Directions to Lake Towada (Yasumiya)

Geo Coordinates to the parking lot area where the Towada Snow Festival is held...general parking area. 
N 40* 25.747  E 140* 53.678

Yasumiya is the community which sits right on the shores of Lake Towada. There are many festivals here, ferry boat rides, bikes to rent, paths to hike....and the drive the Oiriase Gorge is PRICESLESS. This is a must do trip in all seasons.  The following directions have got women to a retreat in Yasumiya without a single lost traveler.

• Take Route 10 to Towada, train tracks will be on your left
• Where the road forks, veer towards the Mazda sign.  Homac/Hard Off is on your right
• Turn left at the light and go over the bridge
• Pass Tori gate on right.  
• Turn right at 3^rd light.  You’ll see a blue sign that says Route 102 to Towada Lake.

 *Oirase Roman Park is a great place to take a restroom break.  It is about half-way to our destination.

• Continue on Route 102 until you get to a blinking light with a Shell gas station on right.  Turn left. 
• Route 102 will come to a T intersection with a sign for the Bronze Statue of Maidens and Lake Towada straight ahead.  
• Turn left at this light.  You will continue on this road around the lake and go through a tunnel.
• You will eventually come to a Y intersection in which you will veer right and pass the Towadaso Hotel on your right. 
• Continue on to the next Y intersection in which you will veer left. 
• Continue straight to a T-intersection and turn R at the JR House (on your right).  
• From here - drive to the spot of town where you want to park. 

Map to Lake Towada can be printed here. 

Choosing Joy!
©2011 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Directions to Hirosaki Castle

These coordinates are to the parking lot we park in....walking to the castle park will take you directly in front of the best Senbei Shop in Aomori Prefecture.  N40*  36.728    E140* 28.102

Directions: 

• Get on Route 8
• Proceed to Michinoku Toll Road  (Y830)
• Proceed to Route 123 and turn LEFT at the sign that says AOMORI HIGASHI IC
• Get on the toll road (AomoriExpressway - TohokuExpressway). 
• Get off at  KUROISHI IC (Y1,200) and take Rte 102 toward Hirosaki City.  You will corss a bridge over railroad tracks and follow sings to Hirosaki Park (Castle)....
• At this point we saw the park and drove around until we found the lot at the coordinates above. (approx Y200 an hour).

You can do this without tolls...but this took us just under 2 hours and was easy. We've not done it the other way yet. LOL 

Choosing Joy!
©2011 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Hirosaki Castle

BreAnne wanted photos of herself with pagodas....wanted to see something uniquely Japanese. Michael had never seen Hirosaki Castle. I was craving the senbei made outside of the castle grounds.....We took off. 


We were blessed with another gorgeous day! It simply doesn't get better than the last couple of days. We laughed as we came through a tunnel on our way home and saw the fog on this side of the mountain. Amazing. We came home in time for the 4th of July Fireworks, but they were cancelled due to fog. They start trying on the 2nd to hopefully catch the 4th - the norm here is not to be able to have our fireworks display until Labor Day. 


We had a great day, didn't get lost, enjoyed the sights and company. We should have had someone snap a photo of all of us....

A unique thing about restaurants here in Northern Japan is they don't bring all your food out at once. They bring it out as it is ready....and with a family our size....well....it takes a long time. We are used to never finishing at the same time.....today we got our meat before the rice....and the appetizers after the rest of the meal was over....Anyway....it took time....but we had a nice discussion and it was nice to be out of the sun....

I ordered vanilla ice cream....um with dried apples and apple cider vinegar.....wasn't too bad really.

The senbei is as good as I remember. LOL Zander enjoyed watching them make them and wondered if we can make them at home.....

My favorite is pistachio, but I think of others. 

Bre likes them....she likes almond best. I'm thinking we should have bought more.....

They really are so much better than any other senbei I've had. 

These coordinates are to the parking lot we park in....walking to the castle park will take you directly in front of the best Senbei Shop in Aomori Prefecture.  N40*  36.728    E140* 28.102

Choosing Joy!
©2011 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Directions to Cape Shiriya (Shiriyazaki)

Geo Coordinates will get you to the general area N 41* 25.802   E 141* 27.707

This was the site of our very first adventure. We took off on Rte 338 to find "Shipwreck Beach".  We'd been told it was "up Hwy 338" - so we kept driving, along stunning scenery and rocky cliffs....and never found Shipwreck Beach - but we found Cape Shiriya and the Kandachime wild horses.

We've gone back several times for the view, the horses, to geo-cache....it's a fun spot.  Tip:  take a map and leave before dark to find your way home....remember south and east and you'll eventually find Misawa. ::grin::  Search the blog for more posts about Cape Shiriya. There are several.

Directions:

• Go out POL Gate
• Take left at first light
• Turn left at 2nd light at Circle K
• This intersects with Rte 338 - turn left and head north on 338 for approx 74 km
• You will by the nuclear plant and along the rockly coastline of Higashidori
• Distance may be a bit off as they have built a detour around Higashidori and other small towns
• After 74 km turn RIGHT on route 248...Look for signs to Shiriyazaki or Cape Shiriya - follow signs
• After 14.5 km turn LEFT onto route 172.
• Follow route 172 for 3.1 km and turn right. 
• You'll travel around the northern cost of Honshua
• You'll go past a BIG mill
• After approx 8.8 kim turn LEFT to enter the Kandachime Horse reserve/ Shiriya Lightouse.

