Accommodation in Aomori
Be sure to book ahead, especially if you’re coming for Nebuta Matsuri (Aug 2–7), when prices can rise dramatically.
Eating in Aomori
Seafood, apples and apple products fill Aomori’s food halls and souvenir shops. Local specialities worth sampling include hotate kai-yaki, fresh scallops from Mutsu Bay grilled in their shells and served with a dash of miso sauce, and jappa-jiru, a cod stew that’s available in winter.
Aomori is a great place to pick up souvenirs. As well as nebuta paper lanterns and seafood, look out for regional products ranging from kites and embroidery to lacquerware, brightly painted horses, and Tsugaru kokeshi dolls. ASPAM and the JR station both hold crafts shops, while the main shopping street, Shinmachi-dōri, offers good browsing.
Osore-zan
The Shimokita Hantō protrudes into the ocean northeast of Aomori like a great axe-head. Its jagged blade is covered with low, forested peaks, of which the most notorious is Osore-zan, the “terrible mountain” where spirits of the dead are believed to linger on their way to a Buddhist paradise.
It is an atmospheric detour for 13-day Japan trips that leave time for northern Honshu’s remoter corners. Despite its growing commercialization, Osore-zan’s bleak crater lake, surrounded by a sulphurous desert where weathered statues huddle against the bitter winds, remains a compelling, slightly spine-tingling place.
 (1).jpg)
