Aomori
Arrived Aomori at 07:00am on a windy but sunny morning with temperature around 14C. Continued partly cloudy all day with temperature reaching a high of 24C. Aomori City is the capital of Aomori Prefecture in the Tohoku region at the northern end of Honshu Island. The city has an estimated population of 270,000. This is one of the snowiest places in the world with average of 622cm every winter and there is still snow on the surrounding mountain tops. At 08:00am 18 of us met for the tour to Takayama Inari Shrine on bus #5. Our guide today was a young lady called Funi. It is 60km north of the city and on the way we passed whole areas of paddy fields just being planted out. Also passed an area of apple orchards which is the other main crop grown in this region. We arrived at our destination around 9:10am and were then able to explore the shrine and the famous red torii gates for an hour. The Shinto shrine is situated on top of a hill with about 90 steps although there is also a longer, easier route. Shinto is a religion associated with the natural world and here the fox is celebrated, hence all of the fox statues. After a visit to the shrine which we were unable to enter, there are more steps down to the valley on the other side. Here we came to the main highlight which is the Senbon-Torii tunnel leading up the slope from the garden and pond. A torii is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the mundane to the sacred, and a spot where kami are welcomed and thought to travel through. We were at the “one thousand gates” which are a cascade of red and laid out with the impression of a dragon. In reality there are 230 gates but they are still very impressive as they wind up the slope. An added bonus today was that the cherry blossom season is later this far north so the trees were still in full bloom. Walked through the arches and up to the high point at the end before returning down the other side. Climbed the stairs back to the shrine then down the other side to the waiting bus by 10:15am. Back on the bus we returned to Aomori city and stopped by the station at 11:30am. A visit with our guide to the fish market then free time to explore the city centre. Returned to the bus at 1:00pm and returned to the nearby dockside by 1:15pm. An alternative tour today started at 09:00am and went out to see the Showa Great Buddha. A short bus ride out to Seiryu-Ji temple located just outside the city. A walk through the temple grounds came to the great Buddha. It is the tallest bronze sitting statue in Japan at 21 metres. Returned to the city and a visit to The Nebuta Museum WA-RASSE which is a facility that introduces the history and charms of the Aomori Nebuta Festival. At the museum you can experience every aspect of the festival. On display are 4 full-sized floats that participated in the festival in August, and Nebuta Faces that show the individuality of their respective creators.
