We are docked at the port city of Aomori on the northern tip of Honshu. It’s a hop, skip, and a sea jump from Hakodate. The life expectancy here is a whopping 86, so they are obviously doing something right. Their castle was used in the original Shogun series and down the road used to be a WWII POW camp. I can’t imagine how cold those prisoners were in the winter since three to six feet of snow is the norm.

We have chosen to spend our day exploring the small city of Goshogawara about 20-ish miles west. This town of 48,000 is far enough north that their cherry trees are just now in full bloom. Our group had two fun stops.

The art of pottery making was the focus of an interesting stop at Kanayama kiln. Although the art of pottery making dates back 2,200 years this establishment dates back to 1985. Their method of pottery making is characterized by being unglazed and wood-fired at very hot (2,462 degrees Fahrenheit) temperatures. High quality local clay is used and the end result is a dark, rustic aesthetic. Pieces are stacked five deep before they are fired. A thin layer of straw is placed between each layer which leaves distinctive, one-of-a-kind markings. We were given a tour of the huge barn structure that houses the kilns and the work area where we saw women working clay on pottery wheels. After the tour we were turned loose, to the accompaniment of Beatles music, to shop, roam the grounds to enjoy life sized clay animals and warriors, and grab a light snack.

There are three major festivals in the Aomori area each year. A magnificent parade of colorful floats called Neputa is the centerpiece of each festival. We visited the Tachineputa Museum where we were astounded by three of these incredible floats. They are constructed out of intricately-painted washi paper, stand over 72 feet tall, are lit from the inside like lanterns, and weigh almost 17 tons! We were taken by elevator to the top of the tall museum and then walked down a gradual slope which afforded us a great view from top to bottom of the characters depicted on the floats.

We were back on board the ship with plenty of time to clean up, change, and savor our four-course meal before the evening’s entertainment.

… Fun Facts About the Area …

The small town of Fujisaki on the northwestern area of this prefecture is where the Fuji apple was first developed. It comes as no surprise that there are all kinds of apple-related products for sale here.

The area is home to the Shirakami Mountains which boast the world’s largest virgin forest of beech trees.
It is a World Heritage Site.

A three and a half hour train ride south of Aomori will land you in the hometown
of Shohei Ohtani, the baseball phenom.

It was believed that two huge fires in the 1940s had destroyed all the Neputa blueprints. Eighty years without the festival followed until a few pictures and blueprints were found in 1993.