Day 10 - Matsumoto and the Black Castle

Early morning with another Shinkansen ride.  This time it was off to one of the most anticipated stops, Matsumoto. I went all in with this one, booking a traditional ryokan hotel with onsen and Japanese-style room just a few blocks from the castle. What castle you might ask? Well, 2 visits, both with Hime-ji "the white heron castle" visited both times. One of Japan's few remaining original structure castles, what you see on any postcard of "traditional" Japan and we got the treat of seeing it right before and right after restoration. But we had seen enough of the "white castle", this trip was all about the "black castle" and boy was I waiting to see how it would compare. 

Shinkansen rides are always a time for catching up and getting things back into order for me. Now packed with a bag of snacks (literally), another quick breakfast and a charged laptop, that's where a lot of my "work" such as updating social media, organizing pictures and even drafting these entries happened and this was no exception. Two hours straight on the shinkansen to Nagoya Station and then a local rapid straight to Matsumoto would be the only trains we would need to see today, Matsumoto is very centrally laid out around the castle (look up a map of the city sometime, it's very interesting), so just walking, biking or small taxi rides/car rides is all it takes to commute pretty easily. Having our heavy backpacks with us and seeing the walk was well over twenty minutes from the station and a taxi stand right in front of us, it was a no brainer to just have one take us over to our accommodations at Matsumoto Hotel Kagetsu.

We quickly drop our bags off at the hotel, being surprised by the first native English speaker on this journey made that process much smoother than it could have been. I then wanted to head over to a café I heard about years ago called "Storyhouse Café" located on Nawate (Frog) Street, run by a sweet couple where the husband was from Canada and the wife a local. They host local Jazz bands, run it completely bilingual and serve a mix of drinks and casual food. Again, refreshing to be able to speak simple English for a few minutes and have a short conversation with the owner before being on our way. The food was simple and nothing to really write home about, but getting a Matcha latte with Almond milk and a small burger was enough to satisfy me. The atmosphere was also very laid back, a vibe I was getting from the entire town.

After lunch, it was on to the main attraction, Matsumoto Castle! We were hopeful there would be some English language tour service as we had seen with Hime-ji and were not disappointed with the stand immediatley in front of the entrance stating "free English tours here". Yay! We were paired up with a nice Japanese ladies probably in her 50's that spoke English fairly well and was versed in the history of both the castle and area. She seemed surprised that a family of 3 to include an 11-year old were more interested in the authentic history of the castle and area rather than more shallow things, I suppose? I'm not sure what her normal tourists ask about, but it seemed we were a bit more versed and unusual. We learned about the history of the castle being built in the 1600's, the families that had occupied it, how the grounds had gone from private to publicly owned and a little bit on the castle structure itself and how the second smaller building was newer and constructed to host special elite guests of the time overnight to boost the status of Matsumoto. The grounds and castle were smaller than Hime-ji, but so impeccably kept and much quieter than what we were expecting for such a nice Sunday afternoon (busy, but no overly so). Unlike Hime-ji, the tour only lasted until we got in line to enter the castle itself, but provided more than enough information for us to then tour inside on our own and finish walking the grounds where they had a small shop and snack area set up. Before departing, our tour guide also gave us the tip to come back in the evening as the area is lit up and stays open instead of the normal "dawn to dusk" hours we've encountered elsewhere, a very good tip indeed. The inside of the structure was indeed original, with the signature narrow stairs and wood quarters. They also boasted a very large gun collection precured from a local man after he passed away and his family donated them, which was unusual to see. I believe we were here for about two hours in all, but it was a great time and not to be missed if you find yourself in Nagoya at all. I've also been told that in winter, instead of simple lights (I'll talk about that later here), they do full illuminations.

Matsumoto was quickly shaping up to be my favorite stop. We grabbed a few items at the shop, a souvenir coin and snack before heading back over to Nawate Street for further shopping and perusing. We now had to stay active until evening to come back for the night time view! The walk between the hotel, castle, Nawate Street and surrounding areas was on the back alley's and streets that reminded me the most so far of Kyoto with the traditional feel. This particular Sunday we were able to catch a small flea market setup with some local handicrafts (we bought a wooden cat spoon for 1,000Y) and snacks. This particular snack was a giant cotton  

candy for a mere 600Y, with no waiting might I add. These sort of things are about 1,200Y in Osaka and Tokyo with waiting and likely just a boring rainbow instead of a bear! We then walked the street slowly and ducked into a few shops after our "snacks" (we also got shaved ice I didn't take a picture of). So many little frog items, as one should expect! While eating at one of the benches facing the canal just off the road, we spotted some bunnies. Not know exactly what was "native" to this part of Japan I had no clue if they were wild or what. There were several places you could walk down stairs and get closer to the canal, so Terra headed down to get a better look. Turned out an

older gentleman had about 5 "pet bunnies" just hopping around down there, looked like he was with a slightly younger lady and spoke just enough English to understand she wanted to pet/feed/take pictures with them, gave her a few carrots to do just that. They had cute little bows and ice packs to also cool down on (even though it must have only been 70F outside at this time). It was so cute and unexpected, another charm of Matsumoto. Having done some shopping and eating, and knowing we still needed to do laundry again, it was time to head back to the hotel for a few hours before waiting for nightfall, dinner and an illuminated castle. The room was super comfortable and easy to relax in, the washer/dryer situation was not ideal, but at least closer than in the Akita hotel. I think the machines were 30 years old and it did, once again, take about 3 rounds of 30 minutes to dry our 2 days worth of clothing. But by now I learned it was what it was and at least had enough coins for it to not be too much of a hastle.

