aomori bokeh 青森暈け: 2017

I had another three-day weekend in September, thanks to 敬老の日, Keirou no Hi, or "Respect for the Aged Day." After some deliberation, I decided to head to Iwate Prefecture to continue my quest to travel around all six prefectures in the Tohoku region. I picked up a shiny travel magazine at Tsutaya and got to work.

A diagrammatic map of the Tohoku region that I stole from the internet

Day 1: Morioka

On Saturday the 17th, I took a mid-morning Shinkansen from Aomori City to Morioka, the capital city of Iwate Prefecture. It's only a one-hour trip on the Hayabusa super express, which feels almost too short considering how much I like riding the Shinkansen (and considering the cost). As usual, I ditched my bag at Morioka Station and headed out to get my bearings.

The only picture I took of the Station, with my big distorted chin prominently featured... sigh

Although I was hungry, and I had a recommendation for a restaurant in front of the station where I could get Morioka's well-known reimen (cold kimchi-broth noodles), instead I got some snacks from Muji and went to get on the loop bus. When I travel solo, I am reluctant to sit down and spend any time in a restaurant. I prefer to keep moving (to the chagrin of my grumbling stomach).

First stop: Morioka Castle Park, also known as Morioka-jo Ato Koen (Morioka Castle Site Park) or Iwate Park. Morioka Castle was built by Nambu Nobunao and his heir Toshinao, first and second lords of the Morioka (Nambu) domain, starting in 1597. For any other reki-jo who might be wondering, that's just a few years before Date Masamune showed up in Sendai and started building Aoba Castle there, and just a few years after Oura Tamenobu cut ties with the Nambu and established the Tsugaru clan in a little northern place called Hirosaki. You may now turn to page 53 in your textbooks... ahem.

In Morioka Castle Park

Japanese Horse Chestnuts in the park

The Horse Chestnut that nearly hit me on the head as it plummeted out of a tree

A picturesque red-painted bridge that I can't find the name of

I saw a picture somewhere that shows a mounted statue on that plinth...

Cyclopean castle walls

Archinerd diagram of the development of the castle fortifications over time

Ok, actually, one more historical fact. All the remaining castle structures were destroyed/removed in 1874, with only the stone foundations remaining.. The site was redesigned as a public park in 1906 or 1934, depending on your source.

The park also contains Sakurayama Shrine and the Morioka History and Culture Center. (Heritage Museum)

Sakurayama Shrine in Morioka Castle Park

A giant rock that is shaped like the hat that priests would wear, or the helmet of a samurai

The outer gate at Sakurayama Shrine

A float on display at the Heritage Museum, most likely from the Hachimangu (Autumn) Festival parade

I made a small friend in front of the Chagu Chagu Umakko Festival display

After visiting the Heritage Museum, I headed a few blocks east, crossed a bridge and found the Bank of Iwate Red Brick Building. Built in 1911, it was designed by Japanese architect Kingo Tatsuno, who also designed the iconic Tokyo Station building. The Red Brick Building first served as the head office for the Bank of Morioka, and later Bank of Iwate.

I thought I'd just look at the outside, but it turns out that the building was recently restored and opened to the public just this summer. There's not a heck of a lot of English signage inside, but for an archinerd like myself, there's plenty to see. More than half of the building seems to be free to walk around, with numerous displays about the construction, style and ornamentation, bank history and operations. In the small library, there are videos and even a window in the floor to show what the foundations look like. There is also a paid section, but the greeter told me there was no English information available, so I just walked around the free part.

Bank of Iwate Red Brick Building museum, southeast facade

The west facade of the Bank of Iwate Red Brick Building

Inside, the main sales hall, which can be rented out by the community

The alligatored rosin finish on the woodwork reminds me of my old college apartment in Troy, NY

At the base of the little southwest tower

Lots of dark wood and ornate elements at the stair

There was a rose garden in the small yard to the west, with a few blooming even in September

My last stop for the day was Morioka Hachimangu shrine, about a 15-minute walk from the bank building. It's not particularly close to the tourist loop-bus route, nor anything else of interest, so it seems to be mostly ignored by tourists to Morioka. It started to sprinkle rain as I left the bank, so I stopped in a 7-11 and bought an umbrella and a pizza man. Thus fortified, I headed off to the shrine, and one of the weirder shrine experiences I have had so far, and I don't mean the giant tanuki hiding in the alley.

I came across this giant tanuki hanging out in an alley, and it stopped me in my tracks...

The road leading up to the first gate of Morioka Hachimangu

It was raining a bit more seriously by the time I got up the monumental steps to the Honden.

The Honden at Morioka Hachimangu

The Honden at Morioka Hachimangu, with a big ad for having your wedding posted on the front right corner

Visiting the Shinto DMV (a short unillustrated story...)

