Adventures in Japan

Day 28: They Can't All Be Winners, Morioka, Thanks For Coming Out

Foot update: still hurts.

Morioka did nothing wrong, it was not a bad town or anything. It was mainly just dull.

I'm having a hard time remembering what Morioka is known for.

Maybe if I look at the pictures from today...

This is a fire lookout tower. It was used as a lookout tower. To look for fires. It has sat unused ever since Japan discovered the cure for fire.


This is their old... bank? Post office? I forget. It used to be something and now it is nothing but a place to take pictures of.


Just don't look too close. It was designed by the same folks that did Tokyo station in Tokyo which looks a lot better.


This is a bridge. A somewhat well known bridge. I have no idea why. One of the most unremarkable bridges I have ever crossed twice and not really noticed.

You see? This is the caliber of 'sightseeing attractions' we were working with in Morioka. The town was pleasant enough, the weather was fine, but there just wasn't much there.


Other than this cherry tree. It sprouted up through a crack in a massive granite slab. It grew and grew and grew until it split the rock in two.


It is a symbol of the city's and people's tenacity and strength of spirit. It is a neat visual, and somewhat inspiring. But then you notice that all of the tree's limbs are being supported. Where's your fighting spirit now, inspirational tree?


It does one cool thing, a long time ago and then just rests on its laurels and lets everyone else do all the work. Stupid jerk tree.

Morioka is also known for senbei, sort of like Japanese rice crackers. More like biscuits, I'd say. A lord and his faithful retainer were on the run and running out of food. The retainer took some basic supplies, rice and eggs and sesame seeds and such, and baked them up in his helmet. A taste sensation that swept the nation's souvenir shops was born. There were a few places cooking 'em up fresh. The places smelled great and their wares tasted tasty.

Lastly, Morioka is known for iron tea pots. They looked nice, all black and iron with interesting designs. They were also heavy, bulky and expensive. Perfect for not carrying around on our backs for the next week.

Even more lastly, there was a market on today that we spent a fair bit of time trying to find. It turns out it was down one of the many stairways that usually lust lead to a pedestrian underpass. We finally found the unmarked entrance to the underpass that housed the market only to find it closing up for the day. That's okay though. We wouldn't have felt comfortable buying fresh produce or local tchotchkes from a place that smelled strongly of vagrant urine.