The flight was uneventful. I had a pretty nice breakfast, I must admit – in Business class. I didn’t get a lot of sleep, despite the flat bed. It’s still too narrow my legs (I like to spread them out more). Melbourne airport was a shambles coming back in – somehow they haven’t got a good system to feed people to the e-gate ticket machines. But eventually I got through, got my bag, and was home by 9.30am

We had a bit of a sleep in, and went downstairs for breakfast about 8.30. The included breakfast wasn’t as good here as it was at the Toyoko Inn in Hirosaki, but the price was right. After some food, we went back to our room, got our bags packed, and checked out. Then it was off to the train station, to Shibuya.

We put my suitcase in a locker at the station. Then, Arisa had told Kaoru about Shibuya Sky – but tickets were sold out. We went there anyway to check it out, and we at least got to see the view from the 14th floor. The cafe’s / shops didn’t open until 10.00 so we had to wait 10 minutes or so. After a walk around we went in to the cafe and I had a Macha G&T, and we took some photos of Shibuya Scramble. There were noticably less people than in the past. I also spotted a few groups of Mario Karters, which was interesting as I had heard they were no longer doing that. Obviously it was back on.

We walked around the 14th, 13th, 12th and 11th floors. But they all only showed views out the same side. Not sure what’s out the other side, but you have to pay to see it!

We went back down to street level, and walked up to Don Quiote – basically to pass some time, and it’s always fun to have a look around there. Then it was back to the station, got my suitcase and then made a 12.10 train to Sakura-Shinmachi, and the 25 minute walk to Mio’s house.

It was (obviously) quite warm, so I wasn’t going to hug anybody when I saw them. I had a quick shower and put on a clean shirt, and then came and gave everybody a proper greeting. Mio had a beer out for me almost immediately. We exchanged some presents, and after not too long, our lunch arrived. Mio had organised some food, rather than us all going out. Being a Thursday, Youichi was home (his day off work), and being school holidays, Arisa was home. So I did some English talking with Arisa to give her some good practice, and she showed us the things she is learning.

Kozue and Minami came over after lunch. Kenichi was in Israel for work, and had taken Yukari to give her an experience. So we didn’t get to see them. Kozue and Minami stayed for about 10 minutes, which was a shame as it would have been nice to spend more time with them.

Mio opened a bottle of scotch whisky, but it was really too hot for it. So I only had the one (which she had poured while I was on the toilet) and then washed it down with another beer. I got my bag all packed, and at 5.00, we all (except Arisa) went to Haneda airport to drop me off. We met up with Michael and Leila at check in, so they got to say a quick hello to Mio and Youichi. I checked in, and then we said our farewells to Kaoru, Mio and Youichi, and went through immigration. I walked around for a while with Michael and Leila, and did a small amount of duty free shopping, and then went in to the Sakura (JAL) lounge. Unfortunately my Qantas guest passes didn’t work for the Sakura lounge – only Qantas lounges – so I couldn’t get Michael and Leila in this time. I had some Japanese Curry for dinner, and a few beers, and boarded the plane about 8.30.

Always a sad day when we know we have to leave. I woke up about 6.30 and went to the main house, where everybody was already awake (of course). After breakfast, Kaoru and I checked Otosan’s email and finished setting up his google account, knowing we could now recover the password should he ever lose it. We did our teeth and a final pack, and then passed time in the main house, watching TV. The typhoon had brought lots of water / flooding with it.

The taxi arrived about 9.25, and we were at Kuroiso station before 10. A 10.20 train to Nasushiobara, and then 11.05 shinkansen to Shinagawa. At Shinagawa station we managed to find the elusive vending machine, with the peach flavoured drink in it. It’s a special being done by JR East at the moment, and the drink is only available from certain vending machines. We had found one in Nasushiobara, but they had sold out. But this one in Shinagawa station was stocked, so we both bought one to drink. Over-rated, but that’s marketing!

We took our bags to the hotel, and I filled up my camel back for the day. We then went to a good sushi place for lunch – it was the best I had had on this trip (it would want to be at $50/head). But as it was Kaoru’s and My time, it was worth spending a bit more money to enjoy our holiday together. We actually had to wait outside for 15-20 minutes for a table, as the place was so busy and popular.

After lunch, we got a train to Harijuku, and walked up Takeshita street – which was as busy as ever – turning off at the familiar crepe stall to go to Togu shrine (where we had our shinto ceremony) for our customary visit and pray. We also went to Uniqlo so I could buy some Airism shirts (and also a couple of T-shirts). Then it was off to Meiji Jingu shrine – our other regular shrine as it was the first place Kaoru took me. Then we went back to Shinagawa, and a bit of a wander around the station, before checking in to our hotel.

