We decided to head to Aomori City to check out the blues festival. It was absolutely phenomenal and better than I expected! The festival was located right next to ASPAM. On the day we went, two Chicago based blues bands, The Lurrie Bell Blues Band with special guest Matthew Skoller and Koko Taylor’s Blues Machine, played that evening. The night ended with an unexpected fireworks show over the bay. Outstanding!
A-Factory is located next to the Wa-Reese Nebuta Float Museum. If you’ve ever been to Aomori you know that it is famous for its apples. A-Factory has a lot of edible souvenirs, a few places to eat and rest, and upstairs is home to a small cider tasting area. 
Unfortunately, the cider testing isn’t free. It is ¥100 for 30cc, ¥200 for 40cc and ¥300 for 90cc. And of course, if you find one you like, you can purchase it here. They also have Black Cat service to pack and send your souvenirs to you which is really neat if you live very far away (like Tokyo).
Nebuta Warasse is a museum which hosts the 5 “retired” Nebuta Festival floats that paraded the year before. (they are changed every year). This famous festival in Aomori is unique because it is not linked to any specific temple or shrine. Though there are many legends as to why, origin is still a mystery today. If you have never been to Nebuta Festival or missed it, you can not only view the floats here but also touch the ones in the touch Nebuta exhibit and experience a performance of Haneto dancing with live musical accompaniment. (three times a day on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays).
While we were there, we were also encouraged to learn the Haneto dance, and play the drums or cymbals!
In the museum section they also have a simulator where you can create your own Nebuta face. (It’s the blue thing in the back, it changes colors depending on what you pick on the screen) .
The museum also hosts a café, restaurant and gift shop.
Admission is found on the second floor and the prices for admission are as follows :
Adult: ¥600
High School Student: ¥450
elementary/jr.high student: ¥250
If you decide to drive, there is a fee for parking (¥210 for a standard car for the first hour and an additional ¥100 every half hour). If you pay to enter the museum you are not charged for your first hour in the parking lot.
Nebuta Warasse
1-1-1 Yasukata, Aomori-shi
phone: 017-752-1311
We took the train from Misawa to Aomori last weekend with some friends. Our first stop was ASPAM (Aomori Prefectural Center for Tourism and Industry) it is a 14 story triangular building and is tourist center for Aomori prefecture. It has an observation deck at the 13th floor and many souvenir shops.
We were lucky that day because they had a free half hour concert to enjoy and as we were about to leave we found this mascot. It was really entertaining. You can read about him and his other mascot friends here.
On the 14th floor there is a great restaurant with a panoramic view of Aomori. The meal prices were not bad either! (Note: we did go in the afternoon, I’m not sure if they have a different menu for dinner).
For some reason the only menu that was in English was the drink menu.
After eating at the restaurant we felt no need to go to the 13th floor. I hope to go again and sit at one of the bar style tables that face a window!
After visiting Asamushi Aquarium and Aomori Art Museum we were pretty famished so we looked for a place to eat and Hachi-ya (literally 8 shop) looked good, and it was!
This place is great for non-native speakers because they have a picture of every menu item and then you just use the vending machine to buy the ticket for your order.
You can sit at the bar, at a table or take your shoes off and try it Japanese stlye! And if you’re bored, they have an entire library of mangas to look through!
In addition to ramen, they have three different rice bowls (I think it is more of a side order/ appetizer but I’m sure 2 of them could count as a meal) which are ¥250 each)
Asamushi Aquarium is located in Asamushi right outside of Aomori city. Outside of the museum there is a small pool with a blue chain-link fence (you can see it in the picture above under the yellow sign that says Asamushi Aquarium) and inside are a few large sea turtles!
Within the aquarium they have a gift shop, a restaurant, a large marine tunnel tank, exhibits fo cold sea and warm sea marine life, marine animals, a rainforest corner, a touching corner where children can hold sea stars and shellfish, and showroom for the dolphins and a room where they feed the dolphins.
We were lucky enough to be there in time for not only the dolphin show but the feeding of the otters, dolphins, sea lions, and penguins!
Click on the album to see some of the best shots from the Aquarium!
Hours: 0900-1700(Entrance is closed 30 minutes prior to closing) Open throughout the year including New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day
Free Parking
Tickets can be purchased at the machine
Admission costs:
¥1,000 for adults and high school students
¥500 for elementary and jr. high school students
Free for children under 7
Dolphin Shows
Weekdays Weekends and National Holidays
1000 1000
1130 1130
1330 1300
1530 1430
1600
Directions (Toll Road)
Go out the main gate, turn right at the second traffic light.
Turn right onto green pole road by Nagasakiya Department Store.
Turn left at the next traffic light, route 8
Follow route 8 for 17.4 km to the traffic light, turn left.
Proceed over the bridge and up the road for .7 km, turn right.
Continue straight on this road, at 5.7 km you will cross route 4. In 20 km
you come upon the toll gate. The rest area is just before the toll gate.
After the toll gate begins route 123. In 10 km route 123 ends in a t-intersection.
Turn right at the t-intersection.
At the third traffic light will be route 4, turn right.
Proceed 7 km on route 4, turn right, across from the amusement park.
Follow this road to the left and then back around to the right for .7 km.
the aquarium will be on the left. Parking is free in the lot on the right. Just proceed forward and around the corner to the right to enter the parking lot.
If you are an American living in Misawa chances are you have heard that there is a Tony Roma’s restaurant in Aomori. ITT even offers a tour where you will stop and have lunch at Tony Roma’s. Now, I have never been to nor heard of Tony Roma’s while I was living in the states but everyone here really raves about it.
What I was really surprised about is that it is inside a hotel! (I believe it was called Richmond hotel). I was really just imagining it as a free standing restaurant. Anyway, the other restaurants surrounding Tony Roma’s looked great too!
The atmosphere was definitely not what I was expecting. I thought it looked pretty swanky with its low lighting, dark furniture and black and white photos from the original Tony Roma’s.
Now let me get to the important part, the food! I had the onion loaf and flame grilled strip with garlic green beans. I liked the onion loaf starter. My meal was pretty good too. The steak was 220g and really thin. I ordered it medium rare and it came well done, but that was the only problem. It came with some kind of soy sauce mixture which I really liked. The garlic green beans were great too. The meal also came with a tiny side of cole slaw. I really liked it and I usually don’t even touch cole slaw!
I also got to try the ribs and grilled swordfish. I wasn’t overly impressed with the ribs but the swordfish was nice and juicy. The side was garlic rice and it was delicious!
Here is the complete current menu from Tony Roma’s. I think if you are already in Aomori doing something else you should try it out. I thought it was a little bit expensive, but I did enjoy my meal.
I felt like I didn’t do much at the festival, I spent most of my time waiting in line for the restroom. (which was inside the triangle building). 
We had some fried chicken and chicken skin and that was a bit of a mistake on my part. Waaay too greasy for my weak stomach. Well, lesson learned. I do love festival food though, it seemed they lacked variety at this one , but we did only stop at one food stand. (I didn’t see too many.) Of course, there was a spectacular fireworks display as well. 
We went on Saturday and I heard that on Tuesday evening it was not as crowded. Next time we’ll go earlier. If you want to beat the crowd for a festival, go early in the week! That’s all for this post. Ja-ne! 
