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| Aizu-Wakamatsu | ||
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Aizu |
The next bigger place from Inawashiro is the city of Aizu Wakamatsu, roughly 25 km to the
west. It lies in the western part of the Fukushima
Prefecture, has about 115000 inhabitants, a University
and, by far the most interesting statistic, the highest number of bars
per inhabitant. That's at least the rumor. Most of the bars look different
then their counterparts in the west. The vast majority are so called
Snack Bars , which have the look and the size of living rooms. They
usually also feature hostesses who's job it is to serve the customers
drinks, lighten their cigarettes, chat with them and pretend that they
are the most interesting, funniest and best looking patrons that ever
entered their establishment. (Having sex with the customer is usually
not part of their services.) Not surprisingly most of those places cater
for men, but at least one bar is specialized on female customers. Besides
those Snack Bars several more "western" hangouts exist as well, or, as
a traditional Japanese alternative, one could go to an Izakaya.
These are traditional Japanese restaurants and drinking places, ranging
from basic to posh. Their menus usually feature dishes like grilled pieces
of chicken on a skewer (Yaki-tori. Yummy!), some salads (yummines
depending on what they're made of), sashimi (Raw fish without
the rice roll underneath, which would be sushi, also yummy!)
among many other things. More exotic specialties are suzume (grilled
baby sparrow, not so yummy) or natto (fermented beans, definitely
not yummy!!!). Aizu-Wakamatsu managed to preserve some of the atmosphere of an old Japanese town. This is what one of my travel books and others say. I think they're right, but I doubt that this fact is immediately obvious to the first time foreign visitor. As usual in Japan a lot of the buildings are quite ugly. Or, if nice, they might be out of style or proportion for the area they are standing in. Some of the smaller houses look like temporary structures made out of corrugated iron and prefabricated plastic boards. Until one finds out that they are long-lasting structures made out of corrugated iron and prefabricated plastic boards which are family homes, restaurants or shops and has been that for the last 20 years or so. That doesn't mean that there are no beautiful buildings in Japan. There are quiet a few. Just that they often lie in less pleasing-to-the-eye surroundings. This doesn't seem to distress the Japanese, who obviously master the art of selective seeing. I also got used to it and really, really like that town. But from a photographers point of view it can still be a nightmare. One of the reasons why Wakamatsu still has this old town atmosphere is of course the castle Tsuruga. It lies in the middle of a park, the former castle grounds, close to the city center. It's past was quite turbulent and started back in the 14th century as a dwelling with a watchtower. Because times were rough and civil wars frequent this tower was strengthened over the years, so it could also be used as a fortification. In the 16th century however a shogun named Hideyoshi Toyotomi came to the area, decided that all this was not good enough and ordered one of his aides to build a new castle from scratch and while having a go at it anyway, to reorganize the layout of the town as well. This home improvement led to a seven story high tower which appearance reminded people of cranes in flight, hence the name Tsuruga. (Tsuruga in Japanese means crane and stands for longevity and purity.) Later this tower was restructured to a five story building. Finally in 1868 another civil war raged through Japan. This time the new emperor Meiji tried to regain the power for the imperial throne. His ancestors were powerless for centuries, the country was run by various shoguns. The clan of Aizu was opposed to the emperor and built an alliance with 40 other lords of northern Japan. The imperial troops besieged the castle in Aizu and eventually after one month the defender had to give up. There are all kinds of stories about women and children soldiers, collective suicides etc. connected with this battle, all very colorful and grooling. Good material for a movie. Because of the resistance and the subsequent defeat order was given to tear down the remains of the castle in 1874. The Tsuruga castle of today is a rebuild of the five story design, done in 1965. Only the stonewalls in the park are original. The inside of the tower offers the homy atmosphere of a concrete building of the 60's, that we all love so much and hosts a history museum, unfortunately without English explanations. The top offers a nice view of the surrounding area. The castle grounds are also a great place for watching the cherry blossom in late spring. Cherry blossom is a biiiiig thing in Japan. The first blossom spotted in the south makes national news every year, after that daily reports keep you up to date where the "pinks" are in their prime at the moment (The beauty only lasts for a week in one place). It's a bit like the Indian Summer in New England. These cherry trees are not real cherry trees, though. Well, from the biologist point of view they might be perfectly fine trees which belong to the cherry family. I don't know. But to my big disappointment do these trees not carry cherries later in the year.
This page is part of the Colorful Fish |
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