Day 19 Japan
My next stop is the small town of Morioka ... voted this prefecture's most walkable town. Only an hour or two north of Fukushima I had a few things listed to go and see while I was there.
A couple of old dudes were smashing a bottle of whiskey on the train so I didn't feel bad about having a couple of beers. Not that I ever feel bad about morning drinking. Morning drinking is the best.
The usual ritual of "dump the bag at the hotel" then go exploring. Check-in in Japan is annoyingly late ... usually around 4pm and they tend to stick to this time as a hard and fast rule. They will usually take your bags for you though.
Morioka is a delightfully pleasant city. It's clean, reasonably busy and there are lots of trees around which is always a good sign. I feel like any city who has taken the time to put gardens and trees around actually cares about the experience of walking around it.
I had a couple of chores to do in Morioka as well. I wanted to:
1. Get a haircut. My beard was a bit scruffy and my hair was actually taking time to try. Unacceptable.
2. Fix my sunglasses. One of the nose pieces of my sunglasses had fallen out and they were incredibly uncomfortable to wear.
3. Find a new pair of thongs/flip flops (or jandals if you're a weirdo) since mine are about done.
Morioka is another one of those cities that doesn't really have a major attraction but apparently they are quite famous for a couple of different types of noodles. The first thing I did was try to find the major shopping strip so I could knock off a couple of my chores and maybe find a place for one of the noodle dishes.
Turns out Sunday afternoon isn't the best time for that. Most of the food shops were closed and I had a bit of trouble figuring out exactly where the major shopping district was supposed to be. I did find an an optometrist though and they fixed my sunglasses for an exorbitant price. One chore completed.
I ended up near the Morioka castle ruins completely by accident which was one of my planned stops. The only thing I really left of the castle were some really huge walls and tiered platforms which they have turned into a really nice park with a few memorials and things. So I walked around the park playing some ingress and just generally enjoying nature.
There was a river running beside the park which a few people seemed to be enjoying. Lots of old dudes fishing, a couple of family gatherings and some exercisers.
Nearby was the local museum which I quickly ducked my head into and didn't find anything interesting. I certainly didn't pay the 1000yen entrance fee to the exhibit on local wildlife.
Down the street was the world's strongest cherry blossom tree. Apparently this tree grew and split a big rock in two and continued to thrive. This is so unusual that it has been declared a national treasure. Amazing what you can get someone to declare important with money.
I crossed the river after that and walked around an older area which had a few European style buildings from the Edo period of Japan. These are culturally significant because they mark the point where Japan starts to transition into the western world after centuries of no contact. Damned Americans forced the matter of course.
Started heading back to the hotel along the river which was really nice. Feral cats are a thing in Japan. I was sitting down on a bench that had an ingress portal with excellent hack mods and this cat crawled out from the bushes behind me. It stalked over to the grass on the other side of the path and caught itself a bird. Brought the bird back and fed it to 2 kittens it had hiding in the bushes then planted itself beside me to guard the while they ate. I've never seen a cat catch something like that before and it was pretty cool. Can understand how they destroy local wildlife in Australia.
On the way back to the hotel I found a place that served one of the local noodle dishes so I tucked that away for dinner. Also walked past a small bar around the corner of the hotel that had some live music on tonight. Score! Brett sort of got me into live music a bit more while I was living in Adelaide so I thought it would be fun to go to a Japanese gig.
Checked into the hotel then went out for noodles. I like it when a dish comes with instructions. Basically noodles with some sort of a meaty miso paste on top that you mix through and eat. Pretty simple but it was pretty tasty. A little salty, a little meaty, a little umami. Afterwards they use the leftover sauce and noodles in your dish to make an egg soup which was also tasty. I didn't realise the soup thing so I also ordered a couple of small vegetable side dishes and I was quite stuffed by the end of the meal.
On the way back I paid the cover charge for the gig and walked in. Apparently it was quite amusing for a few of the people standing outside. This big western guy walking in wearing shorts and thongs. Turns out the gig was a hard rock gig which is awesome! One of my styles of music. The venue was tiny and they had a soundboard failure at one point but it was a really good night. A couple of the bands were really good and after the first act the audience was really into it. Felt a lot like some of the Adelaide gigs in the end.
There was another westerner there who came over for a chat at some point. He was an American guy who had been living in Morioka for 11 years now. Had a wife and kids, a small business and was friends with one of the bands.
It was a great night and I'll keep my eye out for another gig in Tokyo. I'd like to go to some weird Japanese glam rock gig if I can. I think it'd be a hoot.
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