Winter Vacation Part 4: Cafe Little Zoo

After getting back to Narita Airport, we still had several hours to kill before our night bus back to Aomori. We wanted to do something interesting to pass the time, so we got on the Keisei train and alighted at a stop called Ookubo, about halfway to Tokyo. It's a small suburban area without much hustle or bustle, but we were here to visit a place called Cafe Little Zoo.

Japan has plenty of places dubbed "cat cafes". Customers pay for drinks and snacks, but stay to hang around and play with the cafe's resident friendly felines. Most apartments in the heavily residential areas don't allow pets, so this is a way for people to get some animal contact without owning a pet themselves. Cat cafes sound cute and fun, but Kristin and I were in the mood for something a little more... adventurous. After a little bit of research, we found Cafe Little Zoo.

Cats are a little commonplace, so Cafe Little Zoo has an exciting array of more rare pets. They've got plenty of birds of prey, varying from falcons, hawks, eagles, and especially owls. There is also a good selection of reptiles, like snakes, lizards, turtles, and tortoises.

Apart from the larger birds of prey, pretty much any of the animals can be touched. There is a line-up on the patio with the bigger owls, while the smaller owls are kept on a post indoors. We had plenty of up-close-and-personal time with the birds, even though one of the horned owls got a bit nippy.

The snakes are fair game too. The shop-tenders pulled some of them out of their pens and handed them out to the few customers in the store. We started out with an adorable puppy-faced python, and then traded with the other customers for a red corn snake. This guy particularly liked the darkness of my sleeve and wormed its way up. I had to take off many layers to fish him back out.

The more aquatic animals, like their gigantic spiny turtle and tiny salamanders, are best left in their cages, but we still managed to get a good look at them. The other larger birds of prey, like the red-tailed hawk and crown eagle, cannot be touched by customers for obvious reasons, but we were able to see them being fed tiny quail carcasses. It was awe-inspiring, watching the giant noisy bird right in front of us tear into the meat, thrashing flesh about and snapping through the little bones with ease.

Like most animal cafes, the snacks are rather small and expensive, but worth it for the experience. My only real complaint about the cafe is that the handlers tend to light up their cigs right there in the store, so it's not particularly non-smoker friendly. We spent about 2 hours here playing with the animals before heading back towards Tokyo to get an actual dinner.

Speaking of actual dinners, we ate at a vegetarian Indian restaurant called Vege Herb Saga. The menu was extensive, and I had no idea what half the stuff was. Nonetheless, the food was amazing and the staff were nice enough to offer us some milk tea and sit down to have a chat (even though most of them don't really speak Japanese nor English). After getting stuffed up with masala dosa, something-or-other curry, chapati, and chutney, we boarded our night bus and ended our fun second winter vacation in Japan.

Winter Vacation Part 3: Satsuma Peninsula

After getting back from Yakushima, we had an extra day to explore in Kagoshima. We rented a car and headed south away from the city into the Satsuma Peninsula.

Map of Satsuma

Satsuma peninsula, like most of the rest of Kyushu, has a lot of volcanic activity. It's sparsely populated, except for a few small towns. The main attraction is a town called Ibusuki, where the volcanic activity manifests in the form of hot sand. Here, you can take a "sand bath."

Unlike a normal bath, you take a sand bath clothed in a thin yukata robe. We donned the provided clothing and took a chilly walk down a path to the beach. On the beach, there are eaves set up to shield from the wind and sun. In these dark pits, people lie in the coarse sand and are buried by facility employees. The more sand they pile on you, the hotter it gets!

Sand bath (not my picture)

The yukata are worn to protect you from contact burns, as the sand can feel particularly hot on bare skin. My exposed heels in particular were getting pretty scorched, so I pushed them out into the open air for relief.

After you've had your fill of warm sand, you can head back into the facility to wash off all the sand and have a soak in a real bath. As I relaxed, I marveled at the signs posted around the bathhouse, depicting a square-faced blond-haired blue-eyed man with a nose the size of a traffic cone performing acts against bathing etiquette. Overall, it was a nice bath despite the somewhat racists and degrading informatory signs.

In town, we ate lunch at a nice little restaurant which served delicious kuro-buta sukiyaki as well as yummy fried sweet potatoes. Japanese sweet potatoes, or "satsuma-imo", are named after this place after all.