We went to our room, and I walked in to the bathroom to empty what was left in my camelback – there was a disgusting smell in there. So Kaoru went back down to reception to tell them, and we got moved to a different room. We settled in to the room, and it was getting time for dinner. Our plan was to meet up with Andrew and his wife for dinner, but unfortunately he had to cancel due to being in call (as a result of the floods from the typhoon). So we had a date night! We went across the other side of Shinagawa, and off to a Korean BBQ restaurant for dinner. We had some delicious meat, and because it was too meaty for Kaoru, I got quite a bit extra. And she had some noodles. And of course a couple of beers to make the meal complete.

We made our way back to the hotel, but looked in the supermarket above the station. I found some hoppy beers there and bought a couple, plus some sake. But they didn’t have much in the way of desserts, so we went back to our hotel via the supermarket next door. There we found an eclair, and I also bought some meiji chocolate. We went back to the hotel, showered and ate our desserts while watching some TV.

REST DAY! Absolutely nothing to do today!

I didn’t sleep too well last night. I think from the long siesta during the day. But it didn’t matter as there was nothing that needed doing today. So I was up at the house before 7, and we had breakfast. Not long after, the heavens opened on us, with quite heavy rain. That killed the internet – one of the things with living in the country! Breakfast was a good 45 minute affair, and then I did my teeth and grabbed my laptop so we could look at some photos of Kaoru’s and my adventures over the last few years. Since it was raining quite heavily, it was a good way to pass some time.

Eventually there was a break in the rain. Okasan and Otosan are planning on selling the original house. They’ve been keeping it so when family visit, they would have their own place to stay. But it hasn’t really been used lately, so not worth the extra maintenance work. So Kaoru and I a couple of the dressers up to the new house.

It was then lunch time. After lunch it was time for a siesta – but I was careful not to sleep too long this time! I came back up and had a look at Otosan’s computer. I wanted to add my email address as a secondary email address, and also backup his documents. But to do so required a 6 hour wait by Google before they sent the link. Really throws a spanner in the works, as that’ll be night time. I got the files backed up to Google Drive though.

Then Kaoru and I went for a short walk around the block. We bumped in to Mrs Shitoh and said goodbye to her. I then cracked a beer, and did the always-sad-job of packing the suitcase.

I had a bath to relax a bit, and then we had dinner. After dinner it was the end of the Obon, and we had farewell the spirits with the okuri-bi ceremony. After lighting the fire, we did the “3 times over the fire”, but this time going out of the house. Then ring the bell, and pray.

We went back to the house and Kaoru had a bath, while I showed Okasan and Otosan the remaining photos from our Japan trip (of all the festivals). When Kaoru was done we went to our house to watch TV. We left the windows open overnight as it was cool, and fell asleep to the trickling of the stream. We just had a fan blowing air in the room – I didn’t need an air conditioner!

REST DAY! Absolutely nothing to do today!

I woke up a bit after 6.00 and came to the upper house. Kaoru was already there, and Okasan and Otosan were doing their morning exercises. We then had breakfast which consisted of eggplant in miso, miso soup, cucumber, rice and various extras. After breakfast I set up to get some work done, and Okasan and Otosan went out to a ceremony, as it had been a year since a friend of their’s had passed away.

Kaoru and I had a go at straightening the rug – Otosan had said that he wanted it done while we were there, as it required lifting the heavy table. We couldn’t do much, as the rug had stretched in different ways, so there was going to be some bunching up somewhere. But we did the best we could. I did some work.

I cooked lunch for all of us when Okasan and Otosan came home – Okonomiyaki. Okasan made the batter – she swears that it must have taco (octopus) in it. We also had some miso prawns Mio had sent, so needless to say, we were quite full. That means time for a siesta!

After a good rest I came back upstairs and had a couple of the craft beers Mio had sent, while getting a little bit of work done. We then showed Otosan how to use Google Docs. He has been keeping a diary for a couple of years now, and it’s all saved as Word documents. I’m worried about their (old) computer dying and losing it all, and he was quite keen on “the cloud” when Leila was showing some photos the other day. So we went through how its done. His memory isn’t the best, so it took a few times to show him, but he was quite proud of himself when he was able to easily add a picture to a document.

We had dinner, with some wine and beer. I had a shower, and then Kaoru had a bath while I talked a bit with Okasan and Otosan, and enjoyed another beer. Then Kaoru and I went down to “our house” and watched some TV.

We had a later start today. The plan was to get a take-away breakfast from the bakery next door to the cafe we had breakfast at yesterday. But as we saw the line build so early, we knew we had to get there early. We had seen that they only allow 8 people in the store at a time, and we make half of that! So while Michael and Leila checked out, I rushed ahead and held a place in line. They were only a couple of minutes behind me, so it wasn’t a probem, but another minute later there were 4 people behind us, and 10 minutes later there would have been about 15 people behind us! So lucky we got there early! We bought some food from there, including some to take to Nasu.

