Silver Week

Silver Week!

お久しぶりです. 欠席して,申しわけございません. 

The month of September has flown by. School session officially started in the first week of the month, and I began teaching classes at my base (main) school. Suddenly every day was exhausting- I would get home at 5:30 or 6:00, maybe manage to eat something, and more likely than not fall asleep on top of my bed wearing all my clothes and sometimes my glasses too. I didn’t take any pictures except here and there a bus schedule, a random pretty sunset as I walked home, or some kanji in the grocery store to translate later.

Finally, Silver Week has arrived! What is Silver Week? It’s a week in September where Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are each National Holidays- specifically, Grandparents’ Day (Respect for the Aged Day) on Monday, Autumn Equinox Day on Wednesday, and a “Bridge Holiday” inbetween thanks to Japanese Law.

Here’s an interesting tidbit I just learned: Silver Week does not occur every year, due to the variability of the Equinox- it won’t occur again until 2026! Alas... しょうがない.

By the time I learned about the existence of Silver Week 2015, and thought that I’d like to travel, all the hotels in my intended destination of Hakodate were booked solid. I decided to have a “staycation” and see some of the sights in Hirosaki and nearby.

Aomori City

I did my usual morning procrastination, which allowed me to meet up with some traveling friends for lunch at nearby delicious burger joint Pepe Kitchen. I took the 3:15 train up to Aomori City, which turned out to be a limited express train that I had in my ignorance not bought a limited express ticket to ride. That’s a story for another time. I like to call these daily occurrences “Crimes against harmony” or “Harmony Crimes.” Someday soon I’ll do an entire post about that.

First thing off the train, I walked to Wa Rasse – Nebuta House, the museum for the Aomori City version of the Nebuta Matsuri. The building itself is a large rectangular box, clad in red strips that are twisted and curved in various degrees to create entry points and allow shaded views inside and out. Despite being essentially a big red box, it looks attractive and interesting from pretty much all angles. Between the red metal exterior and the curtain wall that encloses the museum space there is a walking path that goes about three quarters of the way around the building, and it’s fun to slip in and out between the many openings, even if you don’t plan to go into the museum.

Wa Rasse Nebuta House from the train station bike lot

Wa Rasse Nebuta House - from beneath the Bay Bridge

Wa Rasse Nebuta House - exterior detail

Under the skin

Looking out through the cladding

For archinerds: Site visit reports during early stages of Wa Rasse construction

http://frank-la-riviere.com/portfolio/?m=200905

Inside, five or six floats from the previous year’s parade are illuminated in a darkened room, along with huge masks by some current and past Nebuta visionaries, demonstrations of the armature and lighting methods used, and taiko drums which are part of a live demo several times a day.

Inside Wa Rasse Nebuta House - Nerimono (floats) from this year's parade

Sake-flavored gelato in front of A-Factory

After the Nebuta House, I wandered in A-Factory looking at local products, and indulged in some shopping at Muji. I walked around a waterfront park and encountered a stone monument memorializing the destruction of the Aomori-Hokkaido passenger ferry fleet by US forces in July 1945. Aomori City was extensively bombed in late July 1945 as an industrial city, major northern port and population center. It started to rain just as I set out for the final stop on my visit, Aji no Sapporo Onishi. 

Queueing for ramen in the rain

I wasn’t sure if the shop was open, but I was beyond pleased to see a short line out the door of the ramen shop. Always a good sign. Their specialty is miso curry milk ramen, with a pat of butter on top. Definitely worth the trip! 

Hirosaki Temples and Shrines

My usual commute bus takes me past one of the most famous temples in Hirosaki, Saisho-in temple with its five-story pagoda. Every morning and afternoon the bus hooks around the corner in front of the main gate and I think “one of these days I’ll go check that out.”

The five-story pagoda at Saisho-in

Higanbana - "equinox flower," or red spider lilies, on the grounds at Saisho-in

About one minute further up the road, my usual bus hangs a left at the edge of Shinteramachi, which literally translated means “New Temple Town.” During the Edo Period, many Buddhist temples were built here to provide protection for the castle to the north.

Map of Shinteramachi temple district

One of the temples I see from the bus every day

About a five minute walk towards the castle from Shinteramachi is another, older temple district called Zenringai. There are reputedly thirty-three Buddhist temples lining the street, with Choshoji temple at the top of the gentle slope. According to our short guided tour, Choshoji temple was the private temple to the ruling Tsugaru clan, as well as a secondary residence that eventually became their primary residence.

Choshoji Third Gate. Apparently the Second Gate, located down the street, was destroyed by a truck just a week ago, and won't be rebuilt until next summer. What are the chances?

Former Tsugaru clan residence

The visit to Choshoji temple was something of a high point in terms of my Japanese comprehension to date- the guide spoke 99% Japanese, and between the group of us we pretty much understood what she said (with a typewritten English handout to confirm our understanding).

Choshoji also houses the artifacts of the mummy of a young prince, discovered on the grounds of what is today Hirosaki High School. I think the guide said that the land where Hirosaki High School is today, once belonged to a temple and a Tsugaru clan graveyard was relocated from there to the grounds of Choshoji.

On Wednesday I went along to Hirosaki Apple Park- which I'll cover next time.