On the third day of their stay in Aomori Prefecture, they visited Inakadate Village, neighboring village to Hirakawa, to see paddy field art.
Five kinds of rice with different leaf of colors, green, red, yellow, white and purple, are used to compose this art.
These are the first arts which can be viewed from the observatory at Inakadate Village Office. This art is in the motif of the Goddess of mercy and the God of Fire.
The second art, at the Roadside Station Inakadate, shows Seven Gods of Good Fortune on the “Kitamaebune (northern-bound cargo ships sailed from Osaka to Aomori during Edo and Meiji Periods)”. The students formed human letters saying “P2P (People to People)” in front of the art.
They left Inakadate for Hirosaki, and what they did first in Hirosaki was to make hand-rolled sushi for lunch, and here’s what they made using rice, dried seaweed, mashed and seasoned fish (pink stuff), carrot and spinach.
After having sushi for lunch, they visited “Neputa Mura (Village)”. Neputa Festival is one of the four big summer festivals in Aomori Prefecture. This village is a museum about the festival and also where playing the shamisen can be experienced.
The students got a lecture on playing the shamisen by the national champion of 2011, and after practicing about 40 minutes, they mastered a Japanese song “Sakura”.
After experienced new and old musical instrument, they took part in a quiz rally in Hirosaki Park. They were to answer the questions on Hirosaki such as “How old is the oldest cherry tree in the park?”, “Which city (out of Portland, New York, Los Angeles) is the same latitude as Hirosaki?”.
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| Hirosaki Castle and a mascot character of Hirosaki "Takamaru-kun" |
The last visit of the day was Chosho-ji Temple in Zenringai.
Chosho-ji is a temple with Bodhisattvas built for Tsugaru Lords. Its Sanmon (main gate), standing 16.2 meters high, was built by the 2nd Lord Nobuhira in 1629. Sanmon is a teaching in Zen Buddhism signifying 'Sangedatsumon' (gate of the three liberation). There are 33 Zen temples along the Zenringai path, with the Zenringai area being designated a national important cultural property.
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