We then said goodbye to Michael and Leila who went to Tokyo, and Kaoru and I went back to the hotel, to do our teeth and check out. We caught a bus at 10.15 from across the road from the hotel (convenient), back to the safari park. Traffic was building already, and the 15 minute bus trip took at least 35 minutes. We started the walk to the bus stop. We saw Kaoru’s parents car – they were in the traffic coming down to get us so we didn’t have to walk so far. It meant they were in the really heavy line, and must have been in it for a long time. Luckily where we met them, there was a shop on the right hand side of the road (to them) so Otosan could pull in to there, and easily turn around to take us back to the house. That was an easy run as we were against the traffic now. We got to the house and relaxed for a while before lunch. We had cold noodles for lunch – a much simpler meal than yesterdays! After lunch we all had a bit of a sleep. Kaoru and I have the bed in the old main house. So after an hour or so I came back up to the house, where Kaoru was working on her computer. I got mine out and started some things. In Japan, it seems people die in the bath after drinking….so I was encouraged to have an early bath. I did that, and then put on a Jinbei – a type of summer yukata. Being loose, it’s supposed to be cooler than the clothes I was wearing.

Because it was the start of the Obon, it was time for an omukae-bi ceremony. At the front door of the old main house, we lit a small fire, from which we lit incense, and then walked once over the fire towards the door, once back, and once again over, in to the house, and then at the mini-temple we put the incense down, rang the bell and prayed. This is to welcome the spirits of the ancestors to come to the house and visit us for the Obon holiday.

It was then time for dinner. Okasan and I had a beer, and Kaoru and Otosan had some red wine Mio had sent. I had a glass of red as well, as it was a good Australian Shiraz. Dinner was yukitori, with lots of vegies, and some beautiful meat that Mio had sent down. After dinner I showed Okasan and Otosan the video I had taken of Kaoru being interpreter for the Mayor of Hobson’s Bay, and the President of the Hobsons Bay International Friendship Association, while Kaoru had a bath. Then it was time to call it a night.

We met at 7.45 to get to the cafe by 8.00 for breakfast. Because it’s the only one in town, Kaoru thought it may be busy so we should get there early. We easily got a table, but again, 15 minutes later and we wouldn’t have. We could see people lining up outside as we ate. We could also see a line forming at the bakery next door – and that was before the place even opened! After breakfast we went back to the hotel, packed our suitcases and caught a taxi at 10.00 to Okasan and Otosan’s house in Nasu. Whilst Kaoru and I were going to be going back to Kuroiso for the night, we were moving to Nasu tomorrow – so to make things easier we brought our suit cases in the taxi, and we can catch a bus tomorrow. The traffic wasn’t bad at all, which was good as it was the start of Obon weekend. It took us about half an hour to get there. Kaoru’s parents were happy to see us. Everything was so green! And whilst it was warm, it was cooler than we had experienced the last week or so. We went straight inside, where we were greeted with a table of food – some fried chicken, and then Okasan cooked some “cheese in gyoza wrappers” (something Kaoru does for our parties sometimes). Mio had sent some beers to the house, so Michael, Leila and I went through them.

We had a walk around the garden. Okasan showed us the rose I gave Kaoru for valentines day some 11 years ago – she had planted it in the garden. Then took a cutting, so has a couple of rose bushes there. And also gave a cutting to another friend! So it was a good one! Then the 4 of us went for a walk. We only got as far as the Shito-san’s house on the corner. They were outside, so showed us around their garden. We had seen them on previuos trips – Mrs Shito-san played the flute for us. And she remembered us all (hard to forget the 4 aussies who keep coming back!). We spent probably 45 minutes there, before moving along for our walk, but as it was after 12.30 we made it a shorter walk. We then returned to the house for some lunch and more beer.

We posed outside for our usual photo out the front of the house. Then Otosan drove us to the safari park, and we walked about 5 minutes down the road to the bus stop. We got off a few stops down the road – at the cheese factory. After a walk around there, we ordered afternoon tea, and then walked back to the bus stop to catch the next bus to Kuroiso. We didn’t have to wait too long, which was lucky as there was quite a bit of traffic so everything will be running late. We went back to our rooms and I had a sleep, with the plan to meet at 6.45. Kaoru found that the ramen restaurant we were thinking of going to closed at 7, so we left at 6.30 instead as we were all ready. However they were sold out of ramen! Luckily we had seen a soba place closer to the station so we went to that. They close at 8, and were able to fit us in. So we had our last meal together, enjoying some beer and a sake tasting paddle each (Kaoru just had a yuzu sake). During dinner we had heard a hanabi (fireworks) and could see them above a building. As we left the restaurant we could hear music – so we followed the sound to see what was going on. It was a bonodori festival – at the primary school. The temporary structure they had put in was amazing – absolutely massive. They were playing live music, and kids dancing around in a (massive) circle. Kaoru explained to us that she used to do this, but the music was regional, so she didn’t know the songs they were playing and dancing to. We couldn’t eat anything as we were full, but I watched an enormous batch of hiroshimayaki being made.

We then went back to the hotel. We were all pretty tired so no dessert / drinks tonight. We watched some TV, had a shower, and went to bed.

