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Published: October 10th 2008
September 30
Today finds us in Aomori, Japan where we were greeted pierside by a local drumming/instrument group. I just love those big drums! We had an early tour so were up at 6:45, had room service and headed off on our tour to Hirosaki. The day started out cloudy but ended up sunny; another beautiful day in Japan! We had about an hour drive to Hirosaki to several temples and "castles". On the drive out we passed many rice farms where the rice was just beginning to be harvested. They harvest the rice and then bundle the grass left over and hang it up to dry.
Also, we passed many apple orchards. This area of the country is "apple country". Being late September, there were plenty of apples to see and I was hoping to get hold of one...with my teeth!
Our first stop was the Hirosaki Castle which was built in 1611 and is surrounded by a botanical garden. There are more than 2,600 cherry trees here which must make for a spectacular spring!
Inside the castle they had a costume and a wooden face from the era among other items.
We are too early, for the most part, for the leaves to be changing but I managed to find a few.
Next was a visit to Neputa-Mura. Along with several shops there is a museum which holds the fans and floats that are carried in the yearly festival, the Hirosaki Neputa Matsuri. These are unbelievable to see as they are so ornate and the artwork is fabulous!
There were numerous other paper figures. They had a wall of these cute fish.
There was also a drumming/music demonstration after which they asked if anyone wanted to try out the drums. I'm sure you can guess that I was running up there for that! Very neat to beat the heck out of those things and be making that wonderful, deep sound myself! Needless to say, I really enjoyed that!
I think Dave got this picture before I really started beating on that thing!
I purchased two different apples at one of the shops there and had one on the way back to the ship. It was so fresh and crisp! Nothing like right off the tree.
Gojunoto Temple (Five Story Pagoda) was next on the itinerary. From what I understood, this is the original temple. There was not a lot of original structure left in Japan after WW2 as almost everything was levelled. This was a beautiful spot with the 5 story pagoda in the sunshine! The gate to enter the Temple area was beautiful!
They had one of those huge "bells" that for 1 Yen, you could strike with the log that is hanging next to it. Yes, we had to do that too!! I think I like making noise! Here is Dave taking his turn.
In the rear of the property there is a cemetary with some pretty elaborate burial sites. Everyone is cremated in Japan and whole families are buried in these sites. There are wooden sticks with wishes for the deceased by the graves.
Also, relatives will come and leave offerings for their loved ones. Not the usual stuff but anything from food to cigarettes! We saw various drink cans left on the graves. On some of the graves there was a little container with sand in it that people had lit a cigarette and put it butt end in, in the sand so that it would burn sort of like a candle. Here ya go buddy, here's another smoke for ya! Or, here's a coffee for ya! We asked the tour guide about it and she joked and said that you can "have a pretty good lunch in a Buddhist graveyard"! I found some pretty red leaves here.
One thing that there is no lack of here in Japan are bathrooms. Of course, with a busload of people, the ineveitable line forms for the ladies room. But, if you are adventerous enough.....you don't have to wait in line! Typically the bathrooms have one "western style" toilet and the rest are "eastern". Yep; no line if you use those but you do need to have strong legs! Naturally, I did the "When in Rome" thing and bucked the line right into one of the eastern toilets. Here it is in all it's flushing glory! LOL! And yes, I'm using those now....no waiting for me!
We then went to an area of the city where it seemed that the street was lined with temples! We stopped at Choshoji Temple which was one of the few that photo's were allowed inside. The gate here was quite impressive!
It was time to head back to the ship on the nice drive through the mountains and tunnels to Aomori. Along the way we saw a construction site and saw a mechanical "slow down" flag waver. We should have those here! You don't have to pay them!
We walked around the waterfront for a bit before boarding the ship. I spotted a Japan Coast Guard boat in the distance! I wonder if they have Auxilliary?
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Naomi B
non-member comment
Public toilets...
...isn't it amazing how many there are? How clean they are? How they all work and have paper, etc.? Keep 'em comin' guys. Hugs, N