2-3 hours later, after a little organizing and planning, we headed out to what we thought would be the Soba shop the owner of Storytime Cafe recommended. Unfortunately they were closed for some reason (timing, day?), so we walked a little aimlessly trying to find dinner as the sun set. Stumbled into a Parco ("normal") mall thinking they would have a food court... they did not. After about 45 minutes of walk both the streets and the mall we happened across an Italian Steakhouse with a Japanese fusion menu... they is the best way I could describe it. Fully bilingual menus and staff were enough for us and so they were able to get "steaks" (maybe sirloin? nothing fancy) and I got a spaghetti/hamburg fusion dish. It was interesting and tasty, but nothing to "write home" about. I was glad we got a full meal in without hassle though.

As everything is built around the castle, I believe we ended up not 3-4 blocks away from it, so the walk over to see it illuminated was quick. It was so much worth it, a little bit more people than we had thought were out there (most were obviously tourists), though we did have fun taking pictures of a swan that obviously thought it was all his domain. It was a very nice night and the illumination were so pretty, one of my favorite times/spots of the whole vacation. The last part of the night was the construction going on just outside the castle that we aptly named the "giraffe rave". Out of all our travels, never have I seen a construction zone in or outside of Japan exactly like this. We do have video I'll have to see if I can upload somewhere later, a photo just does not do it justice!

After a lot of laughs and a slow stroll back to the hotel, it was time for another dunk in an onsen and sleep.

Day 9 - Akita to Omiya - Idols, Bonsai and Arcades!

I'll start this entry with an abridged version of the hemming and hawing we did regarding the day 9 plan. We walked through it so many times and I thought we'd be okay, but come the evening on day 8, it was a whole new ballgame. The plan? To take a main train as close to Nagaoka as we could get, then hop on to two local lines to a very small town and rent a car, the car drive would then be 30 minutes through the country to the beach. The rental was already reserved and the beach house was nearly $400USD for the night and non-refundable, a place called "日本海夕日ヴィラOne Story" on Agoda, located in Nagaoka. We were paying attention on this long ride out to Akita and saw the wide open roads, nothing for miles and lack of English anywhere at all. It broke down to not being too nervous to drive, but too nervous to deal with renting the car, filling it with gas (or if that was even needed?) and returning the car in a timely manner. We discussed and discussed some more and finally arrived at just not doing it. Instead, I was able to locate a hotel in a place called Omiya, just outside of Tokyo, which had a direct train route both from Akita and to Matsumoto. Candeo Hotels Omiya was booked and we had a whole new plan for day 9. This one involved sticking around Akita for just a tad longer, there were dogs to see at "Akita Dog Station" (true name) and they didn't open until 11AM.

Ready to get on with the day, we check-out and leave our bags with the aforementioned, way-too-helpful staff at our Akita hotel. With time to burn, we ended up walking up to Senshu park and the ruins of Kuboto castle- an area I wasn't even aware of until we literally just started walking around what surrounded us. It ended up being a very open public park area, up a winding path and a bit of a hill, but not too hard to walk through. There were some torii gates, a small waterfall and what appeared to be boy scouts (Japanese equivalent?) doing a ceremony of some kind here, there weren't too many people out and about as it was still early (9AM-11AM range), which was always nice. There were some very interesting structures and a museum looking part of a restored building, but unfortunately we didn't have time to go in. There was also a couple of shops/snack areas, but we also did not stop for them. Maybe next time if we end up in Akita for longer there will be time for exploring. Also a reason why I put a * on Akita as being my least favorite stop. Where I did not enjoy the station center, getting lost in the malls and the surrounding facilities, the park was nice and I'm sure given the chance there were plenty of good things here as well.

Being hyper aware of our timing for the day (which was knocked completely off by the change in plans), we wanted to get to the Akita Dog Station right before they opened at 11AM. Not being sure what to expect, we got there about 10 minutes before and had to wait for the dogs to arrive and doors to open. It turned out to be a literally cubby hole of a shop, selling Akita inu and city branded goods (postcards, books, stuffed animals, dog treats, snacks) with a small gated side that opened to a 4 cubby windowed views. This is where they would put the Akita's that were visiting for the day. This particular morning we had the female gray dog here being swept in (I don't know where they walked them from, but it wasn't too far away). She seemed super hyper and the trainer/worker had a hard time getting her in there, but she seemed content and fed with plenty of treats once she was there. I think they take shifts of less than an hour and are only open a few hours every few days. It's a bit of an odd tourist draw. You can't pet, touch or play with them, just see them through the window, which was a bit disappointing. 

A few pictures taken, items purchased and it was back to Akita station to grab our bags and hop on the train. Omiya was a bit further away than our original destination, but it was a straight shot. We stopped at a bakery right outside the Dog Station to get sandwiches and curry buns for the train this time, since it was going to be 4 hours and we were getting the hang of how not to starve to death by now. The train ride was quicker than the scenic, but still filled with the scenery we were quickly becoming accustomed to. There was never a complaint as looking at the window and seeing this is nothing short of relaxing. The rides themselves were always smooth and having something as simple as a clean restroom to use when you needed it and food on hand to eat made it feel like you were actually on vacation and not just running around to the next destination. We truly became familiar with the train system at this point and were able to "experience" it for the first time in three attempts.

