The Marble Hill School for

International Studies
Summer 2004 Trip to Japan, Part 2
by Roberta Young


The Places:

Imabetsu is a very small town on the northern part of Japan’s main island, Honshu. Sitting at my desk at the Board of Ed office, I could look right out the window and across the street at the Tsugaru Straits. On a clear day, I could see beyond the straits to the coastline mountains of the northern island of Hokkaido.


Imabetsu is beautiful – with the sea, mountains, ricefields and forests of Japanese cedar. There is only one train line that runs south to the nearest city of Aomori City, about an hour and a half away. The train runs every two hours or so. The last train from Aomori to Imabetsu is at about 6:30 pm. People often travel around town on foot or by bicycle. During the day, you can pass people working in their gardens and ricefields and fishing or repairing nets at the port. The small shops are often house fronts. They are always open but often no one is inside. You just call and then wait until the shop owner comes in from the back of the house or the yard. Imabetsu is famous for squid. At nighttime, you can see the bright lights of the squid fishing boats out on the water.

My First Day: Imabetsu Fishing Port

 

View from My Apartment

View from My Apartment - The JR (Japan Railroad)

Early Morning En Route to the Board of Ed.

From the Board of Ed: A View to Hokkaido

Train Tracks and Mountains

Japan has two main religions, Buddhism and Shinto. Most Japanese people are both. In other words, they will celebrate holidays and participate in rituals associated with both religions.


The main Buddhist temple in Imabetsu is called “Hongakuji.” It is a temple of the Joudo, or Pure Land sect. I think the interior seems to be more opulent than temples of other Buddhist sects.

 

 

Daibutsu (Big Buddha) at Hongakuji

Japanese Garden of Hongakuji

 

 

Ornate Room and Ceiling in Main Room
The Shinto shrine in Imabetsu is called “Hachimangu.” The red gate is called a torii. A torii is a distinctive entranceway of all Shinto shrines. It marks the boundary between an earthly and a sacred place. “Shimenawa,” or sacred straw rope, and “komainu,” stone lion-dogs, are also distinctive features of Shinto shrines.

Torii and Shimenawa (sacred straw rope)

Pair of Komainu (lion-dogs) Guard the Shrine

Large Komainu

 

 

Aomori City is large enough that I certainly could not see all of it. Near the train station, there were many, many, many souvenir shops. As Aomori is famous for apples, there were also many apple booths. For 100 yen or about $1, you could buy an apple the size of a cantaloupe. The main street, Shinmachi, had a nice selection of department stores, eateries, music and clothing stores... in other words this is where the high school students went every weekend to go shopping and hang out with their friends. By cab or bus, you could travel to other parts of the city for even more shopping – including several shopping malls – and eateries. With the famous Nebuta Festival coming in early August, the streets of Aomori were filled with booths selling special festival clothing and accessories when I was there in mid and late July. There were also several onsen, natural hot springs, in Aomori. I went to about four of them. My first and last stop in this city was Aomori Airport.

Shinmachi - Bicycles are Left Unlocked

 

Booth Selling Festival Items for the Nebuta Festival

View from Aomori Train Station
Hirosaki was a one-hour train ride from Aomori City. It has a castle that was built in 1611. I had never seen a Japanese castle before (except in samurai movies). This is actually the northernmost castle in Japan; most castles are located in central Honshu. Hirosaki is also famous for its beautiful grounds and, in the springtime, its cherry blossoms.

Castle at Hirosaki
Hakodate is the third largest city on the northern island of Hokkaido. The Seikan Tunnel is an underwater train tunnel that runs between the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido. From Imabetsu, it should have been a 35-minute train ride. Unfortunately, Imabetsu being the small town that it is, I had to take a train south into Aomori City and then travel north, past Imabetsu, and into Hokkaido. I had only one main goal: to go to the top of Hakodateyama (Mount Hakodate) with its famous view of the city. I did this; the view was indeed beautiful. I also wandered around the shops of this port city.

Street corner near Hakodate train station

 

View from Hakodateyama

 
Tappi and Minmaya are two small but very scenic towns close to Imabetsu. Tappi is known for its “Wind Park” with windmills. Minmaya, north of Imabetsu, has the entranceway to the Seikan Tunnel which leads underwater to Hokkaido. Minmaya also has a beautiful coastline and fishing port.

Minmaya

Fishing Boat in Minmaya

Entrance to the Seikan Tunnel leading to Hokkaido

Me at the Wind Park in Tappi

 

Travelogue Continues!

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