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HIROSAKI |
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Behind its modern facade, HIROSAKI , former seat of the Tsugaru
clan, still retains a few reminders of its feudal past. Most of its
sights lie around Hirosaki-koen , on the west side of the Tsuchibuchi-gawa,
where one picturesque turret marks the site of Hirosaki-jo. Nearby
there's a well-preserved Japanese garden and a collection of Meiji-era
Western-style buildings, contrasting with a street of traditional
samurai houses on the north side of the castle grounds. Hirosaki's
summer lantern festival , the Neputa Matsuri (Aug 1-7), has its own
museum attached to a craft centre, and there's also a district of
dignified Zen temples out on the west side of town. Though these sights
can be covered in a full day's outing from Aomori, Hirosaki is a
pleasant place to stay and is even worth considering as an alternative
base for the area.
The City
The older more interesting part of Hirosaki lies around Hirosaki-koen to
the west of the modern town; take a bus from the station for the twenty-minute
ride (¥170) to Shiyakusho-mae on the south side of the park. A little
way west of the park entrance are the gates of a beautiful and unusually
varied Japanese garden, Fujita Kinen Teien (April 13-Nov 23 Tues-Sun
9am-5pm; ¥300). Designed in 1910 for a successful local businessman, the
garden consists of three distinct sections flowing over a steep hillside.
At the top, beside Fujita's elegant residence, dark pines frame the
distant peak of Iwaki-san - a classic example of "borrowed scenery" -
from where paths lead down, beside a tumbling waterfall and over a
perfect, red-lacquer bridge, to another flat area of lawns and lakes at
the bottom.
Back at the main park gates, the modern Sightseeing Information Centre (daily
9am-6pm), houses an information desk , crafts displays and a float
pavilion (same hours; free) in the hall behind. These floats, which
mostly carry tableaux depicting historical scenes, originated in the
late seventeenth century when merchants would parade them round the
streets as part of a local shrine festival. Beyond the float pavilion,
two colourful Western-style buildings stand out against the sleek
concrete and steel. The Former City Library and Missionaries' House (daily
9am-4.30pm; ¥320) both date from the early 1900s and are nicely
preserved, though there's no particular reason to go inside.
Ote-mon, the main entrance to Hirosaki-koen lies across the road from
the Sightseeing Centre. It takes ten minutes to walk from this gate,
zigzagging between the moats and containing walls of Hirosaki-jo , to
reach the inner keep where a tiny, three-storey tower (April 1-Nov 23
daily 9am-5pm; ¥200) guards the southern approach. There's nothing left
of the original castle, constructed by the Tsugaru lords in 1611, but
the tower was rebuilt in 1810 using traditional techniques. In late
April the little white turret, floodlit and framed in pink blossom, is
the focus of a cherry-blossom festival (April 23-May 5) as the park's
five thousand trees signal the end of the harsh northern winter.
Leaving the park by its northern gate (Kita-mon), you emerge opposite
the old Ishiba shop (daily 9am-5pm, closed 1st & 3rd Sun of the month;
¥100) which was built 250 years ago to sell rice baskets and other
household goods to the Tsugaru lords. Since the family (now selling
sake), still live here, you only get a glimpse into the warehouse
behind. However, there are several more houses from this era in a smart
residential street behind the Ishiba shop, some of which are open to the
public (April-Oct daily 10am-4pm; Jan-March, Nov & Dec Sat & Sun only;
free). At the west end of the street, the Ito House was once the home of
the daimyo's official doctor, while the next-door Umeda House was the
residence of a minor samurai , as was the Iwate House , 500m further
east.
Neputa Mura (daily 9am-4/5pm; ¥500), a museum focusing on Hirosaki's
lantern festival, lies at the northeast corner of Hirosaki-koen. The
Neputa Matsuri (Aug 1-7) is similar in style to Aomori's Nebuta festival
, but in this case the giant lanterns are fan-shaped and painted with
scenes from ancient Chinese scrolls or with the faces of scowling
samurai . Like the festival itself, the museum gets off to a rousing
start with a demonstration of energetic drumming which you can try
afterwards. Then there's a collection of floats, from a seven-metre-tall
monster to child-size versions, followed by a display of local crafts -
this is a good place to pick up souvenirs, such as ingenious spinning
tops, cotton embroideries or stylish black-and-white Tsugaru pottery.
Hirosaki's final sight is a "temple town", around fifteen minutes' walk
southwest of the castle park or twenty minutes by bus from the station -
take bus #3 for Shigemori and get off at the Chosho-ji Iriguchi stop. In
the seventeenth century around thirty temples were relocated to this
spot, of which the most interesting is Chosho-ji (daily: April-Oct
8am-5pm; Jan-March, Nov & Dec 9am-4pm; ¥300). It stands at the end of a
tree-lined road through a large, two-storey gate, dating from 1629,
which barely contains the two guardian gods peering out of the gloom.
Inside, ring the bell outside the thatched building on the right and
someone will show you into the main sanctuary and the mortuary rooms
behind. Chosho-ji was the family temple and burial place of the Tsugaru
clan; in 1954, excavations revealed the mummified body of Prince
Tsugutomi, son of the eleventh lord, who had died about a century before
- his death was variously blamed on assassination, poisoning or eating
peaches with imported sugar. During the cherry-blossom festival the
mummy is on display but usually you'll have to make do with a photo in
the mortuary room behind the main altar, where it's rather overshadowed
by a life-like statue of Tsugaru Tamenobu, the founder of the clan. As
you leave the building, take a closer look at the glass cabinets near
the kitchen. These contain some of Prince Tsugutomi's prized
possessions, including his telescope, watch and portraits of his
favourite actresses.
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