We met for breakfast in the hotel at 7.45. It was inclusive, so we wanted to have it at least one day! Nothing fantastic, but a nice Japanese breakfast anyway. We got our bags packed and checked out about 8.45, leaving our suitcases in their capable hands. We then caught a local bus to the Starbucks. The reason for this is that it’s in a tangible cultural property – so in a historic building. We were just going to have a look inside but Kaoru loved it so much that we stopped and had a drink (I had an iced macha latte). We then made our way to Taishou Roman Tea Room, which was in another historical building and faced a beautiful japanese garden. They sell apple pies from a number of the different apple pie stores in town, so it let us experience a range of types, instead of just one. We ordered 6 and shared them between the 4 of us, as well as drink, and just passed the time, relaxing.

When our hour at the tea room was up (they put limits on – the place was empty when we arrived, but full by the time we left!), we went to the Hirosaki castle grounds and had a walk around there. It was a nice walk, and I was getting a bit acclimitised as I wasn’t struggling too much with it. We exited the grounds and got on a local bus.

Our next stop was the rainbow fish market (again), for an early lunch – we got there about 11.30, and had until 12.20. Kaoru organised to send some local seafood to Mio, and I walked around and got us both some food to eat. I also had a banana smoothie to finish off. We bought some food for later, and then walked back to the hotel to get our bags, and then over to the train station.

The train we caught was a “theme train” (Resort Shirakami) to Shin-Aomori. Each of the 4 carriages had a different theme. The front carriage was very open, and you could see the driver doing his thing, and had a fantastic view out the front window. The second carriage was booths, so a group of 6 people could easily sit around a table. The third carriage had a bar in it, with some stools so you could face outside and watch the scenery go by. Our carriage was the same as the front carriage (but facing the other direction, so we couldn’t realy see much). But our seats had much more legroom than a normal train – probably as much as a green car on a shinkansen. It’s a pity we were only going one stop on it, but we were definitely glad Kaoru managed to book this last night.

After a 25 minute wait and wander, we got on the shinkansen to Sendai. I had some work issues to deal with, but it was complicated by the fact that we were in tunnels a lot of the way so I had no internet. What should have taken a few minutes took most of the trip! We had another half hour or so stop, before catching our next train to Nasushiobara. This was on the same line as the train we were already on, but unfortunately the other train is a super-super fast one and doesn’t stop at Nasushiobara, so we had to use a super-fast one instead. We had another 30 minute wait at Nasushiobara, where I bought some salmon and cheese jerky. Sounded good at the time, but wasn’t anything fantastic. Hopefully will be better with beer later. We then got our local train to Kuroiso station, at which point we walked the 5-10 minutes to our hotel – the only hotel in town, apparently!

Kaoru had worded us up that this hotel would probably be the shabbiest of all of them. In actual fact, it was a nice, quaint place. There were only 6 rooms on each floor. The keys were old school, and we had to remember to lock the door whenever we went out. We had 2 single beds in the room, but there was still a bit of space in there to move around. So we dropped our bags in our room, and then went out to dinner. Kuroiso is a very quiet town, and there wasn’t much happening. So we ended up at an Italian restaurant. We got a table outside, and within 15 minute the place was chockers, so lucky we arrived when we did! I tried ordering as much as I could but still needed some help from Kaoru – we all shared a pizza, and then ordered our own mains.

After dinner we went to the supermarket for a browse. Leila and I kept ending up in the alcohol section (I found apple Jim Beam!), while Michael and Kaoru were enjoying looking at all the food. We made our purchases just before the store was closing – about 8.45 – and went back to the hotel. Michael and Leila came back to our room to eat desserts, and have a few drinks. Michael did a load of washing so kept an eye on that. After a shower I went to bed.

I woke up this morning before the alarm – which was set for 5.55. We had planned to meet Michael and Leila downstairs at 6.25, for a 6.39 train. We got there early to fill my camel back with ice and water….but the ice machine was “making ice” – it wasn’t ready yet! This would be a long day without cold water. So I went across to the Art Hotel (where we had spent the first 2 nights), and used their ice machine. I filled my camelback, and the two thermoses. Then had to go back to our hotel to put water in, as Art Hotel doesn’t have water with the ice. And then back to the station (which is between the two stations). There, I topped up my Suica (because it was down to 13 yen after yesterday’s travelling), and we went through (but using our JR passes) and got on the train. We were still 10+ minutes early, but the train was there, and it was filling up, so lucky we were so early.

It was about a 40 minute ride to Aomori. We had a light breakfast and juice on the way (which we had bought last night from the 7-11). Once we arrived, we went to the local fish market. They have a “ticket” system, whereby you buy a bunch of tickets (2000 yen for 12), and can get a bowl of rice for 1 ticket, and then various fish for 1 or 2 tickets – depending on the size and quality. So we walked around getting various foods to eat with our rice. What a way to start the day! We then waited for 20 minutes or so, for our 9.00 bus for Oirase Gorge. This was about a 2 hour bus trip (again, on the JR pass). The driver stopped a coule of times for photos and also a couple of times for toilet breaks. We arrived at our destination about 11.00, where we picked up the e-bikes Kaoru had organised the previous night. After a (very short) briefing, we got on the road.

