Aomori

Aomori, at the northern end of the main Japanese island of Honshu, looks like a more prosperous city than the Japanese cities so far visited.

Along the roadside were many paddy fields, showing yellow as an indication that they were ripe. Some of them were being mechanically harvested as the bus passed by.

The first visit was to a giant bronze Buddha. It was in a woodland setting, surrounded by a variety of shrines and temples. These included a building with Buddhas and emblems for each of the Chinese astrology signs. TSH is a boar and Diva is a hare.

The second part of the visit was to a very modern water-front museum dedicated to a local festival called Nebuta. It contained a number of large floats from previous years, as well as models explaining the construction of the floats – everything is made of paper and wire, with electric light bulbs inside.

Wild animal spot: a white crane among the paddy fields.

The captain has described the weather at different times as ‘unsatisfactory’ and ‘miserable’. Although, for the location and the time of year, TSH and Diva are well satisfied and consider it has been much better than they expected. But there are rumours of a typhoon heading for the Silver Shadow.