Next, we drove even further south to see Kaimon-dake, the beautifully conical volcano that juts out from the southern tip of Kyushu.

What a nice cone! (also not my picture)

Besides being nice to look at, there isn't much to do here but hike. There's a small camping area halfway up where you can rent cabins or ride an extremely slow go-cart down a narrow and uneventfully straight path. There are also signs that there USED to be an exciting roller slide that thundered its way down the mountain, although I'm afraid that it is no more. We gave up on looking for things to do and headed back towards the city.

And finally, it was time to head back home. But first, we had one more stop in Tokyo for some unfinished business.

Winter Vacation Part 2: Yakushima

The entire reason we ended up way down here in Southern Kyushu was to visit a legendary island: Yakushima. Yakushima is a small, sparsely inhabited island 4 hours south of Kagoshima by standard ferry, which only runs one round trip a day. There is also a faster and more frequent jet ferry that will get you there in about 2 hours.

You may not recognize the name itself, but you might know Yakushima as the inspiration for the setting of Princess Mononoke. It's most famous for it's twisted and mossy cedar forests, which were logged several decades ago before the island became a protected area.

Mononoke-hime

The reason Yakushima is so lush and green is because of ridiculous rainfall. They say it rains 8 days out of every week. For the three days we were there, it indeed rained on and off for both days.


We arrived in Minoura Port around noon, walked into town to get our rental car, and immediately drove into the forest. The closest site to Minoura is called Shiratani Unsuikyou, which in Japanese means "White Valley of Cloud Mist." Inside, you can get your fill of nature and see the massive "Yaku-sugi" old cedars that have been standing for thousands of years. There is even a location called Mononoke no Mori, or "Mononoke's Forest." It was beautiful, and everything I had imagined.

Tall trees...

Wide trees...

Gnarly fallen trees...

Waterfalls... (yes, this picture is straight)

...and moss galore!

We hiked for a while, but took our leave after it started pouring rain. It's just a part of being in Yakushima, I suppose.

I was prepared for the rain, mist, and beautiful scenery, but I wasn't prepared for the monkeys! Before we even made it to Shiratani, we drove past a "Yaku-zaru" Japanese macaque just perched on top of a road barrier. We pulled over at the next turnout to get a better look. We slowly approached it, trying to get a clear shot and snap some pictures. We had read up about monkeys, and how we shouldn't look them in the eye or cut them off from an escape route. We were careful not to get too close, but even at around 30-40 meters, it was agitated enough to charge us. Maybe it doesn't like having a camera lens pointed at it either.

The culprit, just before he pounced.

It growled loudly and bounded towards us, covering the distance between us in the blink of an eye. Shocked into action, we made a break for it, but there was no way we could outrun the speedy little beast (they have a top speed of over 40 kph). I turned back, and he was right on our heels. Seeing Kristin sprinting terrified ahead of me, I decided I had no choice but to stand my ground. I turned around, stomped on the ground hard, and gave a loud shout while opening my arms wide. The monkey made a detour into the forest, where it continued making growling noises. I then made my escape to the car, where Kristin was waiting for me in a panic. Welcome to the jungle, right?

As the sun went down, we drove the 45 minutes or so to our place of lodging all the way on the other side of the island near Anbo Port. We stayed at a fairly unique place called Dai-chan's Mongolian Huts. He has a collection of circular huts designed in Mongolian style that he runs as a backpacker's hostel. Inside were several bunk beds and enough space to sleep 6-8 people. Since we traveled after the winter break rush, we were the only visitors for the night.

Amazing evening view of Minoura.

Our hut in the dark.

The owner, Dai-chan, was a very friendly and talkative fellow. He gave us tips on where to go, what to do, and where to eat. We talked to him about our monkey encounter, and he warned us about how dangerous they actually are. They're much faster and stronger than humans, and when they attack, the best option is to run and pray they don't pursue. Even if we had no choice but to fight them, we stand no chance of winning. That was a reality check.

For dinner, we drive to a yakiniku barbecue restaurant a few kilometers away. While driving over, I noticed two little glints of light and slammed on the brakes as a deer galloped across the rural highway. The island deer are called "Yaku-shika" and are unique to the island. I breathed a sign of relief because the rental car wasn't insured. When we got to the restaurant, we wanted to order deer meat and try it out. It turns out that they'd run out of deer meat and would only get new stock the next day. Damn, and I was just about to kill one too! We settled for a sampler platter and some delicious kuro-buta sausages from Kagoshima.