I saw that there was a small ceremony of some sort underway inside the sanctuary, so I held off paying my respects and ringing the big jangly bell. As an aside- I'm not sure if that's proper, or if one should always ring the bell regardless of ceremony in progress. This is the kind of information that is not readily available in English, although I suppose observing Japanese folks just know it instinctively. I imagine my friend Toru would tell me "don't mind." Oh well. There were two or three youngish guys in suits off to the side having a very loud conversation, so maybe it didn't matter either way.

I went around to the window where miko were selling the usual vast array of charms, and inquired about getting my shuuinchou book signed. Usually this is pretty straightforward, like at Sakurayama shrine earlier that day- hand the stamp book over the counter, wait a few minutes, pay 300 yen and say thank you. This time, the miko stepped out of view and re-appeared at another door, then led me inside to a waiting area behind the main sanctuary. This waiting area was a large, bright room with white walls and floor, several rows of backless benches, and a long sterile reception counter at the other side. At the reception counter I gave my stamp book to another miko, received a plastic chip with a number, and followed the instruction to take a seat and wait. It was like being at the Shinto DMV.

While I waited, I checked out the waiting room. In one corner there was a large flat-screen tv showing a live closed-circuit camera view into the main sanctuary. Next to that, a wall display advertising family portraits that could be taken in the ceremonial garb laid out on the table below. Another table with the same selection of omamori I had seen displayed outside. In the opposite corner, a large advertisement for holding your wedding ceremony at the shrine, clearly a major draw to the shrine outside of festival season. There was a lot of other material advertising services and goods that I couldn't identify with my meager kanji skills.

There were a few other people waiting in the room with me, but they weren't waiting for their stamp books. After a few minutes, a priest in full costume came in through the same door I had used, and called the group over. He put a loose white vest garment over one of them, and then led them all back out the door. A moment later I saw them appear on the TV, sitting in the sanctuary, so I assume they had been waiting for a ceremony or rite to be performed.

I had never witnessed the daily business of a shrine being conducted. Sitting there in my jeans and Tokyo Taiko Museum t-shirt, which just happens to have an icon of a shrine gate on it (among others), with my limited language ability and cultural understanding, waiting for my stamp book and clutching a little plastic chip, I felt very out of place. Like I had gone into the Vatican and asked a Cardinal to validate my parking ticket.

Finally they called my number. By this point I was alone in the waiting area. I scurried over, paid for the service, and made my hasty exit. It had stopped raining, but I didn't stick around- I was starving and I was ready to be somewhere else asap. I went to find some jajamen.

Detailed instructions for eating jajamen

Morioka's notable foods are three kinds of noodles: the aforementioned reimen, a kind of customer-vs-waiter food battle called wanko soba, and Jajamen. I found this site that claimed that some of the best jajamen in Morioka could be found in a hole-in-the-wall restaurant near the bus terminal called, fittingly, Morioka Jajamen. Although it was undeniably dinner time, I was the only customer inside, so I got personal service. One other customer came in later, and I overheard him order (in Japanese) "the fastest thing you've got." He sat at the counter, ate whatever he was given in about five minutes flat, and left his money next to his empty plate.

Day 2: Hiraizumi

Typhoon 10, aka Typhoon Lionrock, struck Japan in the last week of August 2016, and it impacted the coastal areas of Iwate Prefecture in particular. Some of Iwate's most popular attractions, including the amber-producing area of Kuji City and the Ryuusendou limestone cave in Iwaizumi, were out of commission due to damage from the typhoon. Flooding and landslides were responsible for 19 deaths in Iwaizumi.

That being the case, I planned to limit my travels to Central Iwate, and hope to make it to the coastal areas on a future trip. After Morioka, the next place on the list was the UNESCO World Heritage sites in Hiraizumi.

Hiraizumi history:

Much of what I read about Hiraizumi's history is described in wistful, almost mournful tones, though I'm not entirely sure why. Possibly owing to Basho's haiku on the area when he passed through in 1689:

The summer grass / 'Tis all that's left / Of ancient warrior's dreams

In the early 1100s, after a long period of warfare in the Tohoku region, the head of the Oshu Fujiwara line, Fujiwara no Kiyohara, founded the Chuson-ji temple complex to appease the war dead of both sides. The Hiraizumi region was known to produce gold, which went into the making of the famous gold-covered pavilion, Konjikido, crafted in 1124. By all accounts the Fujiwaras strived for a peaceful, prosperous and artistic reign in the region, until they made the fatal mistake of harboring the fugitive brother of Minamoto no Yoritomo, first head of the Kamakura Shogunate. That led to their defeat and destruction at Yoritomo's hands (well, actually his armies' hands) in 1189. Today, Hiraizumi is a town with about 8,000 residents, and host to the UNESCO World Heritage Site - Monuments and Sites in Hiraizumi.

I planned to visit two of the temples in Hiraizumi- Motsu-ji and Chuson-ji. Motsu-ji was the first stop on the Loop Bus, so I started there.

