Blue Forest Chronicles: Mom's Aomori Adventures 2023 (Part 1) / 母さんの靑森冒険２０２３年（パート１）

This year, my mother and my sister and her husband came to Japan during Golden Week. My sister and her husband were only staying in Japan for one week so they didn't have the time to come visit me and my wife in Aomori City. For the first week in Japan, they stayed at our grandmother's house in Kyoto Prefecture, in the city of Maizuru which is located along the coast of the Sea of Japan. However, my mother was planning to come to Aomori by herself and stay with us for a week. We were going to meet at Aomori Airport on Saturday night at 9:20pm.

今年のゴールデンウィーク僕の母と妹夫妻が日本に来ました。最初の１週間は京都府舞鶴にあるお祖母ちゃんの家に泊まる。妹夫妻の日本滞在期間は１週間。靑森市まで僕を会いに来れない。自分も舞鶴に行くことも考えたが、妻が中々休み取れないし、一人で行くのもどうかなと想った。ですが、母は一人で靑森に来ることになり、私たちと１週間過ごすことに。靑森に来るのは５月６日、夜の便で２１時２０分靑森着。

My wife and I both had to work on Saturday, but after we finished, we headed straight to the airport.

僕と妻はその土曜日仕事だったので、仕事上がってから、直接靑森空港に行きました。

We checked the Arrivals monitor and noticed that her plane was delayed...by almost an hour. Apparently the plane wasn't able to take off on time due to strong winds. At least the flight wasn't cancelled. We have reservations at a hot spring hotel and told my mother we would be leaving early in the morning on Sunday.

私たちが靑森空港に着いて、到着ロビーに行き、モニターをチェックしたら、母の飛行機の到着時間が延期となった。約１時間くらい。羽田空港は暴風の為、飛行機が離陸出来ませんでした。良かったことい便は欠航とはなってなかった。新しい到着時間は２２時５分となった。日曜日は福浦町で温泉旅行に行くから早めに出発すると母さんに以前に言った。

My mother made it to Aomori Airport without any problems and we made it home without any further difficulties. We woke up early the following morning and planned a full day for Mom. Our check-in time for the hot spring was 3:00pm so we had plenty of time before getting to our hotel.

母さんが無事靑森に着いて、帰って寝るだけだった。翌日、朝早く起きた。温泉のチェックイン時間は１５時に指定したので、朝はたっぷり時間がありました。

My mother with my wife in front of the house.

玄関の前に立つ僕の妻と母。

My mother-in-law and my mother.

義理の母と自分の母さん。

I also had to get in on the act. Me with my mother-in-law and Mom.

自分も写りたいよ。義理の母、母と僕です。

My mother loves sumo so we decided our first stop would be the Oceanside Station [Wando] in Ajigasawa. On the second floor of the building, there is the Ajigasawa Sumo Museum featuring Aomori-born sumo wrestler Mainomi.

自分の母は大の相撲好き。それで最初の目的地は鰺ヶ沢にある海の駅「わんど」に行きました。建物の２階に鰺ヶ沢相撲館ムがある。

But first I took a picture of my Mom as if she's driving a small pick-up truck with the Akita dog Wasao sitting in the back.

相撲ミュージアムに行く前に面白い写真を撮った。母が軽トラックを運転してる様に見えて、後ろに志村けんの動物番組で”ブサカワ”（ぶさいくで可愛い）秋田犬のわさおが乗ってます。

And now it was on to the Ajigawa Sumo Museum.

これから鰺ヶ沢相撲館に行く。

Mom with my wife and mother-in-law at the Ajigasawa Sumo Museum.

妻と母と義理の母。鰺ヶ沢相撲館で。

Sumo wrestler's decorative apron called a keshomawashi is worn during the ceremony of entering the sumo ring.

化粧まわし。

Champion Sumo Wrestlers / チャンピオン相撲力士たち

Me being a sumo wrestler. The wrestler in the middle is Mainoumi who was born in Ajigasawa.

僕も力士になりました。真ん中に居るのは鰺ヶ沢生まれの舞の海。

Look how tiny Mom is compared to the sumo wrestlers.

力士たち比べたら自分の母が超小さい。

You can watch Mainoumi in the various tournaments he took part.

舞の海が参加した戦いがここで見られる。

Sumo dolls and other things.

相撲の人形やトレカ。

[Nagahachi] Yukata / 「長八」衣装

These are gunbai, a sumo referee's fan.

飾ってある軍配。

Mainoumi display room / 舞の海の展示部屋

You can see Mainoumi's tribute to his hometown from the image of Mount Iwaki on his ornamental apron.

舞の海の出身愛がすぐわかる。化粧まわしの絵は青森県の山、岩木山です。

Did you know there are about seventy different ways to win a sumo bout.

決め手七十手。

The interactive corner.

相撲を楽しむ体験コーナー。

Tools for making and maintaining the dohyo or sumo ring.

土俵塗り道具。

More tools to maintain the ring.

土俵手入れ道具。

On the bottom are the school name tags.

下にあるのは校名札。

Mom with all the sumo champions.

母さんが相撲チャンピオンたちに囲まれてる。

We decided to have coffee and dessert before heading to our next destination.

「わんど」を去る前にコーヒーを飲んでデザートを食べた。

We decided to have coffee from this shop called [Mizu & Coffee] which translates to "Water & Coffee". The shop uses the fresh spring water from Shirikami Sanchi.

この店でコーヒーを飲んで、ケーキを食べた。店の特徴は白神の水でコーヒーを流れてます。店の名前が「水とコーヒー」。