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.