is ideal for whiskey making, and the distillery is equipped with the best facilities, including pot stills and mash tuns made by Forsyth of Scotland and a maturing environment with Quercus oak maturing barrels.

Although the environment is normally inaccessible, the tour allows visitors to tour the grounds with a conchiller guide.

After the tour, visitors can sample single malt whiskey at the Oyster Bar Pitresque, where they can also taste brands not available to the general public. As a bonus for participating in the tour, you will receive a wooden key ring with the logo of the Atsugishi Distillery.

Source: "Bessanbeguro Marsh Canoe Touring"

.
Enjoying different activities depending on the season is another unique experience in Atsugishi and Konkirie, where the four seasons are beautiful. In summer, you can enjoy "Bessanbegyu Marsh Canoe Touring" where you can fully enjoy the untouched nature, "Asari Digging Experience Tour" where you can bring home large clams, and cycling tours to the spectacular scenery of Atsugishi.

Source: "Winter Nature Watching Tour"

.
In winter, programs include bird watching along the forest road in the wildflower garden Ayame-gara toward the cape, and hiking for a panoramic view of the beautiful scenery of Lake Atsukishi and Atsukishi Bay. At "Omokusan" where you hike, you can see the remains of "Chashi," which is believed to have been used as a hunting and burial site by the Ainu people.

Source: "Atsugishi Taste Terminal, Conchiglie" Facebook

.
Staff members at the Atsugishi-Konquilier take time out of their busy work schedule to study and take the "Hokkaido Tourism Master Certification Test". The pass rate for fiscal year 2021 was 42.7%, meaning that more than half of the examinees failed the exam.

However, Atsugishi-Conchiglie has continued to produce successful candidates every year. The secret is that all staff members who take the exam share the information obtained at the workshop in Sapporo and study together to pass the exam.

The reason why all the staff members take the certification exam is because of their sincere desire to be professionals in Hokkaido tourism for the benefit of visitors to Michi no Eki. The mission of the staff is to be more knowledgeable about Hokkaido than tourists, so tourists can consult with the staff about itineraries and tourist attractions without worry.


Atsugishi-Konquilier became famous, of course, because of its excellent concept as a roadside station, delicious food, ease of stay, and hospitality of the staff. However, it was one of the commercials that led to the widespread promotion of its existence.


If you watch TV in Hokkaido, you may have seen this commercial at least once; in fact, it is also available on the YouTube channel "Michi no Eki: Atsugishi Taste Terminal Conchiglie.

The funky narration refrains the name of the dancers and the name of the Conchiglie in the video, and the viewers unconsciously remember the dancers' dance and the name of the Conchiglie, making it a very effective commercial. It was even featured in a TV special program, and became one of the opportunities to raise the name recognition of Atsugishi-Conchiglie.
A

CM of #Atsukishi-Conchiglie, a roadside station in Atsukishi, famous for

oysters,

comes on TL and makes me laugh out loud. I looked it up and found it has become a topic of conversation. That's right, it's a big hit.

A foreigner dances nimbly! Hokkaido's "Michi-no-Eki" TV commercial is so novel, I can't get the announcement out of my head https://t.co/i3FeNB1p7Jhttps://t.co/HbmolU5Uef-

Chihiro (@tihiro) November 22, 2021

beside delicious looking oysters and food, A macho mysterious foreign dancer dances a sensual and powerful dance while looking at you with troubled eyes. The impact of the commercial is so strong that some people say they can't get the information about the product into their heads at all.

Indeed, it may be a big surprise when you are watching a movie at home and this image is shown in the commercial. However, on the contrary, "What is Atsugishi-Conchiglie?" and in the sense of making viewers wonder, "What is Atsugishi-Conchigliere?

Incidentally, the dancer's nationality, name, age, etc. are completely unknown, and neither the commercial production company nor Conchiglie are acquainted with him.

Therefore, as a "mysterious dancer," he has aroused the intellectual curiosity of many people. If he finds out that his dance is used in a commercial somewhere in the world, he may someday dance for us at Conchiglie.

A one-shot of a mysterious dancer dancing passionately is displayed at the main entrance of the Conchiglie. At first, I thought he was a judo player from Akkeshi, but when I saw him up close, I was surprised to see him in a commercial. I remember I could not hide my surprise when I saw him up close.
The presence in the lobby is shown with the Christmas tree. The gifts placed under the tree are probably from the dancers' fans.
Next to the vending machine corner near the stairs, there is a face frame photo available to become a dancer. Mysterious dancers seem to be enlivening Atsugishi in every part of the conquilier.

