Japan.It's Bloomin marvellous.

[drron]

Outside art on the ground-

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Now on Trip Advisor they recommend visiting the Entertainment street so we decided to walk there as not far-

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The further you walked down the street the more bars and nocturnal "entertainment"places there were.Decided it was not a place for older couples so walked back to the hotel.

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[drron]

So on the way back-

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It looked like they did have kayaking on the moat but probably no more-

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Lots of water spiders-

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In the evening checked out a little shopping arcade behind the Gallery.Mrsdrron was surprised to see a boutique Australian business present-

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There was a nice looking Japanese restaurant there so we decided to eat there.Noone spoke English but the menu had some pictures and I can recognise suikiyaki when written so that is what we had.The waitresses were obviously pleased we knew what we were doing.Initially the young trainee was trembling when she was sent over to serve us.

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Very nice.With the beer-4200 yen.
Back now to the hotel.they had a Lawsons on the ground floor so we bought yoghurts for Brekkie.

 

[drron]

Saturday and we went shopping.Not really a destination for it but did find a good pottery shop and the 100 yen shop so a few purchases.Also the Muji shop which had a differently named curry-

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Some Jinglish-

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There was a Starbucks to warm us and we had sushi for lunch.Walking back we saw this fellow who didn't seem to want to be photographed-

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A bar we passed had a good line up outside-

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That night I decided to do some night blossom viewing.It was bitterly cold so mrsdrron stayed at the hotel whilst I put on all the clothes I had and went out.It was worth it-

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[drron]

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Night and the cold certainly didn't stop the hanami parties.

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[love_the_life]

Beautiful at night as well, though if bitterly cold I can see why mrs.dr.don stayed at the hotel. That probably would've been my choice too.

 

[drron]

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[drron]

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[drron]

So the last of the night viewing-

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And boys will be boys all over the world.These young fellows had hotted up cars.they took turns at racing around the block making as much noise as possible-

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I really enjoyed the noght viewing and by the end I wasn't feeling the cold.I can recommend a night blossom viewing.
I would also recommend thinking of Akita as a place for blossom viewing especially later in April.We were there 21-24/4.It was at peak though on average that would happen about a week later.

 

[drron]

Sunday and another of the highlights of our trips.When researching getting from Akita to Hirosaki I first thought the Shinkansen back to Morioka then the Hokkaido shinkansen to Shin Aomori.But on Hyperpedia it came up as well with a train called the Resort Shirakami number 3.So I decided to look at that even though it took more than an hour longer than the shinkansen.
JR East have 16 "joyful"trains.Three of them run between Akita and either Hirosaki or Aomori.In Spring they only run on weekends so there was one running on the Sunday-the other 2 were operating in the reverse direction.So we booked.Down to Akita station some time before and bought some snacks including tonkatsu sangers-not bad.
Then waited on the platform.the first train didn't look joyful and fortunately the sign for our train didn't change-

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One warning if travelling in Japan.if someone says get on the next train they do not mean the one that will be stopping next-that is this train.The next train is the one after.The joyful train arrives.

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Please note our HCO status!Great train.huge windows for viewing and separate areas at each end of the carriage with even larger windows.Definitely adequate leg space-

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[drron]

The train is also fitted with nose cam.First passed by a freight train whilst still at Akita and then off at last-

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It stops at most stations.Those close to Akita are well looked after.When you leave suburbia it is a one track line-

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Lovely near water but at this time of year the plains are a little boring-

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A few spots with lots of blossom-

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[drron]

There was one aspect of the trip that was not joyful.Three older Japanese woman were across the aisle.They talked non stop at the top of their voices even when eating.We moved seats and the conductor nodded as he went past acknowledging he realised why we moved.Fortunately they got off at about the half way mark.
Little shrines appeared frequently-

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Then we got to a station and had a 25 minute stop.At first we thought it was for this local train but it left and we still had 20 minutes to wait-the conductor had told us even though he had limited English.Just said stop and pointed to his watch for departure time.I had time to walk outside the station but not much around on a Sunday.

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Obviously a well known Japanese basketballer came from around these parts.The station master was asking all the passengers to have a shot.Dont know if you got anything as didn't see a successful shot.Everyone got a postcard which you could stamp with a special town stamp.

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Note the fellow played with the Peckers.
One of the 4 carriages had family berths for up to 6 pax.Only one was occupied.

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And then we found out why we waited-it was for the joyful train coming the other way-

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The train reversed direction here which was a bit of a blow as we selected that side of the train so that we would be on the side next to the ocean.Hmm.
Soon more blossom-

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[drron]

Soon our first view of the Japan sea-

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This was the start of a large park with quite a few out having their hanami parties-

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[junbugging]

Obviously a well known Japanese basketballer came from around these parts.The station master was asking all the passengers to have a shot.Dont know if you got anything as didn't see a successful shot.Everyone got a postcard which you could stamp with a special town stamp.
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The "58" under the hoop is the number of national titles the local high school has won.

 

[drron]

When it came to more scenic areas the train slowed down so lots of pics-

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Lots of little fishing harbours that were well protected-

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Quite a few tunnels but with the camera you got ample warning-

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[drron]

The "58" under the hoop is the number of national titles the local high school has won.

So it was quite a basketball place then.Thanks for that.

 

[drron]

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[drron]

Quite a few fishing boats.

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Even on this coast any piece of flat land is cultivated.

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[drron]

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But now we noticed that the scenery away from the coast was changing-

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[drron]

Trees did make an occasional appearance-

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In places lots of buoys.Possibly crab pots?

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[drron]

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