Winter in Japan for the non-skiing family

[ShelleyB]

Day 3 and we are heading off to Tohoku. First stop Morioka, which somehow made it onto the New York Times 52 places to go list in 2023. Apparently even residents were rather surprised. Anyway, more details to come.

Started the day by packing enough in our small wheeled bag for a few days. The rest we sent off using Yamato, which seasoned Japan travellers will know and love. ShelleyB-son and I are sharing the little wheeled bag and a large (but still less than 160cm linear dimensions) wheeled bag. As from now we are travelling via Shinkansen we’ll be sending the large bag on via the luggage service Yamato. For Ueno to Morioka for our bag the cost is 3060 yen. A bargain in order not to be lumbered with the thing navigating stairs and snow. Paperwork completed with the help of reception and we hope to see it tomorrow sometime. But are prepared for longer.

Breakfast was again lovely. Today’s soup was vegetable (tasty), more Hokkaido beef and I even had a spot of seafood lasagne. ShelleyB-son had more rice and seaweed, plus was given another of those panda concoctions as per yesterday. ShelleyB-son gives Mitsui Garden Hotel Ueno a high rating.

 

[ShelleyB]

After checkout headed to Ueno station to purchase ekiben for the trip as we would be travelling over lunch. Then onto the platforms to await the train. Which arrived exactly on time. The Ueno to Morioka journey is just over 500km and just over 2 hours with only 2 stops on the fastest journey.

We saw the first signs of snow once the Zao mountain range came into view. And about 20 mins after Sendai, the snow was everywhere. After disembarking at Morioka, we made our way to our hotel for this evening, the Daiwa Roynet Morioka Ekimae. Only about 2 mins walk from the station, which we were glad of with rather icy footpaths.





We’ll be 3 nights here, and I booked us a superior twin for an average of 20000 yen per night. The room is very comfortable, a corner room with great views over the river and a glimpse of Mt. Iwate.

Photos of the room and view:

 

[ShelleyB]

We only had time for a little sightseeing before sunset, so headed towards the castle ruins. Did not get much of a chance to see anything, but we’ll have more time another day.

 

[ShelleyB]

Friday is traditionally pizza night for the ShelleyB family. Quite a few places are still closed for the new year holidays, but we did find a cosy place called Trenta. Lovely bases to the pizzas and even ShelleyB-son enjoyed the Proscuitto and Genovese once he got over it being green.



My first impressions of Morioka are very favourable. The town seems fun and pleasant with a lively atmosphere. There are quite a few young adults around and I note there are a few local Universities, public and private. The place we ate dinner offered student discounts and there are quite a few cafes and bars. I look forward to exploring more.

 

[ShelleyB]

Day 4 and we are off to chase Samurai in Kakunodate.

Kakunodate is about 60km from Morioka and on the Akita shinkansen line. It has an extensive old town of samurai residences, some of which are open to the public, although many remain private. Our target today was the Aoyagi Samurai Manor Museum. This musuem contains extensive exhibits from the height of the samurai period in Japan. Most of these are from the Aoyagi family that previously owned the manor.

Upon arrival in Kakunodate we first visited the informative tourist office, collecting a useful map of the town. We then enjoyed a stroll through the town, with a light snow falling that continued most of the day. Phots from around town :

 

[ShelleyB]

The museum itself has a token entry fee (500 yen for adults, 300 yen for 12-17 year olds) which includes all exhibits and some free experiences such as trying on samurai helmets and holding katanas (swords) that are of course safely in a box. We both enjoyed the museum, particularly ShelleyB-son who knows a bit about this period.











We also enjoyed sweets and coffee (for me) in their cafe before visiting the river then walking back to the station. We were quite a bit earlier than the train I had reserved but managed to change our reserved seats to an earlier train. Only 2 seats were left on the earlier train, luckily in the same carriage, so we had to sit separately but ShelleyB-son was a champ about it.

 

[ShelleyB]

We returned to Morioka for dinner. Initially we had ramen in mind, but the place we had in mind was still closed for the holidays, opening again tomorrow. Therefore putting ramen off until tomorrow we decided upon an izakaya - Iwate Izakaya Joi- in iclose proximity to our hotel and that on the Japanese tablelog site received good reviews and indicated children were welcome. As it turned out the menu was much less extensive than appeared on tablelog. Although I am working on it, my Japanese is currently limited, but Google translate and patient and kind staff make anything possible. Ultimately we decided upon chicken hotpot with some fantastic sake for me and more ginger ale for ShelleyB-son.

The food was excellent and we really enjoyed the experience.








Edited to add that it’s the sort of place I would only take older kids and then probably only early in the evening. Suspect it may get raucous later at night.