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MeznG. In the air, on the road, river or sea again
Here we are in Aomori back on the island of Honshu. There has been civilization in Aomori for longer than 30000 years. It's was founded in 1625 and became a city in 1898. There are no old buildings as almost the entire city was destroyed at the end of WW11. The ancient people lived underground and were hunters and gatherers and pottery makers. In 1611 the second lord of the Tsugaru Clan, Tsugaru Nobuhira constructed the historic Hirosaki a Castle. The castle was the centre of governance for the Tsugaru Feudal Clan for around 260 yearsuntil the abolition of the feudal clan system. This is to be our first stop today. To get to Hirosaki we need to take a train and then a bus. We are fortunate to get to the station in time for a rapid train or express to Hirosaki which means we pay a bit more but we get there quicker. Nothing to see on the train ride, mostly rice paddies and market gardens and apple orchards. At the train station there are guides dedicated to the Diamond a Princess passengers to assist us in getting the right bus to the castle. Today the forecast was for 23 degrees with 60% chance of rain so I didn't pack the jackets did I. Just as we got off the bus, it poured and it dame in quite cold. b*****! Hang on, it's stopped raining, the suns out, all good, carry on. Today we can visit the castle and see the main tower which was rebuilt in 1810 after the original was struck by lightening , 3 turrets, 5 gates and 3 moats. There are 8 red bridges over the moats which are full of lillies. The leaves are just starting to change colour so the gardens are very pretty. We can see by the photos on display how amazing it looks in Cherry blossom time and covered in snow in the winter. Across the road from the castle grounds is the Fujita Memorial Garden. It was made in 1919 by a gardener from Tokyo and the first owner of the garden was Ken'ichi Fujita from Hirosaki. The garden is separated into 2 parts by a 13m cliff. There is a western house which is now a tea house, a Japanese house and an Archeology Museum. We have morning tea in the tea house. Glenn has Apple Pie and coffee and I had a pot of apple tea and although we don't have to sit on the floor in true Japanese style, we do have to remove our shoes to go inside. The gardens are beautiful. The philosophy of making a garden in a Japan is to have thought to centre on the natural view, not being geometrically balanced. It is a place to reflect on ones belief. To play or do sword sports in the Japanese garden is taboo. The Japanese house is open to be viewed as long as you remove your shoes. The Archeological house displays items from the Stone Age and have been mostly excavated from Hirosaki City. A shortish walk from the gardens is an area called Zenringal. There are more than 30 temples in this area. They are on both sides of the street past big wooden gates. Some were built as family temples of the Feudal clans and consist of temples and in some cases mausoleums. Most have impressive gates and are guardians of the Hirosaki Castle. Some of these temples were built 300 - 400 years ago. Back to the bus and then hopefully on the train back to Aomori. We arrive at the station with about 2 minutes to spare to get to the train, so once again we are running as these trains definitely run in time. This one is not an express so will take a little longer to get back. During this time we decide to get off one stop before Aomori and go to visit the Special National Historical Site, Sannai-Maruyama. It's a famous archeological site which had been known since the Edo period. Excavation which started in 1992 revealed a large settlement of Early and Middle Jomon Period (5500 to 4000 years ago). Pit dwellings, pillar supported buildings, mounds, burial pits and jars as well as pottery and stone implements have been found and are on display. 15 pit dwellings have been reconstructed but around 550 have been found. Adult and child burial pits have been found along with the foundations of a 10 metre long pit dwelling most probably used as a meeting place.the work being carried out here is amazing and fascinating. They are trying to get a world heritage listing for the area. My funny for the day was this young Japanese man running toward me waving his camera and bowing. I established that he wanted me to take 2 photos of him in front of this big wooden structure, which I happily did. He was soooo grateful and we entered into a bowing like dance. He was still bowing and thanking me as he ran away! Buses are limited back to Aomori so we take a $20 taxi ride back to where the shuttle stops. We go up to the 13th floor of the observation tower on the wharf and have a coffee with a view. Back to the ship in time for a refreshing bath and as always entertaining dinner. That's it for Japan. The cruise has been fabulous. What we have seen and done is amazing. The Japanese people are not at all like the Japanese tourist you see around the world. They are humble, very polite and very friendly. We dock in Yokohama in the morning and then we transfer to the airport for a flight to Shanghai for our next adventure! Sayonara and Arigato gozaimasu
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