Taenoyu and Jindai Curry Group at Happinets Game

Last weekend, the Taenoyu family and Jindai Curry promoters gathered at Akita Northern Happinets' home game in Akita City!

Taenoyu Co., Ltd. （妙の湯）is an official team partner of Akita Northern Happinets, a professional basketball team of Akita Prefecture.

Other partners from Tazawako are Yama-no-Hachimitsuya Bee Skep （山のはちみつ屋ビースケップ）, a honey shop near Lake Tazawa, and Tsurunoyu Onsen （鶴の湯温泉）, a 360 year-old hot spring inn in Nyuto Onsen-kyo Area.

Jindai Curry booth at Akita Northern Happinets Game

Jindai Curry　(神代カレー） is one of the booths opened at the home games. Only 100 servings were available on a day! Try this curry plate, which is available at some restaurants in Semboku City (map).

At Happinets games, Jindai Curry is sold in a lunch box (“Jindai Curry Bento”) for 700 yen. It includes two types of curries, some steamed white rice (Jindai-mai), iburigakko (smoked and pickled radish), and an onsen-tamago (half-boiled egg). Jindai Curry retort packages  are available as well. One package with two servings is only 630 yen! It makes a good souvenir.

Taenoyu Group is best known for Taenoyu Onsen, one of the seven Nyuto Onsen inns. Hotel Ischia, also managed by the same company, hosted the team’s New Year’s party in January. Many people who came this day have met the team in person, been impressed by their dedication and friendliness, and agreed to come support the team at a game.

Ms. Kyoko Sato is the famous o-kami san of Taenoyu Onsen.

Akita Northern Happinets played against Takamatsu Five Arrows this day. The Akita team has the largest average number of audiences in Japan! No wonder why, because they had completely entertained us all!

The excitement had made us jump up and down the whole time— especially towards the end of the game, when the team’s victory was becoming certain. At the height of the excitement, the Taenoyu and Jindai Curry group was also giving the team loudest cheers!

With the exuberant feeling of victory, the group reassured the continuous support of the team! Perhaps the Taenoyu and Jindai Group feel connected to the basketball team, because they share the hope to revitalize and cheer up the Akita’s local community.

A New Year Party with Northern Happinets at Hotel Ischia

Tazawako Hotel Ischia just hosted a New Year Party with Akita Northern Happinets, a professional basketball team of Akita Prefecture. This event came about because the team was in Tazawako Area  for a training camp at Tazawako Sports Center.

A merchandise booth was placed in the lobby. Our favorite was the figures :)

Players Profile 

The party hosted almost 100 fans from nearby cities—some even travelled more than 2 hours just to catch this rare opportunity to meet the players in person.

Did you know Akita is called “the Japanese Kingdom of Basketball”?

Many Akita people are passionate about basketball! The hotel restaurant welcomed overflowing number of guests, wanting to mingle with and get autographs from the team members. Many children, most of who belong to local basketball teams, were there accompanied by the parents who hope them to get the most inspiring experience!

 

A drawing was held with prizes like T-shirts, badges, and an autographed suitcase!

Upstairs in the IRIS Room, some players had autograph session in more relaxed mood.

And towards the end, a microphone was handed to the players and this is what happened LOL:

Fun time :)

The members were being asked to autograph more than a dozen times, but they remained genuinely friendly. We got an impression that they are greatly appreciative of their fans for the support, as much as the fans are of the team for cheering up and becoming an inspiration to the Akita community.

After a few enjoyable hours as we were told of the end of party,  the team was suddenly gone. The rest of us were left in the restaurant, saying to one another what a great team Northern Happinets are and agreed that we have to support them even more... and as we were leaving, we found out there was another nice thing waiting for us:

 

 

They were lining up in the hallway too see us off! So heartwarming until the very end!!  Now we all know more why Northern Happinets are so popular!  Go Go Happinets! :)

Find out more about Akita Northern Happinets（秋田ノーザンハピネッツ）, please visit their official website (Japanese):



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