In addition to the Gourmet Park, the Atsugishi-Konquilier has another important mission as a "Disaster Prevention Roadside Station. Disaster Prevention Roadside Stations are "roadside stations that are positioned as wide-area disaster prevention bases in prefectural regional disaster prevention plans, etc.".

By being selected as a Disaster Prevention Roadside Station, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) will provide focused support for the roadside station to fulfill its role as a disaster prevention center. In addition, the following strict requirements must be met in order to be selected. In Hokkaido, only three roadside stations other than Atsugishi and Konkirie have been designated as disaster-prevention roadside stations.
Next, let's take a closer look at Atsugishi-Konquilier from the viewpoint of disaster prevention.

The hill on which the Atsugishi-Conchiglie is built is surrounded by two evacuation stairs, one on the road side and the other on the residential area side, so that visitors can walk around. The steel-framed staircase runs from the bottom of the hill to the top to allow rapid evacuation from the lower elevation to the conchillies.
Tsunamis caused by ocean-trench earthquakes around the Japan Trench and the Kuril Islands Trench are a major concern in the town of Atsugishi-cho, and tsunami countermeasures are of particular importance, and the Conchiglie is expected to function as a disaster prevention center.

The building is fully equipped with floodlights, generators, simple toilets, jet heaters, and a tourist disaster prevention Wi-Fi station, making it a perfect contingency plan.

There is an observation room on the 4th floor of the Atsugishi-Conchiglie, which offers a panoramic view of the town of Atsugishi. It is an observatory with a nice view for tourists, but at the time of the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, it served as a command post for disaster countermeasures in Atsugishi-cho.

Lake Akkeshi and Akkeshi Bay are a blessing to the residents, but they are also susceptible to earthquakes off the Pacific coast, so it was necessary to prepare for the tsunami that followed the earthquake.

Source: Atsugishi-cho "Tsunami Hazard Map"

.
The image above is part of the Atsugishi Tsunami Hazard Map.

The central area of Atsugishi-cho is divided into Kohoku district in the north and Konan district in the south across the Atsugishi Ohashi Bridge, and since each district faces the ocean or lake, most of the residential areas are in the "tsunami inundation forecast 5 to 10 meters".

The Conchiglie site falls under numbers (1) and (2) in the hazard map. This indicates that Conchiglie, located near the lake and on high ground, is an important evacuation center for the residents of the Kohoku area.

An important evacuation site in the Konan area of Atsugishi-cho is Mt. However, it is not only a shelter for residents, but also an unmissable spot for sightseeing in Atsugishi.

The observatory of Mt. Okushiyama is one of the best scenic spots not only in Atsugishi but also in East Hokkaido, and it is not too much to say that it is one of the best view spots in the area. In the past, visitors had to climb up the mountain by wooden stairs, but now it has been developed as a tsunami evacuation site and a steel-frame staircase has been installed.
The landing is equipped with a solar-powered night light, allowing visitors to climb the stairs while checking their footholds even in the dark of night. The many steps of the staircase make it a bit of a hike, but you can conserve your energy by taking a rest on the landing while you climb.
As you climb the stairs, the town gradually becomes smaller. Expectations are high for the view from the observatory.
After climbing the stairs, we found a graveled plaza. This will probably serve as an evacuation site.
On the way to the lookout after crossing the bridge, we saw a sign.
The bridge was necessary to cross the shelter ruins because the chassis functioned as a deer drop-off, right?
After crossing the bridge and heading further in, we saw an observation deck made of wood! It seems that you can use ropes to go up and down like an athletic activity, but this time we used the stairs inside to get to the top.
The view from the observatory is breathtaking, and the beauty of the Atsukishi Ohashi Bridge and the grandeur of Lake Atsukishi will leave you speechless. Trying to take pictures of the lake from various directions, I found a small small fishing boat.
This small tower is the "Benten Shrine" that has been watching over Atsugishi for a long time and stands on an island made of oyster shells.

In the past, a recreation center and a ryotei (Japanese-style restaurant) were built next to the shrine, and it used to be very busy, but as the land subsided, only the shrine was left behind. However, a seated statue of Benzaiten is enshrined in the shrine, and it still continues to protect the people of Atsukishi.

Conclusion

The above has introduced the roadside station, Konkirie, in Atsugishi, including information on the surrounding area.
As a gourmet park, Atsukishi-Konchirie has captured the taste buds of many tourists, but it also offers a full range of activities and plays an important role as a base for disaster prevention. A roadside station with such a diverse face must be rare in Japan.

For those who are considering moving to Hokkaido as well as for tourists, Atsugishi with its disaster prevention system may be an attractive option.

If you are interested, come on to Atsugishi-Conchiglie without hesitation!