Solo in Hirosaki: Finding Zen & Nearly Missing Everything
heading back to Tokyo today and I decided to book a flight instead of taking the Shintasen all the way back um it’s about the same price honestly a little bit more expensive for the flight but negligible get there twice as fast i’m looking at like a 2 hour and a half hour 2 and 1 half hour trip total versus like a 5 and 1/2 hour trip total um so it’s like really saves me a lot of time and I kind of want to hang out here a little bit more now I can right now I’m in a restaurant inside the um onen and it’s pretty cool sitting on a tatami i got I think tempuro i’m not sure though let’s see oh [Music] I’ll show you what I got looks good so it’s a tempura with those shrimp tempura in there and udon noodles which are pretty similar ramen just a little bit more fatty i was talking to a Japanese guy yesterday and he said udan is his favorite he likes a lot more than ramen so let’s dig in i’ll try to hold that’s good well I was sitting there and I honestly just started uh enjoying that udon and I realized uh maybe I should check to see like you know the train cuz the trains out here aren’t that often you know one every like 40 minutes or so and I looked and I was like “Oh I got to leave right now.” Um honestly wow look at this you can still appreciate some even when you’re in a hustle right wow i’m like walking Pass these irrigation ditches and apple orchards look at that cherry blossom over there more cherries right in front of me even more cherries so we can still enjoy the natural beauty of Japan while I’m busting my ass to get to a train station hopefully I don’t regret stopping here but I want to show you guys man this is like real rural Japan it’s pretty cool real cool uh I think the train station is up in front of me but like I’m on this real dirt path right now so I don’t know yeah it looks like it’s right up here okay wish me luck guys i need it i really did not expect to be uh this dinky little of a train station this is the train station right here if there’s no one else here right now um hopefully hopefully train’s coming soon so looks like about an hour till the next one is that right yeah okay that’s what I’m waiting for i’ve got about an hour then for the next train um I think it’ll get me there in time i think I’ll have time so now I’m going to try to find something to do here for an hour i wish I could have eaten my freaking noodles but I was too worried about getting here in time so I got a little time to kill maybe there’s something open over here i kind of doubt it this is real real rural Japan over here um it’s gorgeous though honestly it’s like really pretty wow look at that holy crap wow nice lens flare going on there too all right well my uh my train’s pulling up right now but this isn’t the end of the adventures i have to get off this train and then take a bus to the airport so I thought this train went straight to the airport i guess not um wow it’s really full too all righty all right I made it to the bus stop it says airport bus stop up there um now I just got to hope it actually shows up on time cuz I got no idea this timet doesn’t have it listed but I got faith i got faith that’s all I need if not we’re going to have to figure out something to do a little stressed but got to breathe and maintain japanese transit’s awesome we’re going to be okay well I had like the most stressful travel day I’ve ever had in my life i’m coming to you really late from I video you guys are just going to have to wait this tomorrow
My last day in Hirosaki turned into a quiet, beautiful, and slightly chaotic solo adventure. I found a peaceful temple away from the city center, surrounded by cherry blossoms and wisteria in full bloom. It was one of those moments you can only really get when you’re exploring by yourself.
After that, I grabbed a bowl of udon at a restaurant inside a local onsen before my evening got frantic. I had to make a mad dash to catch the last train, to get the last bus, to hop on the last plane back to Tokyo.
Hirosaki is in Aomori, which is one of the best places in Japan to see the sakura if you miss the main bloom further south. The forecast is your best friend for a trip like this!
Thanks for all the support, I truly appreciate it. If you have any questions about my trip or anything else, I always answer comments!
0:00 – Intro
0:03 – Hokoin Temple (弘前高野山法光院)
1:20 – Onsen Restaurant
2:43 – Dash to the train
4:12 – Sunset at the train station
6:32 – Ending up at ???
Contact: theunboundmane@gmail.com
Early rough cuts on Patreon with things that don’t make the final edit: https://www.patreon.com/TheUnboundMane
AloJapan.com