ELM in Goshogawara / 五所川原にあるエルム

Yes, I'm back. The last time I was writing about making our first trip to a shopping center called ELM in Goshogawara. On our way, we stopped by an old farmhouse. After spending about an hour or so there, we continued on to ELM.

はい、戻りしました。以前五所川原にあるエルムのいうショッピングセンターを初めて行く旅だったので、途中で古民家が気になり寄り道をしました。一時間ほど探索したあと、またエルムに向かって走り出しました。

And here we are at ELM. This is the entrance to Ito Yokado. However, around this area there is also a home center (Sunday), a hundred yen shop (Daiso), a sports shop (I forget the name), an electronics / appliance shop (K's Denki) and a hot spring (so Japanese!). Although we walked around inside, our main goal was to eat lunch somewhere.

エルムに到着。ここはイトーヨーカドの入口。周りにホームセンターのサンデイやら、ダイソ、なんかのスポーツショップと温泉施設もある。結構中を歩き回りましたが、やっぱり一番の目的は昼食であった。

We chose this place called "Bistro 309" as it featured an all you can eat bread buffet and the bread is made fresh at the restaurant itself.

選んだレストランは「ビストロ ３０９」。この店で決定した理由はやっぱりパンの食べ放題。そりにしも焼きたてが楽しめるので、最高。

I was informed later by my wife that this restaurant is part of the St. Marc Cafe chain. The "309" was a play on word. Three can be read as "san", the zero can also be read as "maru" which means circle, and the 9 is read as "ku", Japanese for the number nine. Put them together and they make "san-maru-ku", St. Marc!

僕はあとから妻に教えてもらったことがあった。ビストロ３０９はサンマルクカフェ系列のレストランであった。３０９は”さん”、”まる”、”く”と読めるだようと言われた。なるほど、３０９はサンマルクだったんだね！

This is another thing you don't usually see in the states. A window display of the food using plastic models of the food that looks so real, you believe you can eat it.

こういうのもアメリカには見かけない。レストランの料理のウィンドディスプレー。料理が偽物なのに食べらそうなのが日本の最高の技術の思う。

Cute wall design.

壁のデザインもお洒落。

The all-you-can eat bread buffet!

パンの食べ放題！

All the different types of bread were delicious. You can see I had more than one croissant.

どのパンでも美味しかった。見ればわかるけお、やっぱりクロワッサンはおかわりしましたよ。

This was the main dish I ordered.

僕が注文したメインディッシュ。

My wife and mother-in-law chose the fish.

妻と義理の母は魚を選びました。

My wife and I wanted to walk around some more but my mother-in-law was getting tired so we headed back home after lunch. I'm sure we will be coming back to this shopping center many times now that we live in Aomori, which of course turned out to be true.

僕と妻はもっと歩き回りたかったが、義理の母が段々疲れてきて、昼食後は家に帰りました。ま、青森に引っ越したから何回もエルムに行くことになるでしょう。って、今思うと確かそのとおりになりました！

Kusumi Family Residence / 楠美家住宅

Going back to the early days of when I first moved to Aomori. We moved to Aomori City from Tokyo at the end of November in 2016. I started a new job on the first of March in 2017. At the new job, I also started to teach a company class. During our free talk time at the company class, as I was new to the area, I asked the students where should I go on my days off. It was May, right after Golden Week. One place many students talked about was a large shopping area in Goshogawara called ELM. As my wife and I haven't been there yet, we decided we would go exploring. On our way to ELM we were about to pass an old-style farmhouse. It looked interesting enough so I suggested checking it out.

青森に来た初期のころに戻ります。私たちは２０１６年の１１月に東京から青森に引越しまして、自分が新し職業についたのは３月の１日。一ヶ月も終わってないのに、いきなり企業の授業も任された。企業の授業のフリートークでどこに行けば良いと聞いてみたら、いろんな生徒が五所川原にある大きなショッピングセンターのエルムをおすすめしてくれた。まだ行ったことなかったので、ゴールデンウィークが明けた一週間後くらい、３人で行ってみた。エルムにに行く途中に気になる建物があって、ちょっと寄り道した。大きで古い民家なような建物だったので、行ってみるしかない。

Yes, a very large house.

はい、凄い大きな家。

This sign informs me that I am looking at the Kusumi Family Residence.

このサインで楠美家住宅で知る。

These seem to be some old farm tools. 

多分農業で使う道具。

Definitely old-style toilets.

完全にトイレですね。

We decided to take a walk around the house first. 

家の中を探索する前に周りを歩く。

I really love these old-style houses. 

僕はこういう古い民家が好き。

You can see Mount Iwaki in the distance.

ここから岩木山が見える。

Mount Iwaki / 岩木山

Next to the farmhouse is a large park.

民家の隣に広い公園がある。

Me and my mother-in-law.

僕と義理の母。

That's a crow down there if you were wondering.

あの黒い影はカラスですよ。

There are a couple of kilns located behind the house. I discovered much later that once or twice a year, this place holds an event where you can make your own pottery.

家の裏に陶芸で使う釜が二つもある。結構あとから知りましたけど年に一回が２回陶芸教教室を実施してる。

Now it's time to explore the inside of the house.

これから家の中を探索します。

A house this large seems like it would be very cold in the winter.

こういう大きさの家なら冬が超寒そう。

I love the built in drawers for storage space under the very steep steps leading to the second floor.

階段の下の収納の引き出しがカッコイイなと思った。

The hallway reminds me a bit of my grandmother's house in Maizuru in Kyoto Prefecture.

廊下が自分のお婆ちゃんの家に似てる。うちのお婆ちゃんが京都府舞鶴市にある。

Wow, that's one large and fancy family altar. The Kusumi Family must have been very wealthy.

凄い仏壇だ。やっぱり楠美家は結構裕福な家庭だったな。

I wouldn't mind having a cabinet like that.

家具も素敵。こういうの自分も欲しい。

A men's urinal inside the house.

家の中の男性用トイレ。

This is also similar to the toilet at my grandmother's house. It's called a botton benjo which is a pit toilet.

このトイレもお婆ちゃんの家を思い出す。今は違うけどやっぱり自分が小学校時代、お婆ちゃんの家のトイレはボットン便所でした。

I see a kamidana, a household Shinto shrine.

この家に素敵な神棚もある。

The kamidana / 神棚

I've also always loved these hearths in old houses.

個人的に囲炉裏がある家を憧れる。

Inticate details here and there inside the house.

インテリアの細かいこどわりが最高。

Just beautiful.

素敵。

The detailed art on the door panels are worth looking at too.

襖に描かれてるものも良いですね。

This is a large soy sauce pot.

なんと大きな醤油壺。

Many old houses included a separate building called a kura. They would be considered a storehouse in English. 

古い民家に大体蔵もありましたよね。

Inside this kura were displays of many items.

蔵の中にいろんな展示品がありました。

One last look at the exterior of the farmhouse.

エルム行くまえにもう一度楠美家を眺める。

Looks like my wife caught me taking a picture of something other than the house.

妻が撮った写真。自分が家ではなく別のものの写真を撮った。

The cloud covering the peak of Mount Iwaki finally disappeared so this is what I was taking a picture of. Now, to continue on to ELM. 

岩木山の山頂の雲がやっと消えて、この山の写真を撮ってました。さて、これからエルムに行きます。