Aomori - Mountainous Seaside City

* Showa Daibutsu (Showa Great Buddha)

- the tallest bronze sitting statue of Buddha in Japan (21 meters)

*Five-Storied Pagoda - the 4th highest in Japan (39.5 meters)

*Zen Garden (Dried Landscape Garden - Sand garden)

*Work shop - ( Zen meditation and Zen style breakfast, copying of Buddhist sutra,and Buddhism style vegetarian food ) - appointment necessary in advance

*(Admission fee : 400 yen/one-person)

This Museum introduces “ Aomori Nebuta Festival - Nationally Designated Important Folk Cultural Property- displaying the Nebuta Float made by Japanese paper, wire, and electric fluorescent or LED lamps with the size of 9 meters in width, 7 meters in depth, and 5 meters in height.

*Aomori Sumer Nebuta Festival- Every year three million spectators gather for the Aomori Summer Nebuta Festival. Large dolls (nebuta) made of wood, wire and Japanese paper with lights inside, march through town. Dancers called haneto, dance wildly to call of “rassera, rassera” for a very energizing performance. Anybody can participate if they wear the haneto outfit so don’t just watch, be a part of the festivities yourself!

*(Admission fee: 620 yen/one-person)

Aomori Gyosai Center (Fishery and Vegetable Market) Center

OR Maruo Sushi Restaurant in “Shinsen Fishery Market” OR Ramen shop OR other Japanese style restaurants.

5500-Year-Old Jomon Village Site

*This is the biggest Jomon village site in Japan and is designated as the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site. Excavation and research since 1992 have uncovered the remains of pit houses, burial pits of adults and children, storage pit and 2000 other relics.

Some of the highlights include the reconstructed large pit-dwellings and large pillar-supported buildings.

*At the Jomon Jiyukan, you can learn about the lives of the Jomon people through exhibits and array of activities such as making ‘Magatama’ beads and ‘Dogu” miniature clay dolls.

*(Admission fee : 410 yen/one-person)

<Jomon Culture>

The first Japanese probably crossed land bridges that connected Korea with Kyushu Island in Japan. When sea levels rose, those land bridges disappeared, the people who stayed in the Japanese islands lived by hunting and gathering things to eat. They hunted deer and boars. They gathered seeds, plants, fish and shellfish.

These people made the earliest pottery in the world. The name "Jomon refers to the "rope-pattern" on the surface of their ceramics.

They began making this pottery around 12,000 B.C. in various parts of Japan. Some of these ceramic works are highly decorative and surprisingly modern. Because the pottery is so distinctive, we call the period from 10,000 B.C. to 300 B.C. the Jomon period.

One of the best places to learn about Jomon culture is the Sannai-Maruyam site in Aomori city. Researchers found pit-dwellings, long houses and large pillar-supported structures. They also found stone tools, clay figures, and woven bags. Jomon people probably lived there until about 4,000 years ago. The outdoor museum there shows what Jomon life was probably like.