It was a beautiful ride up the road, along the stream. We stopped to look at a few waterfalls along the way. Whilst it had been extremely hot when we boarded the bus in Aomori, it wasn’t too bad here, with all the greenery around. It was still hot – but not as bad as it could have been. And we were all very happy to have the electric assisted bikes! I also dipped my hat in the water a couple of times to cool myself down. The water was not icy cold like you would expect in an alpine area. It was almost warm. But it was wet, so still nice. At the end of the rice, we reached Inokuchi. It was a massive lake, which has a ferry on it. At one stage we were going to catch the ferry, but that got a bit difficult, so we returned our bikes, and had about 15 minutes until our bus arrived to take us back to Aomori.

The trip back took us down the road we had just riden up, and then all the way back where we had originally come from. We all had various times of sleeping on the way, as it had been such a long day. We finally pulled in to Aomori just before 5.00. We made our way to the A-Factory, which is the Aomori Apple Brewing factory. There was a gift shop there, and they also brew ciders for tasting. There were a number of food outlets too, so I had an apple burger, which had a big chunk of apple in it! The picture showed a few slices but this was about a 1.5cm thick slice. A very nice burger indeed, washed down with a beer. I then tasted 4 of their ciders. The factory was right on the waterfront, and there was even a beach to get to the water. It was really beautiful…until we saw the sign that said no swimming. What the???

We made our way to a stand up sake bar for a drink, becaes we thought that would be a novelty. Unfortunately it closed earlier than it had advertised, so we missed out on that. Instead we made our way back to the station, and did the 40 minute train trip back to Hirosaki.

It was about 7.50, and the JR office was still open. So Kaoru went in and got our tickets for tomorrow’s first train trip. The office closed at 8, so we were lucky to get that done today. We dropped things in our room, and then felt like some dinner so went to an Izakaya near the hotel. I did all of the ordering – we just needed Kaoru to explain a couple of the things on the menu. But at least I was able to give her voice a bit of a rest. Although we were all tired, we still did our usual Family Mart stop for some sake and dessert. We had a shower, set the alarm, and went to bed.

The hotel we had spent the last couple of nights at included a free breakfast. We were supposed to have it yesterday (as Monday night was the expensive night – due to the festival) but Kaoru had asked if we could change, and they agreed. So we had an absolutely massive breakfast to start the day! They had all sorts of Japanese and Western foods – even ice cream that you could scoop yourself! So we got our moneys worth.

We checked out at 10.00, and asked them to keep our bags. And then we caught a local bus out to Inakadate, to see their rice art. We paid 300 yen each to go up a tower and look out over the rice paddys which had art in them. The colours were done with different types of rice. It was absolutely amazing. However it was also the hottest day we had had, and all of us were struggling a bit. Even Kaoru had a sweat going! So out in the open sun looking at the field was hot stuff – and we were on a tight timeline, as we caught a (free) shuttle to another viewing area to see some more rice art, and also rock art. We had a bit more time at this place, and then caught a train back to Hirosaki.

We went to Mister Donut for an (early) lunch. They now do some pastas, and I had a fried rice. We moved our bags from the hotel we had been staying at, to the one we were to spend our next couple of nights. Basically, it was a cheaper hotel, hence the move. We still couldn’t check in, but at least it was one job out of the way.

We caught a 1.10 local bus to our next destination, which was Iwakiyama Shrine. This took about 45 minutes, and is a shrine at the bottom of Mount Iwaki, which is a mini-Mt Fuji. Because of its location, it’s considered a very powerful shrine. We were hoping it would be a bit cooler in the mountains, but we reckon it was actually hotter! At the bottom we bought an ear of sweet corn, as that’s soemthing famous. It was nice, but nothing to write home about. We then made our way to the top to pray. Rather than the usual cleansing place at shrines, this had a large area, and people were pouring water on their arms. I took full advantage of that, and drenched my hat and neck cooler. The icey cold water was so lovely! We made our way back down, and caught the bus back to Hirosaki. If we had missed that one, the next was in 90 minutes, so we had to keep track of the time!

In Hirosaki we checked in to our hotel. Kaoru is now a member of this hotel chain, so we could check in from 3, but non-members can’t check in until 4 (membership costs, but the discounts made it worthwhile for Kaoru, but not for Michael and Leila). So we had to wait about 20 minutes before going up to the room, where I went straight in a cold shower for 5 minutes to bring my core temperature down. It was heaven! A bit of a lay down to kill some time, and then we met Michael and Leila downstairs at 5.45. They wanted to treat Kaoru to a night off, so researched and found a nice restaurant and bar (for pre-drinks). We ended up meeting in the hall, as we were neighbours, and started walking to the first destination, which was a place called “Asylum”. It was quite difficult to find, and was a “500 yen” bar – any drink you wanted was 500 yen. Beer / wine / whisky / etc. We walked in, and nobody was at the bar, and it was quite warm inside (no air conditioning). So we decided to walk out and go to plan B. This was a bar called “Bar Grandpa”, and was nice and cool, and quite a funky little bar. We had a quick drink there, and then went to the restaurant Michael and Leila had found.