A possibly-delicious-but-I-will-never-know Yaku-shika.

After a good night's rest in a spacious Mongolian hut, we departed early in the morning before sunrise. We originally wanted to go to a sea-side ocean hot-spring and bathe while watching the sun rise, but the spring was a bit of a disappointment when we got there so we didn't bother going in.

We continued to the Senpironotaki Falls, and were once again the only ones there. The path from the parking area to the viewpoint was very short, at only a few hundred meters. As we enjoyed looking out at the falls in the distance, I heard a rustling noise in the nearby bamboo grass. I held my hand up to get Kristin's attention and whispered, "I think there's something here." As she backed up, I peered around a rock down into the grass-covered hillside. Sure enough, I caught a glimpse of as least two monkeys making their way through the brush. We made the first move and high-tailed it out of there.

We got back in the car and drove to our final major destination: Yakusugi Land. Much like Shiratani Unsuikyou, this is a place to hike in nature and enjoy the amazing scenery. Yakusugi Land has done a bit more by building wooden over-ground paths for sightseers to easily walk through the forest. As expected, this is where many of the less adventurous travelers show up, and we saw a tour bus with some elderly people pull up.

As we were about to go inside, a little deer slipped through a railing and stopped in the middle of the road. The elderly sightseers, which many oohs and aahs, pulled out their ancient flip-phones and took a multitude of 1 megapixel photos to show their grandchildren.

Wassup, old peeps.

The park itself is set up as a loop system. The trail for all loops is the same path, but there are turn-back points you can choose depending on the length you want to hike. The shortest loop was only 15 minutes, but you could go as far as several hours or ever overnight. While you'd think maybe the wooden walkways would take away from the experience, it also makes accessing the amazing old trees easier. Besides, the wooden walkways only cover several of the shorter loops. The longer ones return back to nature and get exponentially more treacherous.

Scalp-scraping

Still on the easy course.

As we walked along, we passed each turn-back checkpoint and thought, "Yeah, we could go on the next longer one." Eventually, we ended up on the longest trail, and the difficulty level sky-rocketed. While the 15 and 30 minute courses were comparable to walking on a sidewalk, the longest trail had us tripping through root-filled paths, climbing up and down big tree stumps, and skidding down wooden logs. We wondered if we bit off more than we could eat, but it ended up being the most enjoyable and amazing hike of the trip.

Peek-a-boo!

Such a great trail!

Just soaking in the wilderness

After that extremely satisfying and long hike, we drove back to Minoura to return the rental car and get to our lodging for the night. We checked into a little guest house operating above a fishing tackle store. While checking in, I heard on the radio that there was a big storm coming, and that ferry service would possibly be canceled the next day. Kristin and I began to worry, but we wouldn't hear the final decision until the next day. We walked into the pouring rain and had dinner at a unique local diner that served Western food. We went to bed as best we could with the sound of the shutter rattling in the powerful winds.

The next day, we heard the announcement over the town intercom (yes, there's a town intercom. That's how rural this place is). The jet-foil ferries would be cancelled due to high winds, but the regular ferry would still run. Kristin and I breathed a sigh of relief knowing we'd be on track with our travel schedule.

For the last few hours in town, we headed to the visitor's center to take a look around. We sat down at the craft table, where you can fashion yourself a keychain or cellphone ornament using the wood of a fallen legendary Yakusugi. Using the provided sandpaper and files, I tried to fashion myself a little Yaku-zaru monkey to commemorate how I was nearly torn to shreds.

Finally, it was time to say goodbye to one of the coolest places in Japan. The ferry ride back was crazy choppy in the strong winds,and we got horribly seasick, but at least we made it back to the mainland.

Winter Vacation Part 1: Kagoshima and Sakurajima

Now that winter break is less than a week away, I figured it's a fair time to post about LAST year's winter vacation. I decided to stay on the Japanese mainland. However, I wanted to go as far south as possible to escape the frigid Aomori winter, which meant a trip to southernmost main island: Kyushu.

