Destination - Morioka City!

 We went back back to Iwate prefecture. This time we planed to explore some of Morioka City and enjoy some Jajamen (more on Jajamen later).

Day one: Riding the Bullet Train from Tokyo to Morioka.

Bullet trains in love.

These two trains were joined at the nose.

Waiting on the platform for our train to arrive. The man with the flower on his hat is part of the train cleaning crew.

Our train has arrived and we're just waiting for the clean-up crew to finish their job so we can board the train.

Off we go! Not so many people in this car.

Day two: Exploring Morioka city.

We rode a local bus from our hotel out in the country to get to the city and the trip took about 90 minutes. When we arrived I was nearly desperate to find a public restroom. This building was open to the public and we knew it must have a rest room so in we went. 

It did have a restroom but more than that it was an amazing building. It turns out that it was originally a bank.

It's beautiful!

Fully refreshed we left the building and moved on.

Next up, a traditional bamboo and broom shop.

Everybody needs a handmade broom, right?

Small scrubbing brushes for sale.

Close-up of a small broom.

Next up it was time for our Jajamen lunch! The restaurant was small and packed full of people. On our table was a bowel of raw eggs and other stuff. 

Our Jajamen arrives. It's a noodle dish and... I know what you're thinking. The brown lump on top is meat-miso, not what one might think it is.

We add grated garlic, hot chilli-sauce, and vinegar then mix it all up and eat it. 

After eating all the noodles add a raw egg.

The waitress takes it back to the kitchen and then brings it back as one of the most delisious soups one will ever eat. Fantastic!

As we were sipping our soup some school girls entered the restaurant.

The restaurant was so crowded it was hard to get up from our table to leave.

Once outside I saw that a line had formed. They say this is the most popular Jajamen shop in Morioka. I believe it.

One customer left without his package and the waitress was yelling for him to comeback and get it.

Just down the street from the restaurant was a shrine.

A friendly looking statue following COVID 19 protocol. 

The statue holds a mouse in his hand; people rub it for good luck.

This is a very interesting street.

The street runs parallel to a river and...

...the river runs through the city.

We followed the river back to the Morioka City main train station.

This is where we caught a bus back to our hotel.

Day three: A walk in the woods.

On the third day we decided to stay in our resort hotel and enjoy the onsen (hot spring bath).  That was all fine and dandy until around lunch time and Emi got hungry. The hotel didn't serve lunch but thy did recommend a nearby restaurant that we visited; it was fantastic. After lunch we decided to go for a walk in the forest near the hotel.

It was raining very lightly; more of a mist than a rain. 

Very peaceful out here.

We were still feeling quite full from lunch but the walk was easy and it helped with digestion too!

Walking is good.

Once one starts thinking about being attacked by a bear there's no getting the thought out of one's head.

I don't care where you go in Japan, there is always going to be a bench to sit on.

Still no sign of any bears.

No sign of other people either. Maybe they were eaten by the bears.

Back on the road to our hotel. Hey! there are some other people. 

Of in the distance we can see our hotel. 

It's a nice hotel.

Day four: Time to go home.

The hotel shuttle bus to the train station awaits us.

As we pull away from the hotel the sun shines and the sky turns blue for the first time in 4 days. Isn't that the way it always goes. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Mike

Bonus shots!