The restaurant was known for its local cuisine – which we knew meant apples. I did my bit in giving Kaoru a night off by doing my best to order. Unfortunately the menu only had so many pictures, so we did need Kaoru to translate parts of the menu. And when it came to ordering, she couldn’t help herself and still kept trying…which meant they kept talking to her. I think we were given the work experience student serving us though – twice I ordered water and it didn’t come. Eventeually I asked for a large jug, a couple of times in the one order (with some food), and they brought that out. But we had a few sake’s, and also some beer and apple cider. They did a delicious apple graten. But the highlight was at the end, when in the last order, Kaoru ordered a rice dish with wasabi – meaning fresh wasabi. When I say fresh, I’m talking they gave us a grater and wasabi root. It was delicious – I could (and did) eat it straight. Kauro mixed it in to her rice, topped with bonito and some soy sauce.

After dinner, we made the customary trip to Family Mart, where I bought a sake-in-a-can, and we also all bought first breakfasts for tomorrow. Because……..

We went to the market for breakfast at 8.00 this morning. It was nice and cool – maybe 25 degrees, and we were feeling great! We purchased various small serves of food and ate together at a table. Sushi, sweet potato smoothie, igamenchi (chopped squid)…delicious way to start the day.

Michael walked back to the train stsation we were at last night, as he had lost his glasses and hoped he had left them there. Kaoru and I went to the Tourist Information to confirm some plans, as we weren’t sure of the train situation. When Michael returned we had a quick meet-up to plan the day, and decided we had an hour or so to kill, so just rested in the room for a while.

11.45 we met up, topped up our Suica’s, and had “ticket soba” at the train staion. Basically you buy a ticket from a vending machine and just hand it over at the counter, and they make the meal. No need to interact to place the order! It was a small restaurant, and we had to go in separately to get seats as they became available. We were able to sit next to each other in the end, and enjoyed our lunch. Then it was off to catch a 12.40 train. We were lucky to all get seats on it, as it was only 2 carriages long. A nice old lady swapped seats with me so I could sit across from Kaoru. Her friend (who I was then sitting next to) was a very chatty lady, so I tried a bit to talk to her about various things. She always spoke back to Kaoru though, and too fast, so I couldn’t really understand her responses. But she seemed to understand what I was saying so that was good.

After about an hour on the train, we arrived in Goshogawara, where we then got on a local bus. This was quite a small bus, and took us way out of town. After about an hour we got off (along with 2 other groups of 2 people) at some random stop in the middle of nowhere. Kaoru wandered down the road about 100 metres, and then signalled for us to follow her. She had found hte local taxi! He had also received a call from the local payphone (one of the other groups), so he pulled out his 9 seater and took all 8 of us on the 5 minute drive to Fushimi Inari Shrine. We had to walk up stairs (as you’d expect) and then down some others, where we were presented wtih a path of 1000 tori gates! 2 hours of travelling was definitely worth it to see this! We walked through them all to the end, where there was a shrine. And we then made our way back, concluding our walk with an ice cream.

Kaoru had organised for the taxi to pick us up after an hour. The bus we needed to take us back to Goshogawara runs every 90 minutes so we needed to be on time! And like clockwork, we got back to the bus stop, and made the journey back to Goshogawara. We got off the bus and went to the distillery, where we had an apple cocktail, which was nice. We then went outside to watch the giant floats come out of the museum where they are stored for the year. We also had some food from the stalls, and drinks. We then walked further up, towards the station, for when we wanted to make our getaway at the end of the night, and waited for the sun to set. At 7.00, after a few fireworks (which we couldn’t see, as they were behind the building), the floats were all lit up, and were dragged around the city block. They looked amazing! And to think they were all being pulled manually (no motors). People playing the drums and flute followed and led each float. Some of them were stopped and spun around, and some smaller ones were brought close to the crowd, and then the brakes slammed on.

We left about 8.00 and went to the train station, for an 8.26 train. It was already getting full, but luckily we all got seats – just scattered around the carriage. Another hour and we were back in Hirosaki. Then off to the 7-11 for our usual treats, and Michael and Leila came to our room to talk about the day, and the next day. By the time we had showered we were in bed around 11.

No alarm this morning! Not that I had been needing the alarm to wake up other mornings, but not being on a time table was great. We met up with Michael and Leila for breakfast in the hotel (it was included), and discussed plans for the day. After doing our teeth we checked out and met up in the lobby about 9.