After the usual night bus from Aomori to Tokyo (which almost didn't happen because of full bookings), we flew from Narita Airport into Kagoshima on the budget airline Jetstar. They are the cheapest method of air travel in Japan, but also the most inconvenient. Most cheap flights operate in the early hours of the morning before the trains are even running. Your only options are to sleep in the airport (Narita is much more uncomfortable to sleep in than Haneda) or stay in a nearby hotel. Many hotels in the area have free shuttle buses between Narita Station and Narita Airport, but many of them don't even begin running until it's too late to catch your flight. We stayed at Narita Excel Tokyu, which runs an airport shuttle bus starting at 5 am.

Arriving in Kagoshima early in the morning, we greatly enjoyed "one jacket weather", a nice 15 C temperature increase compared to Aomori. We rode the airport limousine (1200 yen) into Kagoshima City, dropped off our baggage at the hotel, and immediately headed toward the ferry docks. Like Hakodate, Kagoshima has a cute little cable-car system that you can take around the city, even though the stops are somewhat far from many destinations. We reached the ferry terminal after a short ride and a short walk, and were soon on our way to Sakurajima, a volcanic peninsula on the other side of Kagoshima Bay. The ferry is a mere 5-10 minute smooth ride and costs a measly 300 yen round trip for passengers without a car. 

Sakurajima from aboard the ferry.

Sakurajima is home to a very active volcano that constantly erupts on a small scale and emits clouds of smoke. I noticed while on the island that I was having a lot of trouble with my contact lenses. The whole area is constantly covered with a thin film of ash from the eruptions, and that ash was constantly getting in my eyes as well. While that might be slightly annoying, the volcanic activity has its benefits as well. Firstly, it's great for the local agriculture, where farmers can grow sweet mini tangerines, 桜島子みかん, and gigantic round daikon radishes. Secondly, naturally heated ground makes for an abundance of hot springs!

Sakurajima komikan, with 10-yen coin for reference.

They are seriously tiny...

Near the visitors center and hotel, there is a patch of open space beside the bay. Here lies an extensively long footbath, where you can enjoy views of Kagoshima facing one way or the towering volcano facing the other direction. There were a lot of shy stray cats hanging around as well, and one bold fellow strolled right up next to us and parked himself like a sphinx. Sitting there with our legs dipped in warm water while scratching the head of a purring local feline was pure relaxation at its finest.

Sakurajima, footbath, and a friendly feline.

Beside the footbath (behind us in the picture), there is a small hotel and restaurant connected to a hot spring bath. This bath is called the Magma Onsen, and while you won't have the pleasure of seeing magma itself, it features murky brown water heated naturally underground. The water is quite hot, and I probably would have enjoyed it more if there wasn't a strange old man doing squats and pushups in the pool, knocking about waves that splashed me to and fro.

In the other direction, there is a small visitor's center that gives the history of  the island turned peninsula. We were running out of time to catch one of the few local tour buses, so we only took a peek before dashing out the door. We wanted to complete the lava trail walk before getting on the bus at the end of it.

Along the beach, there is a short trail through a hardened lava flow. It's not particularly long, at around 1.5 km, and it offers a great view of some volcanic rock formation. Every so often along the trail, you'll run into a pile of berry seeds that's been pooped out by a small animal. Birds of prey are constantly gliding overhead trying to catch whatever is leaving that poop behind, and you'll spot them perched on the craggy volcanic spires if you're lucky.

At the end of a trail, you can board a tourist bus that will take you to the remaining interesting sites on the west side of the island. For example, there's a large monument to a legendary all-nighter rock concert held in the local quarry.

The main attraction is probably an observation tower halfway up the side of Sakurajima's mountain. You can get great views of both the volcanic peak, as well as Kagoshima Bay below. There are some videos and displays inside the tower that explain the various lava flows that created Sakurajima and connected it to the mainland.

After the entire round trip on the bus, there is still one more interesting attraction just east of the ferry terminal. It's a short walk along a very steep winding road, but the destination is a public park atop plateau. You can get good views of the bay and the mountains, but the most interesting thing about this park is the playground equipment.

DINOS! There is a multitude of dinosaur-shaped playground equipment that you can play on and take funny pictures. While the park itself isn't particularly popular or entertaining, we spent a good hour here messing around on the dinosaurs and trying to take the most comical photos and videos as possible. There's also a huge roller slide too, but the rollers are old and don't rotate very well, making it a slow and rattling ride down.

