Would you like a long story about Aomori’s weird roads and strange traffic patterns before I tell you about our exciting adventure to some shrines and a castle? Well, that’s what you’re getting today. It’s fun, I swear.
There is a demon involved. (See?? Fun)
While this is not the first time I have driven on the left-hand side, nor the first time I have driven in Japan (it’s the third), this is the first time I’ve driven somewhere in Japan there is more than one road and/or more than up and down a mountain.
Aomori happens to be home to a lot of weirdo and niche signs and traffic patterns, which the internet alleges confuse EVEN Japanese drivers if they’re from elsewhere. Cool fun GREAT. Also I did zero prep for driving here because I think I am basically at the peak of mt stupid a la the dunning-kruger effect.
The signs are also only in Japanese, which is fine for me, who happens to have good Travel Word Japanese (as well as Fantasy Word Japanese, Small Child Japanese, and School and Economics Japanese), but which I am sure does not make it easy for other people (most of the time, I just try to not ditch Colleen and crew in the car behind us).
While we are driving on our first day, we encounter a series of signs that I am fairly certain say “don’t stop in the intersection when turning right,” followed by a confusing series of traffic lights that demonstrate the scenario.
One, I am driving on the left, so this is already confusing.
Two, I’m just going to have to pray that the GPS does not require me to make this Very Weird Turn.
Three, I’ll just pray I’m not first at a light so I can follow someone else.
Four, good luck to Colleen because there are literally zero signs in English.
Wellllll we ended up having to make a right-hand turn AND I was at the front AND it REALLY does look like you are going through a red light on the other side. However, everyone is stopped, so I just drive while aggressively shrugging and making a confused face and I don’t really notice any dirty looks from the locals while I go through the intersection.
All the while, Rhett is telling me I have run a light, I am telling him the signs in Japanese say to NOT stop and point to the fact that everyone else is stopped, and we rationalize that the traffic pattern would end up backing up everyone if you could turn right and then had to stop.
But behind me, Colleen stops, and I am razzed at the big buddha, but there were no police and nobody died, so we all just shrug and I pray for no more weird turns.
Today before we leave, I am bound and determined to learn what the f that traffic pattern was, because did I do it right? I would like to obey traffic laws for the most part.
It turns out that YES! I did. And the city is slowly trying to phase them out. They are called six way intersections. The police were interviewed, there are a few articles on them, but most importantly, the character they use to describe these bad intersections is DEMONIC. Cursed. These intersections are dumb.
Anyway today we have a lot of driving to Takayama Inari Shrine (related to Fushimi Inari in Kyoto) and I was going to be READY for weird turns, should I need to find them.
It’s about an hour to the west of us. We take the freeway for most of the way before turning off onto country backroads, against a backdrop of Mt Iwate, apple orchards, and an aggressive amount of windmills. (Photography by Rhett because I am busy not falling off the road)
Takayama Inari is down a very winding road and then through a residential area, and also through a field of 10 billion dragonflies that I keep hitting :((((( I wonder if we are going to be spirited away at the end of the path, but we do eventually find the shrine out near the sea.
It has about 200 torii (gates) up and down the mountain, and you can climb some stairs up to the top of the mountain to visit the sub-shrines. This is like way less steps than Fushimi Inari in Kyoto, and there are also like. Maybe 10 people here? It’s great. Very peaceful. We’re also here early, so that probably helps.
Here are ten billion pics of the shrine because I know you non-Japanese people like dem torii vibes.
Near a dragon-themed sub-shrine, they have very fun fortunes that change in the water. Mine is like meh (again) so I rid myself of it.
Before we depart, we get Ice cream! Melon ice cream!! And then we decide to stop at a bridge before going to Hirosaki.
We drive past sooooooo many apple trees on the way to this bridge, as well as a massive field of windmills. The apples are insanely huge, larger than my hand. I thought the ones in the supermarket were freaks of nature, but it turns out, they’re normal-ass apples.
The bridge (Tsugaru bridge) is a quick walk from our free parking spot. Completing the walk across the bridge is supposed to give you a long life. We see lots of egrets and herons as we make our way across its three arches. The far side seems to have a bird show that happens in the summer.
Brief stop over, we head out to Hirosaki via google maps’ crackhead instructions thru a bunch of weird back roads (or maybe this is the way and I just don’t know?). But Hirosaki is a pretty small city – most of the things are around the castle, including museums, cafes, and parking.
We grab lunch somewhere which was not my intended cafe, but because I was Hangry, it would do. It was actually very good – they had either pasta or japanese style set meal. Bruce got pancakes and I was kinda jealous. The Japanese just know how to do the perfect pancake.
Hirosaki castle has been under aggressive construction since 2015, when a portion of the wall beneath the castle was damaged in an earthquake.
You know that scene in spongebob where they take bikini bottom and move it somewhere else?
That’s basically what’s up with Hirosaki castle. In order to repair the base, they had to manually pull the castle slightly to the right. It took like 300 volunteers! The repairs of the base are nearly complete and soon, 300 people will have to pull it back.
The castle offers a pretty view of Mt Iwate as you circle the castle. You can tell why they put the castle here – you could def defend the surrounding town very well.
You can walk around the grounds & through the gardens. It’s a bit off-season, but the roses are still gorgeous. There’s also an ancient tree with a huge badonkadonk. I love this tree. It could get some victorian england tea real good.
After we meander, it’s back to town. There have been no weird demon turns today!
I did force rhett to try putting fried chicken in one of the egg salad sandos from Lawson. I called it “oyako sando” (parent-child sando) in honor of the chicken and egg being together. He said it was “just ok” but then got another one the next day so I’d call that a success.