 *If you are geocachers, don't forget your gps....it's a nice search, just keep an eye out for visitors and their leavings. LOL

For other posts about visits to this area type "Shiriya Lighthouse" into the search box at the top left of the screen.

Choosing Joy!
©2011 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Easy Routes out of Misawa

Route 338 - Non-toll National Road(South for Momoishi, Shimoda Mall, Morioka etc; North for Rokkasho, Mutsu, Wakinosawa, Shimokita Pennisula). 

• Out POL gate
• Turn Left at 2nd light
• Follow the road until it Ts at Rte 338
• Turn Left to go to Rokkasho, Mutsu, Shimokita Pennisula
• Turn Right to go to Southern destinations
• Rt 338 North splits just before Rokkasho and rejoins in Rokkasho. The left branch is the better road and goes past Japan Nuclear Fuels Limited. 
• Rt 338 South  - comes to a traffic light right after Momoishi. Rte 338 is the right hand branch. The left hand road is Rte 19 and goes to Hachinohe Port and industiral area. 

Route 8 , Non-toll   (North for Tohoku, Aomori City, Michinoku #1 Toll Rd - South for Shimoda)

• North - 
• go out main gate
• Turn Right at second light
• Turn right at the intersection with a blue sign  directing to Aomori and Noheji
• South
• Go Out the POL gate
• Proceed to intersection where Circle K is on your RIGHT and Dynam Pachinko (log cabin) is on your left.
• Turn left here - this is Route 8 South. 

Route 10, Non-toll

• Go out POL 
• Stay on this road - it is route 10 to Towada City

Route 4, Non-toll National Road: Runs from North (Aomori City, Noheji to the South - Morioka, Sendai, Tokyo)

• Go out POL gate (you are on Route 10)
• Stay on Route 10 going towards Towada for about 15 km
• Route 10 crosses over Route 4 overpass
• Choose your direction and enter

Route 45, Non-toll National Road (From Towada City to Matsushima in Miyagi prefecture through Shimoda, Hachinohe, and the Pacific Coastline to Kuji, Fudai, Miyako etc)

• Go out POL and stay on this road until you see the toll road overpass
• Turn left at stop light before the overpass and merge on to the toll road
• At the first toll gate, pay Y200 and receive a ticket
• Get off at Exit 7, Hachinohe-Kita IC (Y150)
• After the toll gate, you intersect with Route 45
• Right to Shimoda and left to Hachinohe and other Southern destinations.

• You can also pick Rte 45 up outside of Shimoda mall and parallel the toll road....this is often called the "back way to Shimoda" but I'd need to drive it with an eye to landmarks to give more details. 

Choosing Joy!
©2011 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Directions to Shipwreck Beach

Geo Coordinates to the big parking area  N 40* 58.048      E 141* 13.312

Geo Coordinates to the ship wrecks N 40* 57.292        E 141* 12.794

Great place for a picnic, a beach stroll, to hunt for sea glass and to find glass floats (we've found six big ones).

Directions:

• Turn left at first stop light out POL Gate (heading to Hwy 338).
• Proceed to Circle K (on right at 2nd stop light).  (18.8 Km from our home)
• Turn left (north) at Circle K. 
• Continue on this road until it intersects with Hwy 338 - Turn left (north)
• Continue on Hwy 338 until you reach Circle K on the left at a stop light (27 klicks from our house). 
• Turn left on Hwy 5 - follow it until it T's with hwy 279 on Mutsu Bay (you'll pass the old Hwy 279)
• Turn right (north) on Hwy 279 - pass through several small villages
• Look for a large green fence on the left with big piles of white shells (note construction is done - think fence is gone too). 
• Turn left directly after the fence to walk down to ships or....
• Proceed to a dirt parking area on the right, directly before Hwy 279 crosses the rail road tracks. This is a safe spot to park and is a nice walk to the ships (head left after you get to the beach). 

OR

• Take Hwy 8 out of Misawa
• Turn Right (North) on hwy 4 towards Noheji
• Turn Right (North) on hwy 279 
• Pick one of the above places to stop

Choosing Joy!
©2011 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Directions to Risoukyo Flower Farm

Geo Coordinates to general area N40* 38.140   E 141* 09.187

Best visited in June and July - though we went in September and enjoyed ourselves. 

Fees: 

May -          adult Y300      Students Y100

June/July      adult Y500      Students Y200

Other months - FREE 

Directions: - Get to Towada - there are two ways from base...get to Rt 10 below is the way which goes by our part of town.

• Leave through the POL gate
• Continue straight through town, under the toll road - keep going until you reach Towada
• As you reach Towada, the train tracks are on your left. You will pass two schools on your right, separated by a traffic light. 
• At the Y - go right
• You will pass Aomori Bank on the right at a stop light. 
• Continue past two more stop lights
• As it seems you are leaving the city, you will pass another school on the right, set back a few blocks. There will be a stop light with no buildings nearby. 
• After this stoplight, the road bends slightly to the left. At the next intersection, turn right. 
• You will being seeing signs to the Horse Park. Continue straight. Do not turn left to the Horse Museum. You will continue straight for about half a mile. Look for a road that angles to the right. There will be a sign with an iris on it. 
• Shortly after this turn you will see a building with a thatch roof - there are two entrances to the gardens. 

OR if you know your way to the horse park.....that last funky intersection before you go up the hill - turn RIGHT and watch for little signs with Iris on them - the road will angle to the right....it's about 5 min from this turn off to the little road that takes you to the flower garden. 

Choosing Joy!
©2011 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...