As the sun set, we trampled back onto the ferry and rode it back to Kagoshima City for the night. The next day would bring the REAL adventure...

Tsugaru Dirt, Sand, and Glass

Now that I've finished taking the JLPT test, I finally have time to write about my most recent adventure deep into the Tsugaru area.
日本語能力試験が終わったので、やっと最近の津軽遠足のことに書けるようになりました！

We started our day in our very own Aomori City. We headed west, crossing Bay Bridge and pulling up to a factory beneath an overpass. Inside, we were introduced to something called "Tsugaru Vidro." Tsugaru Vidro is a local glass-making craft. I didn't know it at the time, but "vidro" is actually Portuguese for "glass."
最初、わが青森のガラス工房に見学しました。ショールームに入って「津軽ビードロ」のことに紹介されました。知らなかったけど、ポルトガル語でガラスは「ビードロ」と呼ぶんだよ！

Inside the showroom

A unique feature of Tsugaru Vidro is the incorporation of color into their works. They start out with a solid color base material, and then apply shards of colored glass to create patterns. The result is mesmerizing to say the least.
津軽ビードロの独特は色です。ベースのガラスに色のガラス破片をつけてパターンができます。その結果はマジですごい！

An example of Tsugaru Vidro, inspired by Hirosaki cherry blossoms.

This company's glass didn't start out beautiful and artistic. Hokuyo Glass (known as Double-F Glass internationally) used to make glass fishing buoys out of the sand out west in Ajigasawa. The glass was tinted a light green from the various impurities usually found in natural sand. After plastic buoys began to replace these glass ones, the company started making household glassware.
ずっとこんなアートのガラスを作ったわけではない。北洋硝子は最初から漁業のガラス品を作る会社でした。鯵ヶ沢の砂を使ってすごし緑色のガラスを作っていた。だが、ガラス品の代わりにプラスチックの品物を使ってきてから、この会社が日用品のガラスを作ることになりました。

Notice the making for Hoku (北) in the center. Flipped upside-down, the marking looks like the letter "F" mirrored

.

We took a tour though the workshop. Workers were blowing, molding, grinding, sanding, and tempering away. It was near freezing temperature outside, but the inside was toasty like a summer day.
工房の見学をしました。外は零度に近いですが、奥のほうはまるで夏のようだ。職人たちの手早い動きを見たら、「ガラスを作るのはたいしたもんじゃない」 と思っちゃいますが、それは大間違いです。

After the tour, they let us try to make some glass tumblers ourselves. They were trying to demonstrate how difficult it is to make a good piece of glass, so naturally they didn't explain what we needed to do. We flailed about following the very cursory instructions of the craftsman. 
ツアーが終わってから、自分もガラスを作らせてくれたのです。特に説明してくれなかったから失敗することは当たり前なんですけど、やはり得意な職人しか良いガラス品を作れないのわかりました。

Thumbs up for "acceptable!"

Once we finished, we were hungry. We rode a bus deep southwest to the small town of Oowani Onsen, tucked just underneath Hirosaki City. Oowani, which means "big crocodile," is famous for its hot springs and ski resort. Strangely enough, there are no crocs here, save for this one:
ガラス工房をでて、おなかがすいてきました。西南のほうにバスに乗って、弘前市に南側の大鰐温泉に着きました。大鰐町の名物は温泉とスキー場なんだけど、鰐でないのは不思議だにゃ～。

Kristin holding her Oowani.

Apparently, Oowani Onsen is also famous for growing something called Oowani Onsen Moyashi. These bean sprouts are long, skinny, and supple in texture. Its attributes are most accentuated when used to make their popular "Umaka-don," which can be found at the main tourist building, "Wani-come."
名物は他にあると始めて知りました。大鰐温泉もやしと言うもやしが長くて細くて感触も違う。大鰐温泉もやしが使われている料理と考えれば、一番目立つのは「ウマカ丼」です。鰐Comeの中のレストランに食べられます。

Umaka-doooooon!

