Nagoya Birthday trip part 5

Nagoya 名古屋

When I arrived at Nagoya Station I headed straight over to my hostel, Glocal Nagoya Backpackers Hostel, where I would be staying for two nights. I had a bottom bunk bed with a curtain. The people working at the hostel's bar were friendly so I sat chatting with them and some of their regulars all evening. I hadn't really planned what to do in Nagoya, so I took their recommendations. They also had cider!! Something you don't see very often in Japan.

First I headed over to Atsuta Shrine, one of the most important Shinto shrines in the country. It holds one of the three sacred imperial regalia. There's also a big tree that's been there for more than 1000 years.

The people at the hostel recommended Inuyama Castle, close to Nagoya, but as I only had a day I visited Nagoya Castle. There was a Spring Festival going on, so I tried some local street food and watched a taiko drumming group perform in front of the castle. I had Nagoya tebasaki spicy chicken wings.














The people working and drinking at the hostel were running a bar at a market in Noritake Garden, so I headed over for a birthday drink. Then I was taken for another Nagoya speciality, misonikomi udon, udon noodles cooked in a miso broth.

After food I headed to the Osu shopping area to see Osu Kannon Temple and have a wander.


That last photo is in support of Kumamoto, an area that had recently been hit by a big earthquake. The bear is called Kumamon, the mascot of Kumamoto Prefecture. 
I finished my Birthday off with a walk around by the Nagoya TV Tower and trying some more local food, Hitsumabushi. At the restaurant there were instructions on how to eat this meal. First you divide the bowl of rice and eel into quarters. You eat the first serving normally. To the second serving you add the nori seaweed, spring onions, and wasabi. Then you pour the dashi broth over the remaining half. I loved the food in Nagoya, it might have been my favourite day of my birthday trip because of the food.

Kanazawa Birthday trip part 1

Kanazawa 金沢
From the 26th April until 2nd May 2016, I decided to go on a solo trip for my Birthday.
I had already been in the Nishonomiya area for a few nights, so I took the train back to Osaka and got the Thunderbird Express service up to Kanazawa. Kanazawa has a unique station front area, with some interesting architecture at the entrance to the station.
I walked through the town towards Kanazawa Castle, and had a walk around the castle grounds and Gyokusen'inmaru Garden at the back.

Just across the road from the Ishikawa Gate of the castle is Kenrokuen Garden, one of the most beautiful gardens in Japan. The garden has so many areas and features to walk around. The plants and trees grown in the garden allow it to be beautiful in different ways at different times of the year.
I wandered round the gardens, exploring everything I could, from the lake with pink flowers dotted around the edge, to giant tree with it's routes exposed. I also stopped at at the teahouse for matcha and wagashi (Japanese sweet), while looking out onto the gardens.

 The iconic main view in the garden, with the lantern made with two legs instead of one.

Hirosaki 2016

Hirosaki 弘前 (Part 2 of my weekend in Aomori)
Hirosaki is famous for its castle, which is beautiful during the cherry blossom season. However, in 2015 the castle was moved to a nearby site for construction to the castle walls. This happens every 100 years. It's particularly impressive because the castle is moved whilst it is fully intact!

 

On my way over to the castle park, I stumbled upon a Yosakoi dance festival. This is a traditional type of dance that you see at festivals all over Japan. There were lots of dance teams performing in different parts of the city.

After watching the dancing I went to see the castle and the surrounding gardens. Neaby the park, I visited Neputa Mura, another museum about the Neputa festival and other loacal specialities. Some staff members taught me a rhythm on the big festival taiko drums and then we played them together. Around the museum there were shamisen performances, craft corners where you could have a go at making some local crafts, and decorations from the Neputa Matsuri festival.
 I had a local set meal at the museum's restaurant. It included: kenoshiru - a miso based soup with carrots, radish, konnyaku, burdock and tofu; kaiyaki miso - white fish, scallops, tofu, onion and egg cooked in a scallop shell; rice; and pickles.

After dinner I walked around the Fujita Memorial Gardens. I stopped in a Japanese house for matcha tea and a sweet to enjoy while looking out over the gardens.