Motsu-ji - Special Place of Scenic Beauty

Motsu-ji's Oizumi ga Ike pond

Motsu-ji's main draw is the large Pure Land garden featuring a man-made pond called Oizumi ga Ike. The garden is considered to be one of the best examples emulating the Pure Land Buddhist vision of the afterlife. There was a misty drizzly rain situation going on, so all the tourists trotted counter-clockwise around the pond in rain ponchos carrying umbrellas of many colors.

This is what the Pure Land Buddhist afterlife looks like in the rain.

"Cape and Standing Stone" at Motsu-ji's Oizumi ga Ike pond

Motsu-ji was established by the great Tendai sect priest Ennin in 850. According to legend, he stopped to rest in his travels, and saw a white stag turn into a white-haired old man who told him to build a temple there. Most of the temple structures were built in the 1100s by the Fujiwaras, and were all destroyed by fires after the fall of the clan. The main hall was rebuilt in 1989 based on records of the Heian Era structure.

Umbrella reflections in Oizumi ga Ike pond

Umbrella train making its way around the pond

The Hondo at Motsu-ji, rebuilt in 1989

A little early fall color. Every May they hold a poetry-writing contest called Gokusui no En on the banks of this stream.

Momiji at Motsu-ji

Jogyodo Hall

I dawdled at Motsu-ji (who hurries through the afterlife?), so I was running out of time to get to Chuson-ji before the sun went down and the museum and shops closed.

Chuson-ji is the head temple of the Tendai sect of Buddhism in Tohoku. Some other Tendai temples in Tohoku are Zuigan-ji, which I visited in June when I was in Sendai, and Yamadera, in Yamagata (stay tuned for that).

Heading up Tsukimizaka, lined by trees planted 300-400 years ago by the Date Clan

From Tsukimizaka, view over the Kitakami River valley

I speed-walked up the steep Tsukimizaka ("moon viewing slope") to the temple grounds. I really wanted to get my stamp book signed, so at the first sign for「御朱印」(goshuuin) I quickly got in line and waited for my stamp. I did wonder why the person behind the counter was not wearing monk's clothes and seemed to be about 15 years old, but I didn't let that stop me... then I got a little further into the temple complex and realized my mistake.

Benkeido with the goshuuin hut to the right. Benkei was a warrior faithful to Minamoto no Yoshitsune

The wide path from Tsukimizaka running past the Main Hall and all the way up to the Kanzantei refreshment hall is lined with little halls and pavilions and devotional rocks and such, and each one seems to have a goshuuin hut where you can pay 300 yen and get a unique stamp in your book. I could have probably filled my entire stamp book by going to each little hut, but I didn't have time, or money, or space in my book for all those stamps. The one I was really after was the stamp from the priest's hut next to the Main Hall, but I made do with the one I got from the teenager at Benkeido. I was running out of time to see the Konjikido (金色堂).

Pavilion dedicated to ocular health (note the eyes on the banner)

Konjikido Hall, with the National Treasure tucked safely away inside

They are really strict about no photography inside the Konjikido hall, so you'll have to be satisfied with the picture on the website (in the list of links below). As mentioned before, the Konjikido is a gold-leaf covered pavilion that contains the mummies of four generations of the Fujiwara clan leaders, from Kiyohara who founded Chuson-ji in 1095, to Yasuhira who angered the first Shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo and then paid for it with his head in 1189. It was repaired and rebuilt by a team of specialists in the 1960s, and has of course been declared a National Treasure.

The Hondo at Chuson-ji

Not sure what this little pavilion is, at the top of a tree-root staircase

I walked back past all the closing gift shops down the steep slope to find that I had missed the last loop bus back to Hiraizumi Station. I thought about walking back about thirty minutes in the rain, but opted for a taxi instead. Back at the station, just about every restaurant and shop was already closed by 6pm, and even the konbini inside the station was getting ready to roll down the shutter. I looked at the schedule and saw that I had just missed the train heading north, and the next one would be in about 90 minutes. Lesson: do not underestimate the train schedules of very small towns.

Day 3: Morioka again

Due to lack of advance planning, I scrapped my idea to visit the onsens of Hachimaki on the holiday Monday, and instead went back to Morioka to spend time shopping on the main drag. Curiously, the main shopping street was closed to motor traffic for the holiday, but none of the shops were open by noon. I came across a small free concert going on in the middle of the street, and stopped to watch a few acts.

These two guys were in the middle of their act when a girl from the food stalls brought one a bowl of ramen and asked him to eat it... so he did, while the other guy finished the song.

This guy sang about snot, and not wanting to get up for work in the morning. I enjoyed his set : )

I think her name is Carina. She fake-played the guitar for one song (with loud backup music) and waved a towel

Carina's fans were a bunch of men in their 30's with towels... They weirded me out a bit.

I found a fancy department store called Kawatoku, and ate some seriously delicious Fukushima grape soft serve in the basement food hall. Then I wandered back to an annex building called Cube II, devoted to Morioka and Tohoku crafts and foods, and spent a chunk of money on omiyage. Finally, I visited the recommended reimen shop in front of the station, before hopping on the train back to Hirosaki.