Aizu Wakamatsu

Today we gathered outside the apartments to head to Aizu Wakamatsu. The bus showed up around 10 and we headed off. The drive to Aizu Wakamatsu is about an hour and a half from Shibata. Most of us settled into our mp3 players and relaxed on the long drive through the Echigo mountain range. Eventually we reached Aizu Wakamatsu and Nabe-chan (the Nabe-gator) managed to get us only slightly lost. Eventually we did reach our destination.

Aize Wakamatsu Castle was our first stop. It's a feudal era fortress basically that was destroyed during the civil war with the feudal lords. It was rebuilt in the 1960's and now seems to be a popular tourist attraction. After taking a guided tour around the grounds we went inside the castle itself. Inside is a multistory museum dedicated to the history of the castle. We went all the way to the top of the castle which afforded us a great view of the surrounding cities and the mountains that encompassed us. After the museum we had a great lunch in the museum's cafeteria and headed off to our next destination.

Group photo in front of Aizu Wakamatsu Castle

Up next was Aizu Bukeyashiki, which was a restored samurai manor. It was a little boring to tell the truth, most of the stuff there was common in Japanese society. The mixture of gardens was rather relaxing though, and the Coy pond was fun. Outside the manor we got green tea ice cream before getting back on the bus.

Next we drove to the local train station where we boarded a steam engined train which we rode back to just outside Niigata. The ride took us through the mountains and villages of the Niigata countryside. People were out all along the tracks watching the train go by. On board I spent most of my time in the observation car with Seth. The observation car was also used as a little crafts area for kids to keep them occupied. We took plenty of pictures of the scenic views and the kids. Nabe-chan spent a lot of time there too, acting like he was about 8 years old. Saying "hello" to two young girls ended up earning me and Seth two little friends. They didn't talk to us much but they were still fun, following us around the train cars. When we finally got to our station I waved goodbye and received the same in return. Once again, kids here are so flipping awesome.

The Keiwa College bus was waiting for us at the station. We drove back to the apartments where we dispersed. I ended up hanging out in Mike and Seth's apartment the rest of the night, shooting the shit as it were.