Tohoku - Aomori.

Hiroshima, a small city near Aomori, was cloudy on November 2, 2024. Hiroshima is worth a visit when traveling to Aomori, Tohoku, and is perfect for a day of city walking. It takes about 40 minutes by train from Aomori Station, and the intervals between trains are a bit long, so be sure to check the schedule in advance. There is a huge apple inside Hiroshima JR Station (the whole Aomori Prefecture is apple-themed), which is much better for taking pictures than the half-up, half-down apple in Aomori City. I highly recommend going to "Rainbow Market" for seafood, a local farmers' market with affordable prices and excellent quality that doesn't rip off Aomori tourists. It's a few minutes' walk from Hiroshima Station to the right front street. I ate there twice in one day, and it was great! The Five-Story Pagoda is actually a small temple, small and delicate, and you can take a few photos in a few minutes. The Hiroshima Red Brick Art Museum is also a tourist attraction, with a ticket price of 1,500 yen per person, which is much less cost-effective than the 1,800 yen ticket price of the Towada Modern Art Museum, with few exhibits and not much to see. It's not as good as the Towada Modern Art Museum. The area around the City Hall - Hiroshima Park - Fujita Memorial Garden is the core area of Hiroshima sightseeing. The Aomori Apple Pie at the Starbucks next to the City Hall is delicious. Hiroshima Park is free, and it feels like a smaller version of Osaka Castle Park, with the Hiroshima Castle Tower and Botanical Garden inside, both of which are charged, and you can buy a three-place package with the Fujita Memorial Garden for 520 yen. The Botanical Garden is small and not very interesting. The castle tower is the smallest I've ever seen, like a movie set, but you can go inside. Near the castle tower, you can see Mt. Iwaki in the distance, which is said to be covered with snow in winter and spring, and looks like Mt. Fuji, which is very beautiful. The red leaves in Hiroshima Park are already as red as flames, and the cherry trees on both sides of the river outside the park are said to be very popular during the cherry blossom season. The Fujita Memorial Garden is a typical exquisite Japanese garden, and it is quite pleasant to stroll around. The famous Taisho Romantic Tea Room is right at the entrance, and there is a long line all year round, but it was already closed when I went there. At the end of a day of city walking, I saw a fiery sunset in front of Hiroshima Station, and a perfect day came to an end. Overall, Hiroshima is a quiet little town, with few people in some places outside the tourist area, and it even looks a bit dilapidated. But it is very suitable for a day trip. By the way, the bus fare in the city is 100 yen no matter how many stops you take, which is the cheapest bus fare I've ever seen.