Hirosaki Part Two: Hirosaki Castle

Hirosaki castle is probably the most famous landmark in all of Aomori. Built in 1611 by the Tsugaru clan, it is one of relatively few 17th century castles that has survived to this day. The castle is known especially for the large numbers of cherry blossom (sakura) trees that have been planted in the vicinity. During the spring cherry blossom festival, thousands of people travel from all over Japan to view the blossoms in Hirosaki.

Despite Hirosaki castle's status as a popular vacation spot, not many would-be tourists seem to travel there in the wintertime, most likely put off by the snow. Well, as we already there, I figured we ought to see it, especially as I had never been before.

The park surrounding the castle turned out to be incredibly snowy and since we weren't really prepared for this sort of thing, we ended up getting pretty cold and wet. Still, the snow did make for quite a number of picturesque scenes, so I'm quite glad that we decided to go. Being the immediate surrounds of a military castle, the park was full of bridges, moats, turrets and large gates, giving the area a very pastoral and historic feel.








Considering the road conditions earlier that morning, I decided that it would be best to start heading back while it was still light out, so we skipped Goshogowara completely and headed back towards Nambu after our time in Hirosaki. Ultimately, we achieved none of the goals that we had initially set out to accomplish (namely buying the couch and seeing some of Yoshitomo's work). Nonetheless, an adventure was had. By us. In Tsugaru.