Today, I decided I would share our most recent drive which we took on the last Sunday in May. My wife and I had checked the weather forecast and saw that it was going to be sunny so we decided we would drive up the Shimokita Peninsula. Our main destination being Cape Shiriya, home to the kandachime, a breed of horse indigenous to the area. My wife and I have been to Cape Shiriya on other occasions but I had specific goal in mind. The Shiriya Lighthouse is one of the few lighthouses in Japan that's open to the public. The last time we went to the cape, the lighthouse was being renovated so I didn't get a chance to climb up the stairs. I was looking forward to doing so this time around. My mother-in-law said she's never beent to Cape Shiriya so we invited her along too, along with her older sister.
今日は最近のネタを紹介しようと思った。５月の最後の週末、ドライブに出掛けようと思った。天気予報も見て、日曜日は晴れの予報だったので、下北半島行くことに決定。最初の目的地は尻屋崎、寒立馬が居る場所。でも寒立馬は自分のメインの目的ではない。自分がやりたいことは尻屋灯台を昇ることだ。尻屋灯台は日本で数少ない灯台で一般公開をしてる。入場料はたったの３００円。以前尻屋崎に行ったとき灯台が工事中だったので登れなかった。義理の母が尻屋崎に行ったことないから一緒に連れてあげた。義理の母の姉も誘ってあげて、４人で旅の出発だ。
On our way to Cape Shiriya we would be passing through Yokohama Town. I told my wife I wanted to stop at the tofu shop called [Yusui Tei] so we could buy some hot and fresh u-no-hana donuts. These are donuts made from okara or soybean pulp.
尻屋崎に行く途中、横浜町を通るから「湧水亭」という有名な豆腐店に寄りたいと言い出した。その店の名物が卯の花ドーナツで揚げたてのドーナツを食べるのが楽しみだ。卯の花ドーナツはおからから出来てるドーナツです。
On our way to Cape Shiriya we would be passing through Yokohama Town. I told my wife I wanted to stop at the tofu shop called [Yusui Tei] so we could buy some hot and fresh u-no-hana donuts. These are donuts made from okara or soybean pulp.
尻屋崎に行く途中、横浜町を通るから「湧水亭」という有名な豆腐店に寄りたいと言い出した。その店の名物が卯の花ドーナツで揚げたてのドーナツを食べるのが楽しみだ。卯の花ドーナツはおからから出来てるドーナツです。
Yusui Tei / 湧水亭
I treated everybody to fresh u-no-hana donuts and bought myself two!
僕がみんなの為に卯の花ドーナツをご馳走してあげた。自分の為に２個買った！
It's about a three to three and half-hour drive from Aomori City to Cape Shiriya. My wife and I got up at 5:00am and we left the house at 7:00am. We got to Cape Shiriya around 10:30am.
青森市から尻屋崎までは車で約３時間半くらいかな。僕と妻は朝５時起きで、朝７時に出発しました。尻屋崎に到着したのは１０時半くらい。
We spotted a couple of kandachime on our way to the lighthouse.
尻屋灯台に向かう途中に寒立馬を発見。
There is the lighthouse. I was looking forward to walking to the top to check out the view of the ocean.
灯台が見えてきた。灯台の上からの眺めは最高だろうなと思い登るのが楽しみでワクワクしてきた。
Hmm? The gate is closed and I don't see any people. Oh no, don't tell me it's closed because of the corona virus!
うん？ゲートが閉まって人がいない。もしかしてコロナの影響で閉鎖されてる？
I spotted a volunteer worker and asked and was told the lighthouse would re-open tomorrow!! Auuugh!!! Today is May 31st. Many tourist sites are scheduled to reopen on June 1st! But because I have such a positive mental attitude, I told my wife that it just means we'll have to come here again sometime in the summer. I guess I will just wander around the lighthouse.
監視員の方に話を聞いたら、灯台は明日オープンする予定。しまった！コロナの影響でいろんな観光施設が閉まってた。再開の予定は６月１日！今日は５月３１日！！あ～あ！ガッカリ！でも自分は前向きの考え方の持ち主なので、妻にまた夏に来るべきだなと伝えた。灯台周りに散歩するしかない。
If you look closely you might be able to spot my wife, my mother-in-law and her sister.
よく見ると自分の妻、義理の母と義理の母の姉が写ってるよ。
A little information about the lighthouse. It was made with bricks and completed in October of 1876.
More info on the lighthouse. It was built by a British engineer named R.H. Brunton. It was the first western-style lighthouse in the Tohoku region. The red brick display sprang forth when the lighthouse was being renovated.
You can see Hokkaido in the distance.
奥に見えるのが北海道。
Lots of seagulls on the rocks.
大勢のカモメがいるね。
I had to walk down to the water.
海の近くまで探索しました。
I had to visit this guy again.
またこの子に会いに来ました。
We're about to leave Cape Shiriya so I took a few more pictures of the lighthouse.
そろそろ尻屋崎を離れるので、灯台の記念写真いっぱいとりました。
Being responsible by wearing a mask my mother-in-law made.
新型コロナヴィルス予防対策の為義理の母の手作りマスクをちゃんと使ってます。
Me and my wife / 僕と僕の妻
Me with my mother-in-law and her sister.
僕と義理の母と義理の母の姉。
The Aomori Prefecture pose.
青森県ポーズ。
As we were leaving, we saw a lot of cars parked on the side of the road. When we to investigate we saw that the people were checking out a group of kandachime.
尻屋灯台から去るときに道で止まって車をいっぱい発見した。調べてみたらみんなが寒立馬を監視してた。私たちも止まって、馬を見ることにした。
If you know your Japanese kanji characters, you will find that the kandachime is written as 寒立馬. The first character 寒 means "cold", the second character 立 means "to stand", and the last character 馬 is the kanji for "horse". It literally translates to "to stand in the cold" as these horses have no problem surviving the harsh cold winters of the Tohoku area.
Although they are wild horses, they are used to people so you can stand close to them for some great photo ops.
野生の馬なんでが、結構人間に慣れてるので、人間を襲うことはありません。結構近くまで良い写真が撮れる。
Oops! I forgot my mask in the car.
あっ！マスクは車に忘れた。
I think this horse is preggers!!
この馬妊娠してるみたい！！
It was nearing lunch time but as the only store or restaurant around here is a small souvenir shop that only sells snack foods, we decided to drive for another hour and have lunch at Cape Oma, the northernmost point of Honshu island. Our drive continues...
もうそろそろランチの時間になるところでしたが、やっぱり尻屋崎には小さなお土産屋と売店しかないので、さら一時間をかけて、本州最北端の場所大間崎を目指した。ドライブが続きます。。。
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