That’s Aomori

Tuesday, April 30, 2024 

Aomori,  population 265,000, is the capital of the northernmost prefecture on Honshu, and it is a Winter City. Spring hasn’t really arrived here yet, though the snow is gone. The architecture says “winter”: the A-frame buildings, the roofs with snow-guards, the drabness, the buildings huddled together and low to the ground.  I could feel it, even if I couldn’t put my finger on how I knew there were serious winters here.

We arrived on a chilly, rainy day. A pre-school class came to look at our ship and welcome us. I don’t think Aomori gets a lot of cruise ships, either.

The economy of Aomori is principally driven by the service sector, with some manufacturing adding to the mix. Agriculture and commercial fishing are a distant third and fourth. However, the Aomori prefecture is the main apple-growing region of Japan. 

ASPAM

The shuttle from the port dropped us off at ASPAM (Aomori Prefectural Center for Industry and Tourism).

Photo of ASPAM from Aomori-tourism.com

ASPAM turned out to be a large A-shaped building with local farm products, souvenirs, and crafts for sale on the extensive ground floor. Believe it or not, the building was modeled after the “A” in Aomori. Upon entering the ASPAM building, you are immediately overcome by the irresistible smell of freshly baked apple pies. They were doing a land office business. You could buy the yummy, cinnamon-spiced pastries they called pies, or you could select a perfect-looking apple. Lots of A-words, if you speak English.

People from the ship were shopping like it was black Friday - there were so many interesting things for sale here. We were too mesmerized to remember to take pictures.

Wa-Rasse

From ASPAM it was just a short walk to the Nebuta Museum, “Wa-Rasse.” The Nebuta Matsuri, or “summer lantern festival,” is Aomori’s most important festival, so it gets its own museum. The name of the museum, Wa-Rasse, is hard to understand. It was selected by a public vote. The “wa” refers to laughter and also to the “bonds” that are formed between people who are involved in the Nebuta Festival, while the “rasse” refers to the festival’s chant: “Rasse, rasse, rassera.” I don’t know what rasse means, but I learned the chant from the guy pictured here, who gave a presentation while we were touring the museum.

He won 2nd place in the 2023 championships of the Nebuta Festival Dance Contest. The dance looks like you are jumping up and down on a pogo stick, but without the pogo stick. The guy had a tremendous amount of energy.

But, I am getting ahead of myself.

The Wa-Rasse is housed in a striking building, where the visitor can see several of the enormous floats that have been made during the year for the Nebuta Festival Parades. During the Festival (August 2-7 every year), over 2 million people visit Aomori and participate in the boisterous dancing. (Where do they stay?)

Nebuta Museum Wa-Rasse

The floats are very large and heavy. They have two wheels and are pushed by teams of volunteers. They are made of paper, bamboo or wood, and wire, but the wooden undercarriages that support the floats make them extremely heavy. At one time candles were used to light the floats, but now small electrical lights are placed inside the floats. Grids of India ink are painted on the paper after it has been glued on. Finally, melted paraffin and colors are applied.

Tiny models at the entrance to the museum showed how the floats are transported. “Float” is clearly a misnomer. In no way do they “float.”

Rows and rows of people get underneath the float
and push it while they march along

(No more tiny models. The following photos are actual floats from past parades. Use the photos of the tiny models to get an idea of the scale.) 

It was fascinating to see the film clips of various artists who have created the floats in the past. An incredible amount of work goes into them and it takes a full year to complete the models. As far as I could tell, they depict scenes that from legends and myths that would be familiar to the local people. Many of the stories seem to feature monsters and heroes.

These are not floats, but charming little lanterns about 18 inches tall, lighting up
a dark corner of the necessarily dark museum

Shōwa Daibutsu 

Seiryu-Ji Temple is a bit out of town, but that’s why it’s so nice. We went there to see the Shōwa Daibutsu (Shōwa Giant Buddha), and we got a Buddha plus an amazing garden amid wonderful scenery. The temple is not very old - it was founded in 1982. The Daibutsu was built in 1984. It is the tallest seated Buddha in Japan, at 21 meters (nearly 69 feet). It is possible to go inside the statue and see how it is constructed, but we did not do so.

The temple and buddha are located in a forested tract on the side of a mountain. It is very peaceful and beautiful. The people there seemed very welcoming and kind. We especially appreciated their assistance in calling a cab for us when we were ready to leave.

Enjoy these photos from our visit.

The first two photos show the Japanese garden. The pamphlet  we received explains that stones, moss, and sand are used to represent the sea and life in harmony with nature. Isolated from noise, it is possible to immerse one’s self in an atmosphere conducive to peace and healing.

The five-story pagda is the fourth highest wooden pagoda in Japan. It reminds us of the five elements: earth, water, fire, wind, and sky.