If you are keeping track here and able to do some math, you'll know right around this point what comes next. Yup, we arrived in Omiya RIGHT before rush hour! Did I mention this was a Tokyo suburb? Yeah, we weren't in the countryside anymore and that was super apparent. A quick, what felt like, jog to our hotel (about 15 minutes if taking a straight shot) from the station to drop our bags and right back out the door we went. Getting there so late in the day, we weren't sure exactly what to do, but were quickly sidetracked by an idol (boy band) concert taking place right in front of the station! We were no strangers to this happening, as we've stumbled across these performances in the past, however they were usually inside malls and part of festivals/celebrations. Not just being put on in front of a train station in what seemed randomly on a Saturday evening. A few of the dancers were cute and you could tell they had all of the pop idol charms that are cliché. Entertaining for a song or two, but with the crowds and wanting to get in SOME sight seeing before dark, we left before too long. Terra seemed to think it was pretty cool though and I think I'd like to purposely attend one of these on a future trip.

Never regretting keeping all of my Japan newsletters, prior planning notes and NHK programming thoughts together, I was aware of Omiya and what it had to offer. They boast a manga museum, "Bonsai Village" and were rapidly expanding with new malls and hubs to become more large city centralized. It was unfortunate that we only would get a taste of this town and it would be after most of the buildings had closed, but I figured at least walking around the area would give me a good idea if it would be worth returning to in a future visit. The "Saitama City Cartoon Art Museum" looked pretty cool once we arrived! It was in an old-styled building (I believe it was newer construction, but made in a traditional style) with Koi garden out front. The residential neighborhood surrounding it was all within "Bonsai Village". There was a central "Bonsai Museum", it was sadly already closed for the evening as well, but the small tourist shop with maps of the local area and hot spots on where the small parks were and participating houses was still open though. We precured a map and just went for a stroll. Once again amazed by how quiet and rural it seemed to be just 5 stops up from the centralized Omiya area and crowds we just left, to quote Weathering with You "Tokyo sure is amazing". 

The area itself was super interesting, but spread out and a little hard to understand where the "bonsai" all were. We instead opted to just looking around and would spot little clusters of them outside of what appeared to be normal houses, but I think that's all it was outside of the museum! Some of them were so cute and you could tell it was this common thread amongst the residents here. Such a neat idea.

After an hour or so of walking, it was time to go eat a decent dinner. I had time to do some quick research on the train ride out here and came across a new mall complex called "Cocoon City" (yeah, creepy name, I know). It seemed like a promising area to explore, grab some "food court" style food, possibly some dessert and then head in for the night, so off again we were. It was only a short 20 minute or so ride to a station that dropped us right into the complex. The shopping mall area was very large and appeared to be three or four malls connected by outdoor walkways.  As soon as we walked into one of the main indoor areas, we here the clacking sound of paddles and I knew what it was! The hard candy with little designs in the middle, a "show" I had meant to catch during New Year's our last visit, but we didn't get the chance.

Unfortunately, we caught this particular show right at the end, something to keep in mind for the future mall visits however as we bought a small jar to enjoy later (more info on this candy, see youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-3Xe7RMg3w). Landing ourselves in the food court after some exploring, I was able to get a delicious bowl of Udon while Matt and Terra bought Gyudon, everything was pretty darn good for food court food. Afterwards we splurged on crepes, that could then be enjoyed in the outdoor area just outside the food court complex. It was an interesting indoor/outdoor area. With full bellies, it was time to indulge Terra in her everyday request of visiting an arcade. We hadn't been able to hit up too many yet as we were outside of major city districts, there were some nearby as we were just outside of Tokyo. (photo just outside the mall complex before hopping back on the train)

We get back to the main Omiya station in time for Saturday night parties to begin, little did we anticipate. The main shopping/station area was apparently party central and the first time we were exposed to night life Tokyo out on the streets. Tons of smoking, cursing (yes, I could tell) and side eyeing by having an 11-year old out there past dark (it was about 7-8PM, to be fair).  We were able to pop into a few arcades to check out UFO catchers (still not buying/collecting items at this point) and play some Rhythm/Taiko games. After not feeling welcome for a bit, it was time to go turn in for the night. This hotel happened to have an onsen/spa downstairs, so after Terra insisted, we headed downstairs to check it out. It was the first time I turned out to be brave enough for this whole "public bathing" thing. It was a weird mix of not knowing what to do, not sure if I was doing it right, trying to keep my eyes to myself, and then relaxing in a very hot bath for a few minutes. I still don't know if we did everything right, but there were at least other kids there, however Terra stated the girl a few years younger than her kept "staring". I don't know, but we got our bath, "relaxed" for a few and can now state we've done it, so there's that. Back in the room, we were treated to the night city skyline for a few before looking forward to what tomorrow might bring (castle!)

Day 8 - Scenic train, Akita and the mall to get lost in

Woke up pretty early to a rainy, little chilly, Aomori. We were in the northern most part of the main island, and that was more evident than ever with the June rainy season chill in the air. I was hungry for breakfast and refused to pay the outlandish price (I believe it was something like 2,600Y per person) for the hotel offerings, so I went for a walk by myself to find a konbini or really any place that could provide anything to eat. Walking to the left side of our hotel, there was a main shopping arcade (mostly with a covering over the walking area, which was nice in the rain), but sadly nothing was open there yet. After going down 5-6 blocks and only seeing the occasional jogger or person walking their dog, I decided to head back down and go the opposite direction from our hotel, facing the tourist center once again. I happened by a larger konbini (the kind that even had a parking lot) less that two blocks in this direction and was able to precure the "normal" of boiled eggs, muffin/bread items and a juice or two. This is just enough to hold us off until a larger meal, but always helped to supplement the absurd amount of water I had to drink before really heading out to start the day.

