After
sailing overnight, we arrived in Aomori, Japan this morning. We docked in Aomori
Port, situated in the innermost area of Mutsu Bay. Aomori is the capital city
of Aomori Prefecture in the Tohoku region of Japan. It has an estimated
population of 272,752, and a population density of 855 people per square mile.
Like other cities in Japan, it offers a warm welcome to cruise tourists and the
ship was greeted with costumed musicians and dancers in spite of an earlier
rain.
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| view from our balcony |
Inside the terminal, we were met by locals who had tables were set up so guests could try their
hand at origami and calligraphy. We were offered green tea and of course there
were plenty of souvenir-type items for sale.
In spite of a sprinkling rain, we walked the short distance from the port into the city. Many from the ship took long tours to the Hirosaki Castle and Park, Big Buddha Temple, Tsugaru Nebuta Village or the Nebuta House Warrasse, the latter of which houses floats from its famous annual Nebuta Festival. Ronnie and I had actually cruised around Japan in the summer of 2016 and were able to attend the Nebuta Festival at that time. I’ve since learned from someone who has lived here that the wait list to get tickets can take as many as 3, 4 or even 5 years!
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| Welcome to Nabuta |
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| traditional Japanese stringed instrument |
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| local high school students |
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| apple drinks from the A-Factory |
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| Aomori Cruise Port (Insignia in background) |
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| photo stop in the park |
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|
Aomori
Prefecture Tourism Information Center as seen from ship |
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| apple products for sale |
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| various flavors of Aomori bluefin tuna |
We walked from where our ship was docked a few blocks to a place that sells tuna, apple juice and apple cider. We decided not to visit the Nebuta House Warrasse since we’ve seen the actual festival. Instead we walked to the A-Factory next door which houses a cider brewery and sells “all things apple” along with various types of canned tuna and other local products, a few small eateries and a restaurant.
When paying for something in Japan, it's customary to place your money (or credit card) on a tray rather than paying hand-to-hand.
I would love to upload some videos of the Nebuta Festival but unfortunately, the ship internet isn't letting me do that. But since Aomori is best known for its Nebuta Festival, I’m going to include a few photos I took when we attended it in 2016 in addition to some photos I snapped today.
Each float is carried on all 4 sides, then rotated every so often so that onlookers can see it from all sides. If you look carefully, you can see the young men carrying the floats. As you can see from the photos below, they are quite elaborate and are lighted up from the inside at night.
From the A-Factory, we walked into the town and made a quick walk-through of a fish market. It was sprinkling rain so we decided to walk back to the ship, have lunch and take a much needed nap, which is exactly what we did.
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| Nebuta characters everywhere! |
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| even on the fire hydrants! |
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| strolling downtown area |
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| inside fish market |
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| lunch at the fish market |
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| always room for dessert! |
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| try your hand at origami! |
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| replica of Aomori Festival float in terminal |
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| writing "Henry" in Japanese calligraphy |
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| then it was my turn |
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| Goodbye, Aomori |
Bharberts: What a lovely place. The markets look so clean and the people are indeed friendly. The float photos are excellent. It is a miracle how they manage to swirl those things. I imagine lots of fingers get hurt! Okinawa had an EISA festival each summer, with the Koto drummers and floats that are carried and the men would be stripped to loin cloths and dance the floats around and around while going down the street. That was before the OBON, the day to honor ancestors. They made giant ropes and people paraded. The OBON was a day when families went to their tombs and cleaned them inside and out, planted flowers or shrubs or trees and then had a picnic -kind of like "decoration" day was in country cemeteries. When an ancestors remains had been in the tomb 33 years, they would put the remains in a large, usually bronze urn, and seal it. They would take little hibachi out and cook the ancestor's favorite meat or fish and leave in beautiful porcelain dishes with rice and fruits by the door of the tombs. Sometimes photos of the families were left. Beautiful photos!
ReplyDeleteSo interesting, Barbara! When we were in Indonesia, we took an anniversary trip to Ubud. When we checked into the hotel, we were told there was a Hindu cremation ceremony the following day that only occurred maybe every 10 or so years. It was very similar to what you're describing except that they actually dug up the graves, put the bones in these huge animal-shaped containers (lembus) and set them on fire. Later they came back to gather the ashes and take them to the sea by a very circuitous route to try to confuse the spirits so they wouldn't come back to haunt them. So sad. :(
ReplyDeleteLouise j. Wondering why you don't hear the words from the Asians and others using Mamasan, Papasan and Babysan to describe family names. Know for sure that in 1950's I heard these all the time when husband was in Japan for two years.
ReplyDeleteBelieve it or not, I had not heard those terms so I googled it. According to wikipedia, "Babysan was a comic created by American artist Bill Hume while he was stationed in Japan in the 1950s. The comic depicts American sailors interacting with a pin-up style Japanese woman named Babysan. The title comes from the word "baby" an affectionate term Americans use and "san" which is an honorary term used by the Japanese. It translates literally to Miss Baby. The comic became incredibly popular with United States service members in Japan by mixing good humor with culture, language, and sex. Babysan attempted to show some of the give and take between American and Japanese cultures during the occupational era." Thanks for enlightening me!
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