Mothers day in Aomori

22nd March 2009 was Mothers day in England so Yuuri and I had decided to take my parents out. We sent them a brochure of Aomori previously and my parents were interested in visiting the southern city of Aomori prefecture called Hachinohe.

(Japan is split into "prefectures" which are similar to American states in the sense they are huge areas of Japan that were once parts of different kingdoms. I live in Aomori prefecture and the capital city is Aomori city which is in in the northern bay)

We took the express train down to Hachinohe city and went around the fish market.

From Dads Pictures

And my mum bought some fresh fish which we intended to cook and eat in the fish market but it was too crowded. So we decided to try one of the restaraunts where dad and I had ramen.

From Mothers day 2009

Ramen is kind of noodles in a fish based soup, my mum had tempura which is fried shrimp in batter. Very Japanese!

After we were full we headed over to a shrine. Everyone who visits Japan should visit a shrine, they are free and very beautiful places.

From Mothers day 2009

By now it was time to head back so we got the train and headed to Misawa, a town between Aomori and Hachinohe. I wanted to take my parents to the hotspring (onsen) there and Yuuri had arranged for us to see a show based on the Nebuta/Neputa festivals.

Hotsprings in Japan are usually natural and many people go to relax. I went in with my dad and Yuuri took my mum in. It's always intimidating because you have to get naked and take only a towel in. Once in the hotspring room you can take a shower and clean yourself before getting into the bath. We tried the cooler bath which was about 39C and then went in the sauna.

This hotspring also had an outdoor section which was really nice in contrast to the cold weather. It even started to rain a little bit and although you were hot all over you could feel little bits of cold droplets hitting you. It was nice and relaxing.

We went on to have a meal and watch a show about the festivals in Aomori including Nebuta and Neputa. The served Japanese steamed food.

From Mothers day 2009

This was a little confusing at first.

From Mothers day 2009

But we figured it out!

We could eat as the show went on. They showed music and singing from the festivals and even asked us to join in, which can only lead to bad things!!!




As you can see from the video, dad even took part, merrily jumping along to Aomori cities most famous festival.

From Mothers day 2009

That was before he pulled a tendon in his knee from jumping. For the remainder of the day he could hardly walk. We still watched the rest of the show and mum, Yuuri and I took part. This was mine and Yuuri's present to my parents for mothers day.

After that we caught a shamisen show downstairs. The shaimsen is a three stringed guitar that Japanese people play.

From Mothers day 2009

By the end we were all tired and my dad was in pain. We got home just before midnight and I think we all slept well!