On this trip, I always took the time to breath in the fresh air and take a little deeper look around the area(s) we stayed in. The quieter moments are what I find myself treasuring the most out of the safe Japan streets. I could never walk around a main town in the US by myself with next to nobody around and feel like this. The random torii gates and shrines provide me with a certain sense of connection and appreciation as well.  After returning to the hotel, downing "breakfast" and demonstrating my perfected ability of repacking into two backpacks, off we were. By the time all of us made it outside to trek for the train station it was legitimately raining, what would turn out to be one of the heaviest downpours we'd get stuck in the entire trip. I'd be lying if I said it was "no big deal". I tried to hail a cab to get around the issue, but we had no luck and were in enough of a rush with confusion as to "exactly" what station we were starting the scenic train from that we just wanted to get on and be able to relax again. We were all pretty much soaked through by the end of the 15 minute walk with fully packed bags on our back and it wasn't pretty. Throw into the fray that we were confused what station our scenic train started from as there were two "Aomori" stations and the signs in the station we were using seemed to say the scenic train ran from the one a stop away station "Aomori" and not "Shin-Aomori" from which we were staying near. We felt that the sign would have the correct information and headed over to that station (during rush hour, which was busy, but not Tokyo busy) only to not understand where it was an ask the station manager. He explained it started from multiple lines depending on the stop on your ticket and ours, was in fact, for the "Shin-Aomori" station we original went to and just came from. Oops! Back we went, as we were slowing naturally drying out, to the original station. Luckily, we still had about 15 minutes in our pocket, but it wasn't enough to truly feel comfortable to stop and eat or do anything leisurely. 

We were, in fact, now in the right place and the train pulled up exactly on time. In the back of my mind I was both relieved and worried. None of us had much more then a konbini snack and this was a "scenic train" we'd be on for about 5 1/2 hours, until 2PM or so, well past lunch time. I wasn't sure if there would be any stops or snack service on such a train and our snack bag didn't have too much left in it... The train itself was "old style", but very spacious and had a real charm to it. As everything was in Japan, even if it looked old, it was very clean. 

We timed this so there wouldn't be too high of demand (no fall foliage or cherry blossoms to see right now) during a weekday morning and got just that. There weren't more than 3 or 4 people in our back car at any given time during the ride and generally speaking we could use the larger observation seating (seen in the second picture) at any time. The train "turned" several times so our back would become the front, which made for optimal viewing. There were several artisan's that came on board for a few stops to sell wares, we got a cute hand carved lion for Terra, but sadly no handmade meals!

Queue the picture dump here (maybe I'll make an album eventually). We were on this one train the entire time, it was a "train" day to say the least. Not my optimal cup of tea, but both Terra and Matt were really enjoying themselves and that was great. The amount of pictures taken were proof enough of that. It was a relaxing enough ride, I enjoyed being able to walk around the car and seeing the ocean for a good bit of the journey. We ended up stopping twice, once for a very brief picture chance (5 minutes or so) and another where we could swear he said "15 minutes", but I think it ended up being 30 or so? It was at a rocky beach area and there was small rest house I could swear there might even have been food at, but I was too chicken to stay away from the train that long. We stuck with the other passengers when it came to walking around the beach and taking pictures and then scuttled back as soon as we saw the first few people leave. In hindsight, I'm pretty sure it was 30 minutes and we could've gotten food, but who knows. Oh yeah, food? There basically was none, so there was that too. If you ever plan on a long train journey, I'm going to state it again, BRING FOOD. The bento boxes are at the stations for a reason! They did luckily have a small food/snack stand that was self serve, so we had some cookies, chips and chocolates, but actual lunch would have been much tastier. Oh, and these little apple pie things, local for Aomori. I was thankful for those and they were really good!

At the end of this scenic journey was Akita. Oddly enough, though they advertise it EVERYWHERE and it's the first thing you see when you walk off the train, it's not that easy to meet an Akita Inu (dog) here! There is a small section of the station (like, gated?) where they bring one to great people one weekday and one Saturday a week for a few hours and then a side station, about 20 minutes from this main station where you can meet them via a window greeting and buy merchandise a few times a week for limited hours and that's it. The main "area" of Akita PREFECTURE (there is both a city and prefecture at play here) that centers around the dogs is called Odate, and actually 2-3 hours away from the city of Akita. Once I found this out while planning the scenic train portion of this trip, we knew there was no way we could get Odate to work, so here we were, working with what we had. Which really wasn't too bad!

The hotel we were at for the night only needed to be two things (1)- close to the stations and (2)-have laundry facilities. Hotel Metropolitan Akita turns out to be one of the swanky places I still couldn't believe was under $100USD/night. To stay at a place half as nice as this in the US would cost 3x or more, especially given that is was attached to both a large mall and train station. The service here was the first time we dealt with what felt like true English speaking staff and they obliged to every request with a smile. I almost felt bad as they were so willing to help and you simply don't tip in Japan! We were able to drop our bags off with them since we arrived early and then immediately head out to get some real food to eat. 

Being overly hungry and in a complex of malls (Fonte and OPA) surrounding Akita station turned out to be my least favorite stop of the trip. It was confusing, easy to get lost and crowded. Due to these facts we were all a bit cranky and ended up at a MOS burger, which was below ideal. The burgers here were small and greasy, the fries barely passable, but it was food. I didn't "dislike" Akita, we barely made it out of this city center in the 20 hours we stayed to be fair, but it simply wasn't my favorite. It still had some residential, canals and Japan feels nearby. We were able to hit up our first Animate of the trip, stop by a handful of Gatcha machines and Terra decided to beg for Baskin Robbins ice cream after we had lunch. It had been a long day, which likely had something to do with the amount of times I circled the mall trying to get to/from our room, find food, do laundry and finally rest. I don't think I spent more than an hour awake in this hotel room before it was time to be done for the night. 

