Hello, world! Today I find myself on the other side of Fukushima.
The one that's as far away from the Pacific Ocean
where terrible earthquake and tsunami occurred in 2011 as it is from the Sea of Japan.
This place is called Aizuwakamatsu.
Next to it you will find lake Inawashiro
where wind surfers like to play
and in the background, you'll see mount Bandai.
Yes, Bandai is also the name of Japan's No.1 toy company.
But as far as I can tell, there's no relation.
I did find this cool woodblock print of its eruption in 1888 though.
So, what goes on around Aizuwakamatsu?
Well, I already showed you the Soba making in a previous video
but in this one, I'm going to show you the ryokan that looks like they're out of a movie set.
Visit a samurai school.
Make some traditional lacquer ware.
get purified at local shrine
and visit a former post town where Daimyo and samurai stopped by on their travels in the Edo period.
Let's first drop by the samurai school
because let's admit it, it sounds pretty cool.
The Nishinkan is a restored high school
that was originally built for the high-class children of the Aizu samurai clan.
This is where young boys learned the spirit of the samurai.
But what does that mean in real terms?
Rules, like the ones you encounter at the entrance of the school.
Listen to the elders and do what they say.
Bow to your elders.
Do not lie.
Do not act in cowardice.
Don't be mean to people weaker than you.
Don't eat outside, or in another words, eat at the table.
Don't talk to females outside.
Do not do what you must not do.
As you'd expect, samurai learned combat skills like how to shoot guns.
Yes they shot guns.
Horseback riding
and archery.
They're just fake arrows.
They're really light.
The archery was all fun and games until one of our local guys requested the special glove you wear
It's huge.
That's taller than me.
It turns out that he competed in archery as a youth.
So let's just appreciate this for a moment.
I didn't show where the arrow went
because I was told it's more about the form than the result.
But hey, maybe that's what you say when the total newb, me, had terrible form
yet still strikes the target on his second attempt.
Interesting tidbit,
It's said this was the first ever swimming pool built in Japan,
this is also where they trained on how to ride horses through water.
Unfortunately, no swimming is allowed nowadays.
Despite what you may think, samurai also need to be book smart.
They study calligraphy,
meditation,
astronomy,
and geography among other subjects.
But the katana is all around them, made sure that you will never forgot that they were training to be warriors.
After visiting the samurai school, my wife and I's takeaway thought was
do they offer summer classes?
Because I think our kids would benefit greatly from some samurai education.
A place equally as spectacular as the samurai school was this ryokan.
The traditional Japanese inn.
that looks like it's straight out of a movie scene.
I felt like some martial arts action was going to go down
as I listen to the shamisen player strumming along while the water flow.
And it's here where we eat our Kaiseki Ryouri
or multi-course traditional Japanese dinner.
As if the many courses of food weren't enough,
There was to be a special dessert being made before our eyes
At first glance, I thought this mochi making was for show.
You have all the guests sit around in nice Yukata
while the staff make a big production out of making it
Then the guest are invited to participate as well.
Like the archery, it started out all fun and games
however, my mind quickly changed upon my first bite of the kinakomochi
which is roasted soybean powder on top of the rice cake.
It was still warm from the beating
and it was hands-down the best I have ever eaten.
they claimed the region is great for mochi rice production, and after tasting it, I don't doubt it one bit.
There are so much to do that we actually didn't spend too long in our rooms.
One thing we made sure to enjoy is onsen, or hot springs.
This onsen is a private one, and it's massive.
I guess it's if you have a group that you all want to have a bath together with
I was just here all by my lonesome.
Although my wife was behind the camera filming my backside.
This onsen is the regular public one.
But because I woke up at 5 a.m. to film it,
it was empty.
And I can film it all to myself.
Beyond this is actually a gorgeous view of the rushing river below.
which you can see form my drone shot taken form dusk.
The Aizu region is famous for many things.
One of them being its lacquer ware.
At the next exhibition we visited, we are able to see a plethora of designs available.
There are also live demonstrations of the art in action.
On the second floor, we got to paint the lacquer ware ourselves.
But to be honest, it was mostly following a simple template.
As much as I want to say I did this myself.
It's really the master who came along and added his touches
that made this piece special.
Did I mention that this area is known for using gold leaf?
Yep, that's us present gold leave into our lacquer ware.
Gold leaf is a big thing in the area,
as witnessed by this golden highlight of the art exhibit.
However, for me the more impressive material used was this shell.
The shokunin transformed it into the spectacular design.
To tone things down again, let me take you to Hanitsu Jinja.
While I purified my hands like regular visitor,
it's the oharai, the purification ceremony that I did that was special.
Most visitors pray outside of the honden, the main hall
but I got to go inside to do the more involve purification ritual.
The priests purified me with Haraai gushi.
And like any good ceremony, I left with a gift bag in my very own Omaamori, or good luck charm.
As you do in Japan on promotional tours,
we visited another traditional Japanese inn and onsen.
What I really enjoyed at this place was this Kazoku buroo, or Kaishikiri buroo
which means family bath or private bath.
For those of you wondering if you can have a dip in the hot springs privately
whether it's because you have tattoos or you want to share a relaxing time for loved one.
This is how you would do it.
This is a Gensen kakenagashi Onsen
which means that it's pure hot spring water that goes directly into your tub.
And when it flows out, it's flowing out right into the river beside it.
Strip away the building, and it's about as closest to the in-the-wild hot spring that you'll get.
One of the downsides staying at ryokans is they stuff you face.
I know this is a weird thing to complain about,
but as I said in a previous video, I have a small stomach and I feel quite guilty about not being able to eat everything.
At this ryokan, it's half set meal, half buffet,
which worked quite well for me.
Sure, they have to work on their naming a bit.
Potato juice?
and in the morning it was taste rice.
Despite the names, the food was wonderful.
And to top it off, the view of the food was just as picturesque as scene through the window.
I feel like some areas in Japan are good for Higaeri, or day trip.
But I have to say that Aizuwakamatsu isn't one of them.
Because I didn't mention our visit to Tsurugachoo,
which they will eagerly tell you it's the only castle in Japan that has red tiles.
Nor did I show you Oochijuku, which was a former post town.
It's been recently rebuilt to replicate the look and feel of the Edo period, which was centuries ago.
And one small tip for you avid videographers and photographers,
If you want to get the shot and get it right,
make sure to dress like you belonged.
If you remember from my previous soba video about the area.
I had a brief stint working in the soba fields
Well, I didn't have time to change,
so on me I had my whole outfit complete with rubber boots.
So I thought why not make use of them and film this little irrigation channel.
I have no clue why I was shooting it
but the local seemed to be quite curious.
Thanks for watching, see you next time, bye!
I don't imagine you have any samurai towns where you're from,
but perhaps you have something similar you can tell me about.