On my way back to Hirosaki Station I caught the end of the Yosakoi festival where someone from each dance group was lined up along a road, waving their giant team flags to music.

Onsen in Yamagata Nov 2014

Onsen in Yamagata Prefecture
22nd-23rd November 2014

After recommendations from teachers at school, I decided to go to Ginzan Onsen in Yamagata.
It's quite difficult to get to from Sendai, so I thought I should stay there for the night and go somewhere else the next day. However, it was a very last minute trip so a lot of the ryokan and hotels were full. In the end, me and Ana decided to experience a night in a manga/internet cafe, which turned out to be a cool experience.

Ginzan Onsen  銀山温泉

The journey to Ginzan Onsen from Sendai took about 4 hours by bus, train and then another bus. (bus to Yamagata. Train to Oishida. Bus to Ginzan Onsen)
Arriving at Ginzan Onsen felt like going back in time. It's a very small place that has a river running the length of the town with lots of bridges going over it. My photo skills don't quite do it justice..

        Our first view of the main street.            Shirogane Waterfall at the end of the main street
At the end of the main road with the bridges and old buildings is Shirogane Waterfall. If you walk further through a small forest area you will come to a silver mine cave that you can walk through.
After having a little explore, we walked back to Ginzanso ryokan so we could go in the onsen.
We relaxed in the outdoor baths with views of the forest for a while before finding a soba restaurant in town.

There are public foot baths dotted around the town at the side of the river. We warmed our feet here while waiting for it to get darker. At night the buildings are lit up and the street is lit by gas lamps. (Again I need to work on how to use my camera at night..)
I've heard that the town is beautiful in the winter when they get a lot of snow - although it can be a bit difficult to get to in winter.

First Manga cafe experience

Although we'd have liked to stay at one of the ryokan, it was a very last minute trip. When we got back to Yamagata station we had a short walk through the city before reaching the manga cafe we'd chosen. After this first experience of using a manga cafe, I started to use them for last minute trips to Tokyo. When you arrive at a manga cafe, if it's your first time going you have to sign up by filling in a form, then you will be given a member's card and you can choose your room. We chose a Family room that had a couple of floor chairs, table, pillows, computer and a TV. Often room choices will include private booth with a reclining chair, booth with a massage chair, flat booth (that has a soft floor to sit on), family room, couple room, sofa room and chairs in the open space. Some places will be in booths that feel like cubicles whereas some manga cafes will have booths with floor to ceiling doors and a key card for more privacy. In a lot of the manga cafes I stayed at you have a computer with internet, games, films and TV. You can also choose how long you will stay, it could be for a few hours or you can choose a night pack which, depending on the manga cafe, could be around 6-10 hours. Then you're able to browse the massive manga selection, read magazines, help yourself to soft drinks, order from the food menu, use the showers, use the computer in your room and sleep. This particular family room we stayed in was just on a hard floor with floor chairs to sleep on. I could sleep but Ana struggled a bit. One that i used regularly in Ikebukuro in Tokyo had soft matress floors that extended under the computer desk so you could fully lie down in them. Some manga cafes even have karaoke, darts and billiards areas.
They can be a very convenient place to stay if you don't have time to find accommodation, a cheap alternative to a hotel, somewhere to sleep if you miss your last train, or somewhere to relax for a few hours in the day. However if you are using them as somewhere to stay the night, it can be risky because you can't make reservations in some a lot of manga cafes, so you could be unlucky and turn up to find they have no private booths left that night.

Kaminoyama Onsen


We didn't really have a plan for the second day, but after going to an onsen on the first day we thought that we wanted more onsen in Yamagata. After a little research online in our manga cafe room we found Kaminoyama onsen which was a short train ride away. When we arrived we visited Kaminoyama Castle on hill with views of the town. Just behind the castle we visited Tsukioka Shrine. This small town is dotted with onsen, shrines and foot baths. It also has a small samurai district. We visited Tsukioka hotel to use their onsen. It has a mix of indoor and outdoor baths with views of the hotel's Japanese gardens. On our way wandering back through the town we stumbled upon Kurikawa Inari Jinja, a small shrine with lots of torii gates. We stopped to have a wander through the tunnel of torii gates before heading back to the station.