Japan: Aomori

 Friday, June 23, 2023, Aomori, Japan

This map on the ship shows our route from Tokyo to Aomori and beyond.

The ship arrived in Aomori at 9 am and we decided to go it alone. It had been raining, but fortunately had stopped. We walked along the waterfront. It’s very safe everywhere in Japan.


Our ship from the shore.

The boardwalk into town.


We passed by a group engaged in a sack race.


Our first stop, a museum featuring huge floats from the Nebuta Matsuri, a summer festival held in Aomori.  There we found floats from past festivals, made out of rice paper and lit from within. They were very impressive and we spent some time admiring them.

A miniature of what the parade looks like.

These huge floats needed a large facility to display them.

Note people in foreground for perspective on how big these are.




Next on the agenda, we walked to a transportation hub and caught a bus to the Sannai Maruyama archeological site. The ship did not have a tour to this interesting place, and we wanted to see it. While excavating for a new major baseball field, ruins from the early Jomon period (3900-3300 BC) were discovered here. The Jomon were the original aboriginal people in Japan, and had more European features than the Japanese civilization that came after. 


Remains in the area were well preserved by muddy conditions, and included huts found intact and a large communal building that was recreated based on the remains of huge poles found there.  The Jomon were a sophisticated and civilized people. No weapons or indication of war were found.  The museum on site has pottery and other artifacts. We highly recommend a trip to see this place.


A diorama of this very large area. I am standing in the upper left corner (can’t miss the mop of gray hair).

This is what the area looks like in real life.

A recreation of a large communal building
Outside of the large communal building.
The purpose of the structure behind me & identity of the Japanese tourist posing with me are unknown. 

Some of the dig areas are covered by this large building.

Many workers helping put shards together.


 

We met this beautiful artist who loves coming to the museum for inspiration.

Very sophisticated pottery for the time.

Small huts were excavated

Next stop: a modern art museum close by, although we took a city bus to save time. They let us on the bus for free—we didn’t have change! We really enjoyed the diverse works of art including a huge dog sculpture—the symbol of the museum. They also had several giant Marc Chagall paintings.


Us in front of a very large Marc Chagall



Modern art Japanese style

This giant dog was outdoors and a symbol of the museum. The planter in the front? Dog dish!

Some beautiful glass work



With help from museum staff, we caught a bus back downtown, toured the many fish markets, and made it to the ship before it left.


Seal statues along the waterfront on the way back to the ship.


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