Before ending the day, I'd like to dive into the area just a bit more. The hotel only had 3 "all in one" laundry machines (they wash and dry), but they required coins and were all the way through the lobby and nearly out the door to the back alley. It would've been super sketchy for anywhere except Japan. The dryer (which is normal) took FOREVER to dry and did annoy me as I didn't have enough coins to get it going again at one point. Also turned out to be a vending machine wasteland (which meant we had to walk 2 blocks to find one and get coins instead of 10 feet, lol). While waiting for it to dry, I took Terra back into the connected mall where we purchased pork buns for dinner. I had been waiting for good "homestyle" steamed buns the entire trip and these were not a disappointment. Thought it was funny the salesman gave us samples and tried his best English to explain to us what they were, we knew and were already buying them when we came up to the counter! Ha!

Anyway, laundry, dinner in the room and crashing was all that was left for the night. Oh, and a discussion on how we were going to chicken out of the beach house for day 9. I'll start the next day with how that shakes out.

Day 7 - Off to Aomori

Knowing the train schedules and when our check-in time in Aomori was, we didn't have a super rushed day planned. The basics were to not get lost on the Hokuto Train to Shinkansen transfer and then make sure we made it to our Shinkansen reserved seats on time to make it straight to Aomori. There's not a whole lot to say or pictures being taken during this time, we were keeping our heads above water by making sure there were snacks, meals being eaten and the bags/items weren't being left behind. It was hectic and slow at the same time and I was simply enjoying the ride. The Hokuto was about 2 hours to the Shinkansen, which was then another 3 to get us back to Honshu and there weren't too many opportunities to eat on either, which continued to be top of mind and a piece of advice I'd like to pass on to anyone traveling the country, especially with a kiddo in tow. Always stop at the Lawson (or any Kobini) for a sandwich or onigiri if you know you don't have enough time to really eat and that's exactly what we did.

    Speaking of food, this was the first picture I had off the train. I'll glaze over the Shinkansen transfer to Aomori station and the 15 minute walk to Hotel JAL City Aomori. There wasn't a lot to note here, we walked from the station, to the hotel, back to the Starbucks and general shopping area (on the smaller scale compared to Sapporo, but still plenty to do/see and the necessities were covered), Matt ran to the drug store to get something for his cough (I blame Hokkaido allergies, one word of caution there) and then we walked around a small restaurant area where we decided to duck into Ootoya for dinner, which is pictured here. The exact traditional meal we had been craving, it was so good! And as was normal at this point, 3 full course meals came out to something like 2,800Y

Nebuta Museum WA RASSE was the only real attraction/tourist spot I saw when searching around for "things to do in Aomori" that would align with our timing. We were only here for one night, not arriving until 3PM, having to get a meal and then back on the sightseeing train early the next morning. I didn't expect too much from the museum, but it did look pretty cool, demonstrating and housing floats from the city's famous parade from the past years. However, after paying the small entrance fee (620Y adults, 260Y kids) and walking down the welcoming hall into the "warehouse style" museum, it was apparent how much in aw we would be. The floats were unlike anything I'd ever seen before. With our timings to Japan in the past, we've managed to miss any potential attendance to a real festival or parade (this trip being no exception), so this was a real treat. The floats themselves were HUGE, much larger than I would ever imagine could be walked around the roads of this little town. We spent the entire hour we had before closing looking around and being astounded by the craftsmanship and detail in each float on display. Being able to see some deconstructed parts and award winners of the past up close was a highlight. The museum closed at 7PM, which was about 30-45 minutes before the sun set, but there were no regrets.

After emerging from the museum, we found ourselves on the bay, like, directly on the bay.  There was a large facility to our left (which turned out to be A-Factory for their apple production, but it was sadly already closed), photo spots in front of the water and then a large area to walk down, heading back in the direction of our hotel, working itself out perfectly. The weather was overcast and not more than 70F so taking a stroll was in the books for the evening. Once again, many more pictures were taken than I can showcase here, but take my word for it that this was a great spot for snapping pics.

The bay and night were gorgeous in their own right and we really appreciated the laid back feeling people in Aomori exuded. Realizing our time in this town was way too short, I wouldn't be surprised if we ended up back here again in future visits. I could not recommend a few days here enough, I'd like to be able to review more of the local food, nature further out and touring that A-Factory along with a visit to their very distinct visitor center (pyramid shaped, seen below). We were also treated to the back alley view of where the floats are prepared. The tents had small little windows where you could see them hard at work for the festival that was upcoming in the beginning of August, less than two months from our time there. I'd also love to go back to see these floats in action! It's one of the largest festivals in Japan and between the Apples and festival, it's a fight to see what Aomori is more famous for. They were both wonderful. The night wrapped up uneventfully as we walked slowly back to the hotel. I would like to note what an expert I became starting night one at unpacking two full backpacks and then repacking them in record time each day! I even kept my own shampoo, conditioner, clothing for me and the kid, makeup and the needed electronics in good working condition and cleaned regularly. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! But did require a considerable amount of planning, time and energy.

Day 6 - Shiroi Kiobito Park, Shopping, Video Game Arcade, Cat Café

Ah, the last day in Hokkaido. Google "things to do in Sapporo" and one of the highest rated and first hits is Shiroi Koibito Park, otherwise known as a Chocolate Factory. It's known for the production of the famous "Shiroi Kiobito" chocolate cookie/crackers, the garden, omiyage exclusives and garden areas. They also offered decorating classes, which we planned on participating in. 