We ate up our delicious meal and went out to see how the main ingredient was grown, which is the same way it's been grown since the Edo period 400 years ago. We all stepped into a long shed. Long trenches were dug into the ground, and pipes running hot spring water passed through them. This spring water keeps the ground warm and is what causes the bean sprouts' amazing growth.
ご馳走してから、その温泉もやしをどうやってそんな形で植えるか見に行きました。４００年前の江戸時代と同じように植えていたそうです。光がない温室に溝があり、温水のパイプも地下にあります。温水の熱のおかげで冬でも土の温度が高くて、もやしがのびのび伸びる！

After the soybeans or buckwheat grains are planted, the trenches are covered with bales of rice straw to keep in the heat and absorb excess moisture. After only a week, the bean sprouts reach 40-50 cm in height!
植えた大豆、またはそば、の上に稲わらをいっぱい重ねます。熱を囲むため、そして水蒸気を吸い込むために必要だといわれます。たっだ一週間後、もう４０－５０ｃｍ伸びます！

Bales and bales of rice straw.

Here they come! These are still a day away from harvest.

 Once they've reached desired length, the growers harvest through a technique best described as "hugging it out." Since moyashi doesn't keep very long, the crop is then ready for sale at markets the very same morning.

その長さでもう刈り入れタイムだ。長いもやしを出す技は簡単に言うと「抱っこ」に似てるでしょうね。そやしはもやしなので、長く持たないからすぐ当日の朝に市販する。

Our day ended early, so we headed back to Wani-come to soak in the hot springs for a bit. The outdoor bath was really nice, especially in the cold rain. The close proximity to the women's bath means you can hear your travel companions talking over the fence. I joked to the other boys that several well placed benches along the fence line could allow us a peek. They didn't seem to have the same sense of humor as me.

旅がもう終わっている所だったので、鰐Comeに戻ってお風呂に入りました。寒い雨天に露天風呂が最高でした。女性の風呂が女子の仲間の声を聞こえるくらいに近くて、男性のメンバーに「あのベンチに立てばちらっと見えるだろうな」と冗談を申した。僕の皮肉を聞き取れなかったみたいんで、「君、最悪」と返事してくれました。以上。

That's all for this time! I'll be traveling during winter break, so maybe I'll have a post up about it next month. However, I haven't even managed to post about last winter break yet, so we'll see how that goes.

Pilgrimmage to Sai Village and Hotokegaura 青森県佐井村と仏ヶ浦への探検

（和文は英文の下）

On Saturday, I went on the LONGEST day trip EVER traveling to and from the most inaccessible place in Aomori Prefecture, Sai Village in Shimokita Peninsula.

Shimokita Peninsula（下北半島 - Shimokita hantou) is the Northeast region of Aomori Prefecture. It is often called "the hatchet" because of its distinctive shape. It is arguably one of the most rural places left in mainland Japan because of its inconvenient location and mountainous terrain. While it is most famous for a sulfuric volcanic landscape called Osorezan （恐山- "Fearful Mountain"） and the big tuna fishing town called Ooma （大間）, we did not visit those locations that day. For the story on those places, see here.

This time, we went even deeper into the wilderness of Shimokita to a place called Sai Village（佐井村 - Sai mura）. It is located along the blade of "the hatchet" and can only be accessed through steep mountain roads or by small ferry boat.

First, we arrived in Kanita （蟹田 - "Crab Field"） on the Eastern coast of Tsugaru Peninsula. The organizers had planned to take the Mutsuwan Ferry from Kanita to Wakinosawa (脇ノ沢 - "Pit Swamp") at the southern tip of the hatchet blade to avoid driving around the entirety of Mutsu Bay. Sadly, it was much more expensive than driving and only saved us about an hour on the road.

While we waited for the ferry to depart, we climbed the tall "Topmast" observation tower and got a great panoramic view of the bay and the surrounding coastline. The observation deck's floor is made of steel grates, so you can see all the way down to the bottom. Some of the other travelers were afraid of heights, so they tiptoed around on the concrete borders surrounding the metal grates.

The Topmast

Don't fail me now, steel grates.

The view from the top.

After we arrived in Wakinosawa, I was surprised that we still couldn't drive directly to Sai Village. The road that runs along the blade of the hatchet is treacherously steep and narrow, so the bus driver didn't want to risk passing through. Instead, we look a long detour through the mountains, arriving in Sai Village at around noon. Everyone was tired and hungry, and our day had yet to even begin. We had a small lunch at a restaurant in the tourism building, called ALSAS. I found the welcome sign particularly interesting.

Nothin' like a dead bear greeting you at the door.

