Aomori
Gonna blaze threw these last few posts because I really miss normal blogging. Also my birthday is this Sunday, and I’m turning 21. This number kinda loses its significance in a country where the legal drinking age is 20, but still. The point is–expect a post (nearly) EVERYDAY for the next four to five days.
Aomori is high up on my list of favorite places from this trip. It really was a beautiful place, and very different from the rest of Japan which we’d seen before. For one thing, we saw snow. At last.
Aomori (as well as Northern Japan + Hokkaido) is characterized by its very Western look. The buildings weren’t stupidly high with stacked signs advertising four different karaoke bars and seven izakayas. Everything had elbow room all of a sudden, the buildings included. Honestly, it didn’t even feel like we were in Japan, save for the endless amounts of ramen/udon/soba shops, and the kanji.
Our hotel was a place called “Super Hotel”, which was the best place we’d stayed in thus far. For 2500 yen, the three of us got a room to ourselves (no dorms!), as well as our own bathroom, and a COMPLIMENTARY BREAKFAST. It seemed too good to be true, but there really were no strings attached. Amazing. The three of us were giddy about our living situation and celebrated with pasta and pizza at the nearest Italian joint. It was a great start.
In the morning, we all had to wake up early to get our free eats, which was delicious. Half was Western style food (yogurt, pastries, scrambled eggs) and the other have was a variety of Japanese style breakfast foods (assorted fish, rice, tea, etc). It was delicious.
Afterwards, it was Jace who was out the door in a flash to play with his new found toy. For a good hour or so we played in the snow, writing messages, making snow-angels, and the like. It was good fun. But we had only just begun. At the docks was a supposed park, which was now completely buried in snow. There we made this guy.
After getting our fill of frolicking, we headed out for the real adventure. We caught one of the few buses which were bound for the Showa Daibutsu (昭和大仏)– the tallest outdoor Buddha in Japan. The ride was long, and took about an hour. At the very last stop, we were dropped off in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. Just a small little shack of a bus stop, surrounded by snow, trees and a temple off the right. I can’t remember the last time I was in a place that quiet.
Upon walking into the temple grounds, it was like entering a real winter wonderland (yes, I made that analogy, get over it). But really, it was gorgeous.
At last, we arrived at the Showa Buddha.
It was dark when we arrived back in Aomori City, and we decided to hit up the last big attraction — the ASPAM (アスパム). It’s really just a sightseeing building shaped like a triangle, that lights up pretty colors at night for no apparent reason other than to look pretty. It also had a great viewing deck on one of the top floors, which is what we set out to visit.
That night we chilled in our dirt cheap hotel room with a couple of beers and Pocky, resting up for the long trek to our next journey. The next day we would leave the mainland of Japan for the coldest and Northern most place I’d ever been in my life: Hokkaido.