They didn't open until 10AM, but were clear on the other side of the city in another suburban area, so we left the apartment around 8AM and grabbed breakfast at a Mister Donut in Sapporo Station before taking a train out that way. Mister donut is neither bad nor good, it's just there and provides food for a barren western style breakfast land. You can grab a bland donut, bagel, croissant with a juice or coffee and go. That's exactly what we did and then were on our way. It was about 45 minutes total to commute and walk up to the Park's gate.

We arrived as soon as the gates were opening (and the rain was starting). It took about 10 minutes to pick up our preordered tickets and get inside to the tour. It was self-guided with many signs in 3 languages (Japanese, Chinese, English), but the walking tour itself only took about 20-30 minutes. Sadly, the factory was down for maintenance at the time of our visit, this picture reflecting the only part we could see, and it was not in operation.

The little cat mascots and the history of chocolate (and their cookies) in Japan proved informational, but it wasn't all that interesting. After the tour you end up in a room with a large café (windows overlooking the gardens), class area and another area where you can observe them cooking and/or making chocolates on a smaller scale. These were some of the current cookies/decoration classes they were offering at the time. We had a 1PM class scheduled for the large cookie decorating, and by now all the earlier times were sold out. I had figured with all we read on the place it might take hours to get through and I was trying to not be rushed. Turned out to be an error in estimation as it wasn't even 11AM and we were "done" with the majority of what there was to see here. With just eating a breakfast, none of us were interested in stopping at the café at this point either, so we headed outside to the garden area. Just getting outside was a bit of a hassle with arrows telling you which ways you can and cannot go and us realizing very quickly that this place was more to Eastern standards where they can see and take photos in Western style gardens and architecture. Whoops, not really what we are into. Every time I would stop to watch one of the animatronic shows or walk out to get to another part of the garden or open area, I was walking right in front of someone's photo. This place was no better than Disneyland or another amusement park and not what our idea of a good time exactly was. The park was clean and the couple of desserts we finally did sit down and eat were yummy, but there was no way we could hang around another 2 hours for that class to begin, so swallowing the 4,500Y paid (non refundable), we just left. There was still an indoor mall to shop in, arcade to play in and Pokémon center to finish before we left Hokkaido after all. Oh, and did I mention? It was a steady rain by now and we were just outside, sitting down in a western garden, getting soaked. ha!

Another 45 minutes back to Sapporo Station and Google pointed us to Sapporo Tower Mall where we could get lunch and enjoy an arcade or two. The complexes around the station were a bit winding, but I believe there were actually 3 or 4 separate "malls" (which in Japan usually mean 4-10 stores/arcades on each level and 2 basement/7 levels above ground total) contained within a short walking distance. Not partaking in any real seafood or sushi up to this point, we were pleased to find a tablet ordering sushi restaurant located within and were able to sit within 10 minutes, even during the lunch rush, which was impressive! I have to be careful with my sticky white rice intake, so I ordered an egg dish, unagi (pawning my rice off to someone else) and just one sushi dish. It was all excellent! I was once again impressed that we all had 3-6 plates off food and for 3 people the bill was something like 2,800Y. Never a complaint when it comes to food around here.

With belly's full, it was arcade time. This particular Namco arcade was honestly, one of my favorite arcades of the whole trip! Their mix of UFO catchers, kids games, ticket redemption games (rare for Japan) and even little kids play areas (which my daughter was too old for, but I could appreciate) couldn't be beat. I LOVED the semi-retro games for Kirby, Pokémon and Mario! I just had to play this "Big Bertha" style Kirby game where you push down the levers to feed balls to Kirby within a time limit. We really had a blast here and the machines were all super affordable, most being just 100Y each play/player. Kirby, a video Pokémon game where you threw physical plastic Poké balls at the screen to capture Pokémon that popped up and a blast-up ball catcher game were just some of the few that popped tickets out. Of course, nothing stellar for redemption, but it was a cheap way to try some classic Japanese candy! Overall, just a really laid back and fun time.

After playing to our hearts content and walking around the Tower mall for a bit, we headed back to the main station area and hit up the Pokémon Center one more time for a few requested purchases. It was then almost evening, so we decided to head back and finish packing. I had read an article earlier in the day (darn Google listening to us) regarding all of the exclusive things the Konbini in Sapporo carried, so I opted for instant noodles local to the region for dinner instead of eating out. You may as well take advantage when able! I was not focused enough to take photos and thoroughly review them, but just take my word that they were tasty, not like instant noodles state side at all!

A simple dinner left us with just enough time to pop across the street to that cat café. It was literally across the street from our apartment, why say no? This little guy would just sit in the window and stare at us, so it was on the list to give him a pets before leaving. Mewkies provided us with a very local feeling cat café experience. There was nothing special about it, but there was nothing wrong with it either. About 15 cats, 100's of books (all in Japanese or picture books) and simple drinks/café items. As we weren't here to eat, I simply paid for an hour (less than 2,000Y) and we hung out with the cats, the only extras here were the cat treats (which was the only time they showed interest in us) and the food/drinks available to purchase, which we didn't do. For 100Y a bag though, the cat treats had plenty to go around, I think we bought 2 of them and were able to feel all of the cats at least once. This little guy and myself pretty much just hung out at the window watching the people walk by however.

Our time in Sapporo was nearing to a close and the next part was about to get a bit crazy. Taking a deep breath and going for it, I hoped this "one backpack each" thing would work out! The larger bags were off, being shipped to Hiroshima where we would meet back up with them in about a week.

Day 5 - Murayama Zoo, Sapporo Tower and Odori park

The day started off bright and early, we knew the zoo was a decent trek from our apartment in Sapporo and still not familiar enough/confident in our ability to take the bus, we opted to just suck it up and take a taxi to the Murayama Park area instead. This afforded for a little more time to make a small breakfast, get a good amount of water in me and see the city via car on the way to the opposite side of it all. I can't recall the exact price, but it was between 3,000-3,500Y. Not something I'd do every day, but something I don't regret this one time either. We arrived before the zoo opened (Japan does not wake up at the crack of dawn, that's always a fact), so we walked around the park area for over an hour waiting for 9:30AM to come around.

