芦野公園 Ashinokeon station is hot place for sakura seeing. After the season, there are not many tourists going so the station is very simple. You pay cash when leaving the station, not buying tickets.

Most people, especially for the photographers are going to take a picture for a training passing through the sakura tunnel. Mine is without the train.

After the breakfast, we went to have our second round of sakura seeing. We went to Ashinokoen 芦野公園.

We took a train there but we found the train was quite old when we were boarding. The train even has a stove built in and someone is toasting squid in the train.

After we sat down, an old man came and sat next to me. We talked a bit during the journey and he told me that this train is 71 years old without any renovation, i.e. the floor we were stepping on is 71 years old. He told me that because he is 71 years old too. He is from Hokkado.

The next day morning we went to an old market at Aomori for breakfast, 古川市場. The operation is this, we bought a booklet of tickets and used those tickets to exchange for rice, fish, shrimp, etc to make your own seafood don. You can also pay cash for some other seafood if you wish. The market has places for you to sit down and eat, with tea and water served.

Not very delicious but fresh. A funny exercise too.

At night, the moat becomes a must see spot. The sakura trees along the moat are lighted up which makes a stunning scene to see.

Water surface is flat and quiet, amazing.

People can enter the castle outer area for free but you have to pay for the inner part. For the inner part, you can enter the castle tower to have a city view but there is not much to see in the evening and the spotlight are shining to the castle tower.

The background, the number of sakura and the light all made the place fantastic and beautiful.

There are different species of sakura, in different shaps and style.

The second day we went to see Sakura. 弘前市 Hirosaki is a famous city for seeing Sakura. Before we went to Japan, the weather forecast said that all Sakura should be fully blossomed. But the weather turned freezing for a few days just before we arrived which delayed the process a bit. Hence we were lucky enough to see different stages of Sakura in this trip.

It was a rainy day. The good thing was that not many people there, but the bad thing was the freezing temperature and the rain. We were hiking at 3 degC but Hirosaki at 7 degC made me felt even colder.

The best place to see Sakura at Hirosaki is the castle. Before we entered the castle, we had already seen the sakura along the moat. Some of them started falling so part of the moat was full of sakura.

The path is well protected by the government. Even a bus stop cannot be erected along the road, that makes people puzzle when they want to find a bus stop.

Somehow, the environment is well kept and you can feel the freshness of the air. Mosses grow well there too. At the time we visited, the winter snow is still melting.

Along the path, there are lots of water falls, all in different scales and sizes, so the water flow is kept changing paces at different locations.