We walked to the train station and got on the “Hop On Hop Off” bus, thinking that would be a good way to see the whole city. We got off at the Old Kaneko Family House and had a walk around the home and also the museum which was part of it. Luckily we were ahead of the crowds – the whole time we were there, there was a constant stream of tourists entering, so it was quite busy by the time we left. Unfortunately we weren’t paying attention to the time, so we missed the bus, and ended up just catching a taxi to the next stop, which was the food market. We walked around there, and Kaoru bought some fish for us to try. It was delicious, even though we ate it straight (raw, no wasabi or soy sauce). Then Kaoru found the “proper” way to eat at the market – there is a place to buy a tray, and rice, and then a number of the stalls had a blue lantern out the front – these were the ones that you can buy small measures of food to add to your rice bowl, for a don buri. We found a table and sat down to enjoy a delicious morning tea.

We made the next Hop On Hop Off bus, which took us to the back of the station, and then walked back to the hotel. I topped up ice and water, we got our bags, and then went to the station. Soto met us there with presents, and we bought some bento’s before catching our 12.40 train to Hirosaki. Along the way it started to rain – in fact we had to stop the train for about 10 minutes to check the conditions. There must be a dodgy part of the track.

We arrive at Hirosaki about 2.50. Our hotel was very close – so we checked in, settled in our (gigantic) rooms, and then went downstairs for an “apple pie” (which was like an apple danish, with ice cream and sliced apple on top) and I had an iced apple tea. Kaoru had a hot one. Hirosaki is famous for apples, so we needed to enjoy the local fruits.

We planned our afternoon and then went back to the room for 20 minutes or so, before meeting to go out. We caught the 100yen loop bus, and then had a 5 minute walk along the river to the other train station in Hirosaki (not the JR one). We learned there was a derailment yesterday and teh trains weren’t running; we didn’t need that tonight, but it could throw a spanner in our other plans for the next couple of days. We then caught a shuttle bus out to some random point, to watch the burning of the floats at the Neputa Matsuri. We had about a 15 minute walk from the bus stop to get there. We could see a massive mountain – shaped a bit like Fuji. It was partially hidden by clouds, but you could see its outline. The weather had dropped off, and was quite bearable. The rain must’ve cooled everything down. We saw some gigantic floats up on show, and some food stalls. There was a bit of a crowd, but nothing like what we had seen the last few days.

We found a spot on the grass, but the view of the floats that were to be burnt was blocked by some speakers. There were a heap of chairs with people sitting on them, and few empty ones. Kaoru suggested we grab single ones and make our own group. I didn’t think we were supposed to, but if Kaoru gave us the go ahead, let’s do it! So while Michael and Leila got food, Kaoru and I grabbed some chairs and we set up. This was fantastic! Kaoru and I went to get som dinner – yukisoba, yukitori, a tacoyaki-type omlette, and some beer. There was singing and dancing to keep us entertained, as the sun set. We could also see that the crowds were growing behind us, so it was lucky we arrived when we did.

At about 8.00, a few speeches from locals, and then they burnt the floats that were on show. Before they finished, we rushed back to get the shuttle, as Kaoru thought they were finishing at 9, and we didn’t want to miss it. Unfortunately the 100 yen bus to get us back to the JR station wasn’t running. But as the weather was so nice, we just did the 20 minute walk…stopping at an Irish bar for a drink on the way. THen our usual 7-11 stop, and Michael and Leila came to our room to have a drink and snacks. Kaoru did a load of washing an we went to bed.

This morning we had planned to go to a market for breakfast. But Kaoru did a last minute check and to her dismay, found it was closed. So it was time for Plan B; she found a restaurant that did (rice ball triangles?). We had to wait for about 30 minutes to get a table, so most of our free time for the morning disappeared.

We went back to the hotel for teeth and checkout (I filled my camel back with ice), and then we caught a 10.30 Shinkansen to Akita, which took about 2 hours. Kaoru’s friend, Kaioko (who came to our wedding), and her husband (Mitchuyou) and Son (Soto) met us at the station. They walked us to our hotel and waited while we checked in, and then we went for some food – a very scenic walk though, through a part of the evening festival. Michael and I both had a turn at balancing some mini Kanto poles.

Eventually we arrived at a Soba restaurant. But there was a line, so we put our name on the door and waited. Mitchuyou and Soto took us gaigin to an ice cream stand to buy some ice cream. Eventually we were “top of hte line” nad seated in a beautiful room. Unfortunately one of the sauces for the Soba was a nut-based sauce so I had to have Tempura instead. It was a lovely meal, while we tried to work through language barriers and enjoy ourselves.

After lunch (which was about 3.30) we went back to the hotel, via some shopping at a local souvenier shop. Kaioko, Mitchuyou and Soto went home, and we all had a little sleep. We all woke up again a bit before 5, so met up and went to a beer hall to sample some beers and have a little bit of food to keep us going. Just after 6, Kaioko and Soto met us, and we walked towards the main street, to see the night parade. Again, the place was extremely crowded and it wasn’t easy to find somewhere to watch the events. And again, a police officer decided Michael was the line again. We watched the procession of people carrying massive lantern poles made of bamboo, listening to the drumming and fluting of local songs. Another policeman didn’t like where we were standing though, and after a bit of a stand-off, we decided to move along. However, we hadn’t gone far when one of the pole lanterns came crashing dwon to within a few metres of us! WHilst there was a panic, nobody got hurt, so they must be light enough, even though they are made of hard bamboo. It did cause some people to move though, and suddenly there wsa room for the 6 of us!