The park was tranquil first thing in the morning. A few people walking their dogs or out for jog, but the crisp June Hokkaido air was refreshing and not being able to hear city noise was a huge plus. I was impressed on how rural it felt just outside the city center. We walked around the canal, close to the shrine/torii gate area and researched some of the very old looking trees. I cannot recommend this area enough, it's what Japan is to me outside of the hustle and bustle of any city.

The zoo opened exactly on time, we quickly paid and started our tour of the place. There were English maps available and we were all very surprised at how spacious the zoo was laid out and how it seemed to blend into the natural surroundings of Murayama so well. Having visited Ueno in Tokyo on a previous trip, I did a lot of research into anything animal related (our daughters favorite thing about going anywhere) and was NOT disappointed by deciding on this place. We were hungry and decided to have a quick early lunch at the café before really getting into the sites, figured it would be a good long walk through the park and play areas after that. The Hamburg Steak was delicious and we a Strawberry French Toast as well. The only thing to note here was that they were cash only and not accepting large bills, luckily we had a few lower bills on us to purchase these, it was under 2,000Y total for the two meals and a drink.

As you might imagine, I have more animal pictures than I know what to do with. Instead of having a giant showcase here, I'm only going to feature the two that standout the most. The polar bear tunnel (imagine what you get in a large aquarium for fish), never did I think we'd be able to see the polar bear paws this up close and personal! He was so cute playing with his ball toy and seemed very happy. 

The other enclosure (and one of the reasons I helped decide on this zoo) was for the red pandas. They had four pandas out at the time of our visit and the were free to go and stay in the outdoor enclosures (seen here) or the indoor where you can have them climbing above and around you. Fortunately/unfortunately for us, it was a very nice weather day on our visit and they all decided to be outside. It's enough that we'd love to go again and see them inside one day though! The entire facility was clean and the animals were all looking happy and healthy. Having seen my fair share of zoo's and animals, this is always a pleasure to report. Do not underestimate the amount of time you can spend here, we left shortly after 12PM, only simply because our next location was on a very tight schedule. As far as planning your visit here, I'd say there is plenty of English, bring cash for the food (and don't hesitate to eat here) and if you or someone you are traveling with is a red panda fan, bring plenty of money for goods in the shop before leaving (they took cards at least!). I think it'd be easy to spend 4-5 hours here on a nice day.

Up next was the "Inu no yaki imo ya san" (baked sweet potato shop by Ken-Ken the Shiba Inu). As previously mentioned, he's on a very tight schedule and only comes out on certain days for 2 hour intervals. If you are strangely only there for the delicious sweet potatoes (the best we had while traveling around), you have a slightly larger window to pick from. I appreciate how their cute little doggy was used as a gimmick for their "in front of the house" shop, but he's also very well taken care of and respected. Afterall, he's a little shiba inu and will act just like one! Looking for those treats you can conveniently buy right there at the stand to feed him.

Be aware that we couldn't find a great place to eat said sweet potato. So after our few minutes of pictures and admiring the shiba inu, we walked to a nearby vending machine area to eat and grab a drink. Eating and walking is generally frowned upon, so we tried to always stick near a vending area if there was food to get down to avoid being rude, as much as possible. After finishing here, we realized the same bus taken to the place only comes around once an hour and that there were not a lot of taxi or Uber rides out this far, it really looked suburban out in these parts. Was possibly the most lost and "not sure what to do" parts of the entire trip. After calming down and reviewing options, we found the "correct" bus stop where a bus arrived within 15 minutes or so to get us back to the city center area. We basically just rode that in as close as we could get to Sapporo tower and then walked the rest of the way. Luckily we had some time to spare and somehow gas in the tank (10 miles a day of walking was no joke when I say that). So up next was just that.

By this time in the day, it was super cloudy with some on and off drizzle. Perfect June weather and exactly as planned, BUT not the most favorable for great pictures and views. This being one of the older towers you can visit in Japan, it did, in fact, show it's age. The area around the tower showed signs of restoration and there were many new food stalls, beer garden/hang out areas and the very nice strip of planned park area that stretched N and S of the tower (Odori park) that were unique and nice to see. Never stand to be amazed at how well planned urban areas of Japan continue to be at this point. The trek up the tower in an older style elevator and the view from the top were standard, however I'd still recommend it if you are in the area!

Love the view of the park from this perspective. Afterwards I was able to grab my standard tourist souvenir, but this time it was a coin with the tower and Stitch! Much appreciated and approved of by myself. Make sure you keep an eye out for that one unique machine while walking around, I never settle for the first thing I see and it usually pays off. I honestly don't remember exactly how this day ended as my maps, pictures and memory starts to fall off. I believe we did some shopping at the arcade area near the tower and walked all the way back to Sapporo station to shop at the Pokemon center, grab dinner and do some more standard Japan things before turning in for the night. All I remember was this was a very busy day and we were ready to sleep by the time our heads finally hit the pillows.

Day 4 - Off to the races

With the worst of the stomach woes in my past, but it making for a not so restful sleep, I decide to just give up around 4AM so I could sit on the couch and reevaluate our planned day. A few weeks prior when I was double-checking the horse racing (Ba'nei) times and schedule for Monday, I came across the fact that they start much later than they do on the weekend, at 14:00. I took that as our opportunity to smoosh in another attraction along the way, a Salmon/Aquarium place where you can walk "on top of" the river and see them out in nature, along with a few more cool looking exhibits. However, the unplanned very bad night of sleep and still not feeling 100% took that newly formed thought and threw it right back out the window. 