After lunch, we got a tour of the village. Since we were low on time, they took us to the 3 largest landmarks. The first was the preserved house of a famous local doctor, Mikami Gotaro （三上剛太郎先生）. He had served as a medic in the Russo-Japanese War and was famous for saving the lives of more than 70 people in a particular incident. Surrounded by Russian troops, Mikami patched together a red cross flag using bandages and pieces of a red blanket. Upon seeing the flag, the Russian troops didn't attack, and Mikami was able to treat the wounded of both the Japanese and Russian sides.

Next, we went to visit the Hachimangu Shrine （八幡宮）at the top of a hill. The shrine itself is more than 300 years old, but the site it was built on has an even longer history. Strewn around the shrine grounds are many arrowheads that date all the way back to the Jomon period (14,000 - 300 BC!) and were used by the first human civilization to inhabit the islands of Japan. This history give the shrine its nickname, Yanonemori （箭根森 - "Forest of Arrows"）

Finally, we paid a visit to an old Buddhist temple. Inside, there were relics from all around Japan and Europe, which were collected by the wealthy owner of the shrine. Apparently, the temple had burned down once before, but the owner was so wealthy that he paid for its reconstruction entirely out of his own pocket.

As the tour came to an end, we found out why they didn't feed us very much for lunch. We were going to board a small boat, the "Sai-light"（サイライト）, and take a ride to Hotokegaura（仏ヶ浦）. This day was particularly windy, and the waves were choppy. As I stepped into the boat, I immediately regretted it.

Behold, the sketchiest boat to ever sail the Bay of Aomori.

The captain told us that the ride would be similar to a roller coaster, but I didn't believe him until we left the harbor. We were getting battered from all sides by big waves, and we managed to fly into the air several times before crashing back down. The ride was so turbulent that the video being played on the boat's television screens would periodically pause and skip. We hit a particularly big wave, causing the girl next to me to empty her entire can of iced coffee into the air, which then rained back down all over me. It was fun and games at first, but the comedy wore off when we realized the ride would last another half hour.

Halfway through, I looked to my right to see a girl emptying her stomach into a clear plastic bag, filling it to the brim. I looked behind her, and my girlfriend was also keeled over trying to keep her lunch in. The passengers on her side were passing plastic bags back and forth in an attempted containment. I suddenly felt thankful that I only had to deal with splashing coffee. I was also amazed at how my stomach was handling such a violent ride so well.

After an excruciatingly longest 30 minutes, we finally docked at Hotokegaura and disembarked. My girlfriend sat down and stared blankly at the shore. I ushered her forward because we only had half an hour to explore the incredible coastline.

Kristin pretending to be fine

And what a coastline it was! The erosion of the limestone along Hotokegaura left tall white spires in all kinds of interesting shapes. I walked around and snapped photos as the guide described what each spire looked like and compared it to some sort of animal or person. Many people believe that these spires represent gods that look out at the sea and protect sailors from harm.

As our 30 minutes came to an end, the passengers gathered around the boat and grudgingly stepped aboard again. While the ride back was not quite as bad as before, it was still enough to make Kristin double over with nausea once more. After returning to Sai Village, we had a short chat with the owner of the ferry service. He told us that the ocean is usually very calm and the ride is very comfortable. That day was just the worst day to be riding on the boat. Some friends that visited on a different day confirmed that the ride is smooth.

With the rough day behind us, we departed towards Aomori City. We didn't take the ferry route back,  instead decided to drive through the handle of the hatchet to return home. As expected, it was a long 3-hour journey, but we got to stop at one of our favorite handmade tofu shops called Yuusuitei (湧水亭）along the way to grab some tofu donuts, soy yogurt, soy milk, and gourmet black-bean natto.

Mmm, my favorite natto ever!

All in all, it was a VERY long trip, but also very satisfying. Thanks for reading, and don't miss the next trip!

