Mori no Tokei “Forest Clock” Cafe 森の時計 at New Furano Prince Hotel Ningle Terrace
We visited the Ningle Terrace in New Furano Prince Hotel back many years ago. Deep inside the snow covered forest, there is a nice little coffee house called the Mori no Tokei 森の時計, meaning Forest Clock. This cafe and surrounding hills were made famous by the 2005 Japanese Drama Yasashii jikan《優しい時間》starring Ninomiya Kazunari (二宮和也) and Nagasawa Masami (長澤まさみ).
Fans of Ninomiya of Arashi will definitely want to visit this cafe and relive some of the moments in the drama. The cafe interior had remained mostly intact and still look the same as what were seen in the drama.
We went to Mori no Tokei cafe on a cold snowing winter day. The path leading to it were covered with deep snow, there were no other buildings in a 300 metres radius and all you can see is just a small wooden 2-storey cafe-house in the deepest end of the hill. It was a surreal experience for city dwellers like us.
Image source: http://special.cn.yokocho.com/archives/16710/#i-19
It was lunchtime and we ordered a creamy mushroom rice and curry rice. Apparently, these are the only 2 choices available on the menu. This is a cafe afterall.
Next, we had some coffee and cakes.
And we tried out using these manual coffee grinding device. You can only grind the coffee beans if you choose to sit at the bar counter seat.
A shot at the bar counter. All the cups and utensils were the exact same ones as seen in the drama. The mural on the wall was also one of the memorable item in the drama. Outside of the huge glass window, the scenery of the winter forest looks amazing like a big painting.
Sitting in the warmth cafe and enjoying wonderful coffee, it was like the forest clock had stopped ticking and time is at a standstill.
