Road trip to Ikarigaseki and Owani (Part 1) / 碇ヶ関と大鰐の旅 （パート１）

I have decided to skip around on my posts of Aomori and wanted to share with you the recent road trip my wife and I went on last weekend. On Sunday, we got up early and headed towards the town of Owani. We were going there to check out the 40th annual Azalea Festival at Chausuyama Park. Although when I looked up the official schedule, it was from May 20 through May 25th. Today is May 28th! We figured that its only been three days since the end of the official festival so the flowers should still be in bloom. But as Ikarigaseki was a little further away, we decided to go to Ikarigaseki first. We were going there to check out the Tsugaru Sekisho. It was a checkpoint during the Edo era between Akita and Aomori Prefectures.

今回の青森ネタは最近の日帰りドライブ。先週の日曜日、私たちの休日に大鰐町と碇ヶ関に行ってきました。早起きして、先に大鰐を目指した。目的は茶臼山公園で開催される第４０回つつじ祭り。ネットで調べたら、正式の開催期間は５月２０日から２４日まででした。今日は２８日！祭り終了ごのたった三日間だったから、多分つつじはまだ咲いてると思い、行きました。行く途中に碇ヶ関のほうがもうちょっと先だったから、予定変更して、最初に碇ヶ関を目指した。碇ヶ関の目的は津軽関の庄。関所資料館がありまして、そこを目指した。

The place is located at the Ikarigaseki Rest Area.

関所資料館は碇ヶ関道の駅にある。

Tsugaru Seki no Sho / 津軽関の庄

It was lunch time when we reached the Ikarigaseki Rest Area so we decided to have lunch here as well.

碇ヶ関に着いたら丁度昼飯の時間になったので、ここで食べました。

I ordered the Seki no Sho set which included soba and tendon, along with a salad, vegetables a dessert which turned out to be a strawberry custard tart.

僕が注文したのは関の庄定食。これは蕎麦と天丼、サラダ、野菜とデザートも付いて最高。デザートはストロベリーカスタードタルト。

My wife was undecided but finally settled on the tantanmen (a spicy noodle dish for those of you who are not familiar). My wife says she feels like she's been eating a lot more ramen since we moved to Aomori.

妻が最初何を食べるのか中々決められなかったが、最終的に坦々麺を選びました。妻曰く青森に来てからラーメンばっかり食べてる感じがする。

The Sekisho Museum / 関所資料館

Weapons used during the Edo Period.

江戸時代の武具。

Miniature scale model of the area during the Edo Period.

江戸時代の模型。

There are a few samurai figures at the museum.

関所資料館の中に侍たちが居る。

"I think I will have something to eat now!"

”さ、飯でも食おうかな！”

"If you keep me waiting, I'll have to kill you!"

”おい、こんなに待てされたら、殺すぞ！”

"Damn, I'm so bored!"

”あー、退屈じゃ！”

"Work Work Work"

”あーあ、仕事仕事！”

Koraimon / 高麗門

On the ice-cream menu, we saw a flavor listed as jinenjo and as curiosity got the better of us, I had to order a cone. I discovered that jinenjo is a type of wild yam. The ice cream was quite delicious.

ソフトのメニューに自然薯（じねんじょ）という味が書いてあった。それはなにと聞いたら、芋の種類でした。長芋みたいなものでもっとどろっとした感じ。でもソフトにして美味しかった。

Before going to Owani, we did a little research to see if there were any temples or shrines nearby. Sure enough, we decided to go to a temple called Kokujo-ji.

大鰐に行く前に近くにお寺や神社はないかを調べたら、國上寺というところがありました。そこ次の目的地になりました。

Statue of Kobo Daishi / 弘法大師の像

Hachimangu / 八幡宮

Kokujo-ji Temple / 國上寺

Kokujo-ji Temple Seal / 國上寺の御朱印

It seemed to take the Buddhist monk a long time to write my temple seal. When he was done and was putting away his felt brush, it was like watching a short comedy skit. He was intently looking at the brush end and the cover but could not seem to put the brush away. It would slip right above the cover. My wife felt a little sorry for him but reluctantly asked him to write in her temple seal notebook as well. It was then he told us that he was nearly blind. But look how straight his calligraphy is. Very beautiful.

僕の御朱印を書いてる時間がちょっと長く感じた。そしたら使って筆のキャップに入れようとしたら中々入れなかった。真剣にキャップと筆先を見てるのに、コントを見てる感じだった。妻が彼がちょっと可哀想と思って御朱印を書いてるもらうのは諦めるところだったが、せっかくここまで来たから、お願いしました。その時、坊さんが半笑いで、自分がほぼ目が不自由と私たちに伝えた。それでもこの細かい書き方が出来るなんて、凄い！

Next stop - Owani Town!

次の目的地 ー 大鰐町！