We watched the parade for another 10 minutes or so, and then decided to go and get some food. So we went to the pop-up food stalls, where there were tables in the middle. One by one we managed to get chairs and ended up with a table of our own. So we got assorted food, and also some beer, where I had a delicious DDH Hazy. We could still hear and see the festival, but were certainly a lot safer, and it was much less crowded too.

Eventually it was time to call it a night, so we headed back to our hotel. Along the way (almost at the hotel) we found the Seibu pole lantern’s “base”, where they set up and did a private show to those lucky people who were walking past. So we took a seat on the floor, grabbed our cameras and enjoyed a bit more of a show. And again, as people were getting more and more confident, there was an incident where the pole was dropped, and missed us by a matter of a couple of metres. As they lifted the pole up, there was a man sitting on the floor with a grin on his face, so again, it mustn’t be as bad as it looks – even though they can weigh 50 kgs. After a bit more watching we went to Lawsons for some late night treats, and called it a day.

We woke up about 7. We met Michael and Leila about 7.45 and headed out. Our plan was to do Shinkansen tickets first, but the ticket office to exchange our JR passes wasn’t open, so we found somewhere for breakfast instead.

After breakfast, we returned to the hotel to check out. I filled my camelback with water and ice, and we went back to Shinagawa station to exchange JR vouchers and get some tickets organised. Kaoru ran into some technical difficulties, so we didn’t get all of them.

We caught a 10.06 Shinkansen to Tokyo station. It was running 5 minutes late! Not Happy Jan! Kaoru and Michael then sorted out all remaining Shinkansen tickets to get that out of the way.

We then had 2 hours to kill, so found a beer place. We all had a tasting paddle and some food.

After shome shopping for bento boxes, we got on a 1.00 Shinkansen to Sendai. I was expecting the Shinkansen to be nice and cool, and even had a long sleeve top handy…just in case. But no, it was stuffy. After my bento box, I had a bit of a sleep to kill some time.

Sendai – checked in to hotel. Killed time – beer? Check what we did. Ate something

Walked to where Kaoru had found we could see the fireworks for free. Took about 30 minutes in the heat. Very crowded. We walked down to the river but then back up, and tried walking through the gardens, which were packed. It was a “no stopping” area. We got told to move after spending too long “resting”. Eventually found a spot, nad at one stage the security lady picked Michael to be “the line” – anybody behind him had to move on. I think that was easier than dealing with the big Aussie!

There were several firework shows, with a couple of minute gap between them. Each had a differnet company creating the fireworks, so this was there chance to “show off”. It was without doubt the longest fireworks exhibition I have ever seen. After about 45 minutes we decided to leave before the crowds. And even that was hard!

On the way back I was getting hungry, so we stopped at an Izakaya for a little bit of food. A nice beer, some sake, and quite a bit of food later, and we were all feeling much better. We paid and left the Izakaya – it had cooled down a bit, and the streets were almost empty! Seems the crowd had completely gone in the time we were eating. I couldn’t believe how quiet it was for a Saturday night.

We were so tired, that we didn’t even go to 7-11 on our way back tot he hotel. I had a quick shower, which felt great to get the sweat off, and went to bed.

I woke about 6.15. Kaoru was already up and about. After a light breakfast, final watering of the garden, and double-checking our lists, we booked an Uber and went to the airport.

Check in was smooth. We had a look through the duty free shops, and then headed to the Qantas lounge where we met Michael and Leila. I had given them guest passes which were due to expire, so it allowed us all to get together before the holiday began. We had a glass of champagne together. Then I had a shower and got changed into shorts, ready for our arrival.

We boarded the plane on time, a bit after 10. I watched a couple of movies and ate lots of food on the plane. The service was the worst I’d experienced. There wasn’t somebody walking around the cabin with drinks (even water / juice), and even asking for one resulted in long waits.

We landed on time at Haneda, about 8.00 Japan time. Immigration was really easy. Not sure if it’s because Haneda isn’t as busy as Narita, or if they’ve improved the processes. But we then had to wait about 15 minutes for our bags to arrive. Mine was quite quick, but Michael and Leila’s took a while longer.

We caught a train to Shinagawa, and checked in to the hotel. We stayed at the Toyoko Inn hotel this time – we’ve never stayed there before but it’s cheaper than Shinagawa Prince. We both had Double King rooms, so heaps of room to spread out. Our portable wifi was waiting for us, so we now had Internet everywhere. The room was stinking hot though, so we had to turn the air conditioner on straight away and do something about that! While we were waiting, we went out for a beer and some food. The pub wasn’t air conditioned (or even fan) so very hot inside.

On the way home, we did our customary shop at 7-11, and also went to the ATM in Shinagawa Prince to get some cash out. We went to bed about midnight, quite exhausted from a long day.