土曜日に一番長い国際交流会観光の旅をした。朝８時から夜８時までずっと青森の一番険しい「下北半島」と言う所まで日帰りをしてました。

下北半島は青森県の東北にあります。形は斧と同じなので、外国人に「ザーハチェット」と呼ばれています。本州に最後残ってい る正真正銘の「田舎」の所かもしれない。下北半島の有名な所は地獄みたいな恐山とマグロの大間町なんだけど、その日は行きませんでした。前の旅行の詳しく はこちら。（英語のみ）

今回、もう少し自然に落ち込んで「佐井村」まで行きました。ハチェットの刃先にあるところで、行く方法は山道運転か小さいフェリーです。

まず、津軽半島にある「蟹田」に着きました。むつ湾を回らなくてまっすぐむつ湾フェリーでまっすぐ刃先にある「脇野沢」に行くことにしました。残念ながらフェリーが運転より一時間だけ早くて、ガス代よりずっと高い方法です。

フェリー出発を待っていた間、「TOPMAST」と言う展望台に登って青森湾のきれいな景色を見ました。足の下は全部スチール網なので、かなりドキドキな経験でした。高所恐怖症がある参加者が網の周りのコンクリート部分だけに歩いていた。

フェリーに乗って脇野沢に着き、まだまっすぐ佐井村までいけないと聞いたらびっくりしました。刃先に海のそばの道路はとても狭くて険しくてバスで通るのは 危険だそうです。代わりに、山道に通って昼に佐井村に着きました。皆さんはもう疲れてきて、おなかも空いてきました。佐井村役場津軽海峡文化間「アルサ ス」の中のレストランで昼食をいただきました。挨拶のサインは特に面白かった。

昼食後、佐井村の歴史案内されました。あまり時間なかったので有名な３つの所だけつれてくれました。まず、有名な医師、三上剛太郎、の家を見ました。日露戦争に７０人以上の命が三上先生のおかげで救われたと聞きました。赤十字の仕事もいっぱいできた見たいです。

次、八幡宮「はちまんぐう」神社に行きました。神社のほうは３００年以上の歴史がありますが、その土地がもっと長い歴史があります。縄文時代の矢の根が散り敷いていて、ガイドさんが一個探して見せました。昔、近所の子供達がこの矢の根を狩りましたが、今はこんな歴史がある土地を守らないとだめって教えてくれました。

ツアーの最後にお寺を見に行きました。前、火事があってお寺が全滅でしたが、大金持ちの一人だけのお金で立て直しました。中身にいっぱい日本と海外の宝物があるそうです。

町案内終わってから、船を乗る時間になりました。船の名は「サイライト」で、小さい船でした。その日は特に風が強くて波も高かった。船の中に入るとすぐ後悔しました。

ジェットコースターに用に揺れると船長さんに教えられたが、港を出た前には信じなかった。船があっちこっち激しく揺れて、空に飛び出すこともあった。テレ ビに映していたビデオも時々止まっていた。特に高いジャンプのとき、隣の人の缶コーヒーの中身が飛び出して、茶色い雨が振り掛けられました。最初はこんな クレイジーな経験がありえなくて、あほみたいに大笑いしていたけど、現実に戻ったら後３０分乗らなくてはいけないと気づいた。

１５分後、右側に向くとある女性がプラスチック袋におなかの中身を出していた。「袋いっぱいだな。すげ～」と思っていた。その子の後ろに彼女のクリスティ ンが吐かないようにくの字に曲げていた。そこらへんの乗客がプラスチック袋をたくさん別ち与えた。自分は「コーヒー雨の問題だけでよかった」 とありがたく感じました。自分のおなかが意外と平気で、びっくりしました。

歴史に一番長い３０分が終わってから、やっと仏ヶ浦に着いて船に降りました。クリスティンがドックに座ってぼうっとしました。３０分観光時間しかなかったので彼女を引っ張って進みました。

でも、仏ヶ浦ってなんときれいな所です！高くて白い岩があって、色々な形ありました。ガイドさんが岩の形の名前を説明してくれました。その岩が海を見守っている神様だと教えました。

３０分が終わってまた船に乗り時間になりました。いやな顔で船に入って、もう一度トラウマの経験でした。帰り道のほうが静かだったけどまだ激しかった。そしてクリスティンの吐き気も戻りました。佐井村に着き、船の会社の社長とお話しました。普通は津軽海峡はとても静かなんですけど、その日は最低な状況でした。やっぱり運が悪かったね。

話が終わり、帰る時間になりました。フェリーに乗らずにずっとバスで帰りました。３時間以上かかりましたが、途中で横浜町にある大好きな豆腐屋さん「湧水亭」に止まって豆腐ドーナツ、ヨーグルト、豆乳、そして黒豆納豆を手に入れた！とても長い旅でしたが、やってよかった！