The Fear of 'Maybe It's Inconvenient?' Was Unfounded | Aomori City Edition

A Small Anxiety

'You're being transferred to Aomori.'
My husband told me this suddenly one day.
A transfer after just over a year!!
I was surprised because I had heard
we wouldn't be moving for at least another two years.

When I think of Aomori City, I think of Nebuta and apples.
I only had the knowledge of someone who had visited for sightseeing, and I had an image of it as a small regional city.

Perhaps because I was used to the convenience of the city,
I imagined that there would be few choices and that things I wanted
wouldn't be available when I needed them.
'Won't it be inconvenient?'
I had this small anxiety.

Not flashy, but full of character

A city with just the right feel, where the atmosphere of the Showa era remains

*This is a story from when I lived there (a few years ago), so the situation is different now.

There are no tall buildings or famous department stores around the station like in a big city,
so it leaves a slightly lonely impression.
Old-fashioned shopping streets with arcades spread out,
and a nostalgic Showa-era atmosphere drifts somewhere in the air.

In this area, called the central urban district,
there are buildings housing public facilities like libraries, local department stores,
and individual shops lining the shopping streets.

There are shops for tourists,
as well as old-fashioned retail stores selling agricultural produce, seafood, and side dishes,
and long-established coffee shops and pastry shops,
giving the impression that tourists and locals are mingling.
It was a transitional period where ambitious restaurants run by young entrepreneurs were also increasing.

The joy of walking around the city that I discovered after living there

What I felt while living in the central urban district

Walking around a big city is fun, but
there is also the pleasure of visiting shops with character
that can only be found in regional areas.

Rather than walking with a specific purpose,
it's fun to just walk around and discover, 'Oh, there's a shop like this here!'
It's an interesting discovery.
I was able to encounter shops that are hard to get to,
which I surely wouldn't have found if I had been traveling by car.

Although not large-scale, there are many clinics such as dermatology and internal medicine,
and many hair salons, so I never felt inconvenienced.

There were a few things I found slightly troublesome

However, one thing I found slightly inconvenient
was that there were no large supermarkets in the neighborhood.
When a small supermarket wasn't enough,
I had to go around to the local greengrocers, fishmongers,
and the basement food floor of the local department store.

But my husband could drive to a large supermarket on his days off,
and since it was just the two of us living together at the time,
I didn't have any particular complaints about that.

About the snow situation

As expected, the snowfall is heavy.
Moreover, it is heavy snow with a high water content.
There were often heavy snowfalls,
and there were times when my car turned into
a 'kamakura' (igloo) overnight.

Depending on the parking lot, in the apartment building where I lived,
before I could even get the car out, I first had to
shovel snow to clear a path.
After that hard labor, I would finally reach the car.
Then, I had to dig the car out of its igloo-like mound,
and only then could I finally open the door.

The biggest reason I felt 'home is where you make it'

I was saved many times by casual kindness

I was deeply impressed by how kind the older men and women were. At the time, I lived in an older condominium that was available for rent. An elderly woman living alone in the next room would often talk to me when we met in the hallway or elsewhere. When an ambulance would come to the apartment building, she would invite me to 'go (and check on things),' and at first, I was wary, wondering if she was just a chatty, meddlesome person. That was a misunderstanding; in this apartment building with many elderly residents, everyone had long-standing relationships, and it seemed the residents were worried about and cooperating with each other. She was a kind person who would even bring me food when I wasn't feeling well.

The building manager was also very kind to me. It was just around the time my child was born. When I went to tell him that my next transfer had been decided and we were moving out, he looked disappointed and said, 'I thought I'd be able to watch (the child) grow up a little more.' I was so grateful and happy that someone other than a relative cared about my child that I was moved to tears.

Unforgettable people I met in Aomori

Before I had children, I wanted to learn my hobby of bread making, so I attended a private bread-making class. The Aomori ladies I met there were wonderful. They were all friendly, kind, and fun. Through the class, we were able to interact, such as going out for lunch, and it became a very good memory.

The night I saw Nebuta and was left speechless

Being able to have 'local pride'

It was only after living in Aomori that I was able to see Nebuta up close. Around early summer, when I had the windows open, I would hear the sound of a bamboo flute from somewhere—'piyara-piyara...' The 'hayashikata' (musicians) were practicing in the neighborhood for the Nebuta festival in August.

As the actual event approached and the Nebuta floats were completed, there was a public unveiling at the venue that served as the starting point. Then, in August, the main event finally arrived. I saw the young 'Haneto' dancers jumping energetically to the beat of the powerful, chest-thumping taiko drums, accompanied by shouts of 'Rassera!' I also learned for the first time about the existence of 'Baketo,' who wear comical costumes and approach the audience playfully to make them laugh.

The melody of the flute music differs between the 'going' phase as it proceeds and the 'returning' phase as it heads back to the shed. That return melody is so sorrowful that it makes you feel like saying 'don't go,' and it really touches your heart.

Having grown up in a place without such unique local culture, I was overwhelmed by the emotion of seeing it for the first time, as well as its power and intensity, and I almost burst into tears naturally. At the same time, I also envied that kind of 'local pride.'

Summary | What remained in my heart more than the 'inconvenience'

To be honest, Aomori City is not a 'convenient city where you can get everything.' But after living there, I realized that there are things that more than make up for the inconvenience.

Charming shops you can find just by walking around. People who casually strike up a conversation. And the intensity of the Nebuta festival, which has been passed down as a source of local pride.

Convenience can be measured in numbers, but comfort and moments that warm your heart cannot be understood unless you actually live there. The anxiety of 'might it be inconvenient?' had, before I knew it, turned into 'a city I want to live in again.'

I am always depressed about transfers before I go. Even so, the people and culture you can only meet in that land can unexpectedly become your own treasures. Aomori City was that kind of city for me.