Instead, after some convincing, we opted for a slow start to the morning, hanging around playing video games and eating another Konbini breakfast. We would end up on the Sapporo train to Chitose around 10AM, this was the connection point to Obihiro and the racetrack area, it should put us right where we needed to be close to that 14:00 start time along with a little exploration along the way.

Chitose Outlet Mall seemed to be the only thing in or around the station to look at during our 50 minute train layover to get to Obihiro. Not having walked a whole lot by this point (we took a taxi to Sapporo station this morning as Uber worked like a charm in these larger cities), we took a quick run across the street to find out what was there and if it would be worth it. A big sign greeted us, along with a bunch of America outlet mall brands of shoes and clothing. KRISPIE KREME- um, yes please? Of course it turned out to be clear on the other side of the mall, making it for a brisk walk to ensure we wouldn't be stuck for an extra hour train layover (these country trains do not run often!). Success was had with a half dozen "traditional" glaze and chocolate donuts and one kitsune Hokkaido special, I'm told it was a custard type as it wasn't what I ate this day and we marked the first of a couple Eastern versions of American brands off our try list- this one seemed to have pretty good flavor and nice soft donuts, but markedly not as in-your-face pure sugar overload as every single Kristpie Kreme in American has. Very interesting and a bit hard to describe, but I like it.

Obihiro Racecourse for the Ban'ei racing was next. The train ride continued through the countryside until we arrived at a town/small city. It was nice and spread out, not like Tokyo, Kyoto or even Sapporo that we'd seen before. There were more cars, auto shops, gas stations and even bikes here. There wasn't as much walking and definitely not as many train stations, the nearest stop being the JR station over a 25-minute walk away, inside which only had a few souvenir shops and several small "pop up" type restaurants. No malls here. Deciding to hop into a taxi to get the 20-25 minute walk over in a 8 minute drive instead turned out to be a good call, as malls were not what we were after here.

No, today was all about the horses, and the traditional racing known as Ban'ei. Ever since reading Silver Spoon, our daughter had been hyper focused on seeing these giant horses in person. Me being the fan I am of such oddball things then promised her during COVID that this would go on our Japan list for the next trip, which only seemed like fantasy for years. Now that the trip was actually planned and we were well on our way of exploration, the whole day was for her and the fantasy that was playing with, feeding and seeing these giant horses and traditional sport in action. According to her, it did not disappoint and was just thrilling to see the slowing horse race known to man in action. Instead of the laps and by a hair finishes you see at the betting places and domestic horses stateside, these were horses made for nothing but pulling, and pulling sleds very carefully over large hills is what they did. If you are not able to separate your feelings from traditional sports, the use of animals for such things and newer more "humane" thinking then this might not be the place for you, but taking it at face value and appreciating the traditional aspect, horses themselves, the love and care the owners have for the horses and the awe of the place itself was enough enjoyment for me. It definitely wasn't your traditional American's stop in Japan and that always piques my interest.

Inside the racetrack (aside from the racing area itself) was a betting area (we didn't partake), kids play area (for smaller kids), snack stalls, souvenir shops, an area to go out to some stalls and feed the horses, ponies and even bunnies they had there and finally a "museum" area where they talked about the sport, had some awards/trophies on display, showed the farmers and farms these guys came/come from and other aspects of it, mostly in Japanese. Parts of the large building had some beautiful paintings, which I was sure to grab photos of, and there were some very funny traditional board sign photo op spots as well. We stayed for two full

races, grabbed a few souvenirs, ate some ice cream, fed the horses and took plenty of photos before heading back out. It was a full afternoon and without a clear way of how to get a taxi to take us back to a station, we flailed for a few minutes before deciding to just walk, thankfully we had some gas left in our tanks due to the slow morning and taxi ride to the track! One quick nod to the whole reason we ended up here was seen on our way out- I believe this was in front of one of the currently closed museum buildings, I was honestly surprised to not see any merchandise or other nods the entirety of the actual facility otherwise.

It was a long walk back, I'm thinking closer to 30 minutes at our slower-than-Google-calculated pace. There wasn't too much to see in Obihiro, no huge shopping centers, no neon lights, barely even any trains or overpasses. It looked more spread out and urban than any Japanese town I'd see thus far. Reminded me much more of how American towns are spread out and how you can't get anywhere comfortably without a car. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, just very different, and not exactly my favorite feeling. We were darn hungry by the time we made it back to the station too, and not knowing what time we were leaving there were no reservations to make for the train back. They seemed to run on an hourly schedule or so and we had a little over an hour to grab a bite to eat at one of those aforementioned pop-up restaurants. Tonight's menu would be ramen- ran by a single guy behind the counter, costing an entire 600Y a bowl and darn tasty. Afterwards we were ready for the 2 hour long train ride back to the apartment- along with the traditional Japanese napping-on-trains and all.

It was a long, but relaxing ride back, nothing to really report on other than the fact that it takes forever to get to and from Obihiro. Google is not lying when they say 2 hours, but you also have to account for the train layovers and then actually commuting from the train station to your place of staying. I believe we didn't make it back to the apartment before 9:30-10PM this night, making for one of our longest days in Japan. Tuesday would not bring a long day of rest either, instead we were going right back at it as it was time to see the zoo next. I couldn't find that much information on Murayama, just that it was a nice looking area and that I was going to chicken out on commuting to and instead fork over about 2,600Y for a taxi- more on that in Day 5.