Kakunodate

The main tourist drawcard in Kakunodate is a historical preservation area known as Bukeyashiki Dori.  Bukeyashiki are samurai residences that date back to the Edo period (1603–1867).  

Eat

After the strenuous walk from the start of Bukeyashiki Dori all the way to... nearly the middle, we were ready for the first ice cream of the day.  My choice was red bean, because despite the Japanese proclivity to put sweet red beans in everything, I'd never seen a red bean soft serve.  Beloved went with the sakura soft serve.  Bukeyashiki no chaya provided both ice cream and some benches to watch the world go by as we ate.

Lunch was a hinai chicken oyakodon from Sakura Kouji, located down a side street a block towards the river from the bottom end of Bukeyashiki Dori.  The meal was delicious with the hinai chicken providing a distinct flavour profile.  It was pleasant sitting outside on this beautiful day.

After lunch we sampled the delights of the Michinoku Akita Pudding Shop.  My pudding parfait was the pick of the offerings. The base of the cup holds a Japanese mash up of a creme brulee topped with the super soft, soft serve I've only ever seen in Japan and a couple of chocolate nut sticks.

See and Do

We started our meanderings through Bukeyashiki Dori and the surrounding areas with a visit to the Hirafuku Kinen Memorial Museum.  It's a small collection and probably overpriced at ¥500 entry.  The four pieces representing each season right at the entry are the pick of the collection in my view.

Next stop was the Cherry Bark Woodcraft Museum. The demonstration area where you can watch a master craftsmen making pieces, and if you're clever like Beloved, ask them questions, was the best part and well worth the ¥500 entry fee.  Nothing that looked like it would survive another week stuffed in panniers jumped out at us, but there is a wide variety of goods on offer.

We figured one restored samurai house would be sufficient and selected Odano-ke as our pick of the crop.  I managed to get us into the next door, and fairly disappointing, Kawarada-ke.  

The avenue of weeping sakura trees along the banks of the Hinokinai river were planted nearly 100 years ago.  We rounded out our afternoon with a stroll along the river bank and tried hard to imagine them being in full bloom.  The serenity of the area was somewhat undercut by the bear warning signs.