These pinwheels are for unborn children to console their souls

Our first view of the Daibutsu emerges from the misty forest

Visitors have placed coins around the neck of this statue as an offering

It was a worthwhile visit. It was much less crowded than other temples we have visited, but beautiful and calming. No, I am not thinking of becoming a Buddhist.

Folkloric Show

“Rhythmic Reverberations” was performed onboard our ship by a local group called The Sansa Spectacular. It was exciting to see the dancers, drummers, and flute players from Aomori in their brilliant costumes. Most of them seemed to be high-school students.

Today’s fabric is this cheerful dobby cloth seen at ASPAM.

Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright

Monday, April 29, 2024

Shōwa Day

Today, Shōwa Day, is one of the public holidays of Golden Week. Shōwa Day honors the birthday of Hirohito (Emperor Shōwa) who reigned from 1926 to 1989. Shō means “shining” or “bright,” and wa means “peace.” The day is traditionally celebrated by visiting shrines, the National Shōwa Memorial Museum, or the Imperial Mausoleum. Many see the day as a day of reflection on the complex events that took place during the Shōwa period, including World War II and the rebuilding of Japan afterward.

Yesterday was a day at sea, and nothing much happened. I am going to write about all the days at sea together in a single post later on.

Miyako

Today we arrived at the small town of Miyako, in Iwate Prefecture. (There is more than one place called Miyako in Japan.) Today’s Miyako is a town of about 50,000, located on a beautiful bay and surrounded by forests and mountains. 

The parking lot filled up as visitors arrived at the port. Note the extensive seawall that has been built
(since 2011, I assume) to protect against tsunamis.

The tsunami caused by the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake devastated Miyako. All but 30-60 of the town’s fishing fleet of 960 boats were destroyed. According to Wikipedia,

Some of the most iconic footage of the tsunami, repeatedly broadcast worldwide, was shot in Miyako. It shows a dark black wave cresting and overflowing a flood wall and tossing cars, followed by a fishing ship capsizing as it hit the submerged flood wall and then crushed as it was forced beneath a bridge.

Cruise ships stop in Miyako infrequently, and I wasn’t sure why Royal Princess was planning to stop there. There are only a few local attractions, most notably Jōdogahama, a National Place of Scenic Beauty.

The town gave us such a warm and enthusiastic welcome, that the greeting alone was reason enough to stop there, IMHO. 

Perhaps it was because we were there on a holiday, but throughout the day, hundreds - maybe thousands - of people came to the dock to see the ship. Families brought their children. High school students showed up to practice their English, to give directions, to translate, and to demonstrate origami. Cute little food trucks showed up, and they did a brisk business. So did the makers, weavers, and craftspeople. Drummers and dancers and giant fish came to entertain us. It was just lovely!

Please watch this 10-second video (that took me over 30 minutes to upload, thanks to the ship’s slow internet). It shows local drummers and dancers performing for our ship. (I hope you will be able to play it.)

More photos of the goings-on at the dock:

Big Fish: The grey one is definitely a salmon. I’m guessing the blue one is a tuna.

Here you can see the Big Fish on the right and the Little Fish in the center.

An enigmatic third character has joined the Little Fish. A bowl of sashimi? 

 I got to interact with the Little Fish

Flag-wavers and local dignitaries

They set up all these tents for us!

Another look at the massive seawall intended to protect the town against tsunamis

Some dancers getting ready to perform

Some friendly local women

I tried weaving on a loom

There go the dancers

Watermelon-themed merch

I bought this bag at one of the craft booths.
It is made from scraps of old sails.

The food trucks have arrived!

We took the shuttle into town for a look around. It really wasn’t much. It was a blue-collar town, with no souvenir shops or luxury shops. There was a shop that sold fabric and sewing machines, but you could tell that it was there to support people who made their own clothing or maybe repaired a sail or two.

There were a handful of restaurants. Most were closed for the holiday or because it was a Monday. I was amused by the name of this restaurant:

My sewing machine is a Janome, made in Japan. “Janome” means “snake’s eye” because the round bobbin, a recent innovation when the company was founded, looked like a snake’s eye.

We ended up going to a restaurant called Fuku, for ramen. The broth was thinner than broth we have had in other places, but the meat was extremely tasty.

It looks kind of like a bar, but it’s just a tiny restaurant with four tables, and two things
on the menu - ramen or wonton.

After lunch we went back to the dock and poked around the booths for a while, then we went back onboard to watch the rest of the entertainment.

My name in Japanese, written by one of the cultural ambassadors of Miyako:

I loved the Tiger Dance. Tigers are not native to Japan, so the dance must have come over from China or India 670 years ago. Tigers were believed to have the ability to tame the wind, and that was important for fire protection, so the legend must have resonated with the people who lived here in this windy part of Honshu. 

Today’s fabric is recycled polyester scraps from old sails.