Tohoku 2016 東北の旅 - Akarenga kan 赤れんが館, Akarenga kan Museum

Visited 19.05.2016 (Thu)

After visiting Neburi Nagashi kan ねぶり流し館, I walked to Akarenga kan, the next place of interest situated just across the street (bought the combined set of tickets for Neburi Nagashi kan and Akarenga kan). This elegant looking building which stood out prominently from its neighbours is where the headquarters of Akita Bank was formerly housed in.





Background. The two storey brickwork building was designed by local architect Yamaguchi Naoaki 山口直昭. The construction lasted for three years and it was eventually completed in 1912 (Meiji 45). The building was donated to the city in 1981 (Showa 56) and opened its doors to public again in 1985 as a museum. Renaissance architectural style was chosen for its exterior; the foundation was made up of gray cut rocks sourced from Oga Peninsula (western coast of Akita Prefecture), the walls of the first floor was covered with white porcelain tiles, creating a distinct contrast with the red bricks on the second floor. The interior adopted a baroque style - fine details were displayed in the decorative plaster design and wood cravings, and the utilisation of various kinds of marble created a refined and classy ambience.

Rewarding. Personally, I enjoy exploring the intricate features of old buildings and on most occasions, I find it pretty rewarding as I could better appreciate the characteristics of various architectural styles and relate to the less known stories leading to the development of this building.

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Akarenga kan 赤れんが館, Akarenga kan Museum
〒010-0921　秋田市大町三丁目3番21号
Operating hours: 0930 - 1630 hrs
Admission fee = 200 yen
https://www.city.akita.lg.jp/kanko/kanrenshisetsu/1003617/index.html

Tip: There is a combined ticket available for two places of interest, Neburi Nagashi kan ねぶり流し館 and Akarenga kan Museum 赤れんが郷土館 which cost 250 yen. The admission fee to Akarenga kan Museum is 200 yen, therefore the combined ticket is a 50 yen discount off the overall admission fee to both places of interest, if the tickets are bought separately.

How to get there? 

(1) By foot. 15 mins walk from Akita JR Station West Exit / Nishi Guchi 秋田駅西口.

(2) By bus. Board Akita City Center Loop Bus Gururu 秋田市中心市街地循環バス from Akita JR Station West Exit Platform 10 and alight at Kawabata iriguchi 川反入口. 100 yen per trip.
https://www.city.akita.lg.jp/kurashi/kotsu/1012207/1007651.html



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Commemorative stamp:

Tohoku 2016 東北の旅 - Senshu Koen 千秋公園, Kubota Castle Osumiyagura 久保田城 御隅櫓

Visited 19.05.2016 (Thu)
No. of castles visited to date: 12
Top 100 castles in Japan: #9



Day trip. Reached Akita city on the night before and decided to spend the following day to tour several places of interest in this capital city of Akita Prefecture before heading to Tazawa-ko 田沢湖 and Nyuto Onsen 乳頭温泉 in the afternoon. Started off the day by paying a visit to Akita Shimin Ichiba / Citizen's Market 秋田市民市場, the biggest dry and wet market in the city, to experience the local vibes in the morning. Next I walked to Senshu Koen 千秋公園, a public park where the former Kubota Castle 久保田城 was located in. Arrived at Pocket Park ポケットパーク, a viewing spot located on the southwest of Senshu Koen. Walked alongside the moat (Otemon no hori 大手門の堀) which was decorated by blooming azealas shurbs on its side and entered the park via Nakadobashi-dori 中土橋通り.

Background. Senshu Koen was the site of Kubota Castle which belonged to Lord Satake. Yoshinobu Satake 佐竹義宣, the first lord of Akita Clan, was transferred from the province of Hitachi to Akita in 1602. Construction of the castle began in the following year and was eventually completed in 1604. What makes Kubota Castle different from other castles of Japan is it did not have the typical tenshukaku (or the keep) and stone walls. In 1890, Akita city rented the site of Kubota Castle to use it as a park. In 1984, the entire site was donated to the city in accordance to the wish of Yoshinoga Satake 佐竹義榮, the 15th generation of Satake family.

Climbed up Osumiyagura to capture an overview of Akita city.

Observatory. Followed the directional signs to osumiyagura 御隅櫓, which serves both as a museum and observatory in Senshu Koen. Osumiyagura refers to a turret with a lookout, guardhouse and warehouse built at the outer wall of the castle. In fact, there used to be eight osumiyagura in Kubota Castle, however all of them were destroyed. In 1989, one osumiyagura situated on the northwest of Honmaru was restored by the city to celebrate 100th anniversary of city system establishment. On the highest floor of osumiyagura, visitors can capture a relatively good overview of the city, the surrounding mountainous area and even as far as Sea of Japan!

Omotemon 表門 is the main gate of Kubota Castle.

Bronze statue of Yoshinaka Satake.

Landmark. Omotemon 表門 (also known as Ichinomon) is the main gate of Kubota Castle. The current two storey wooden structure with tiled roof was rebuilt based on historical records. It is said that the strategic location of this gate played an important role in the protection of castle. The headquarters of the guards and a guardhouse were situated on the left side of the gate, therefore provided first line of defense against attacks. Here, visitors can also locate a bronze statue of Yoshinaka Satake 佐竹義堯, the 12th generation lord of Akita Clan and the final lord who developed modern Akita. Senshu Koen is an excellent place to visit during spring as there are about 700 cherry blossom trees planted here and it was also selected as top 100 sakura viewing places in Japan by Japan Sakura Association in 1990.







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Senshu Koen 千秋公園

Kubota Castle Osumiyagura 久保田城 御隅櫓
秋田市千秋公園1番39号
Operating hours: 0900 - 1630 hrs
Admission fee = 100 yen
https://www.city.akita.lg.jp/kurashi/doro-koen/1003685/1007159/index.html

How to get there?

(1) By foot. 5 mins walk from Akita JR Station West Exit / Nishi Guchi 秋田駅西口 to Senshu Koen Pocket Park 千秋公園ポケットパーク.



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Commemorative stamp:

Tohoku Solo Trip 2016 東北一人の旅 - Day 8 Itinerary: Akita 秋田, Tazawa-ko 田沢湖, Nyuto Onsen 乳頭温泉

Day 8: 19.05.2016 (Thu)

Breakfast: Toyoko Inn Akita Eki Higashi Guchi 東横イン秋田駅東口

Visited Akita Shimin Ichiba / Citizen Market 秋田市民市場.

Visited Senshu Koen 千秋公園.

Visited Kubota Castle Osumiyagura 久保田城 御隅櫓.

Visited Neburi Nagashi kan 秋田市民俗芸能伝承館 ねぶり流し館, Akita Kanto Festival Center 秋田竿燈まつりセンター

Visited Akarenga kan Museum 赤レンガ館

Lunch: Restaurant Recette レストラン ルセット

Shopping: LOFT at Fonte フォンテ

Akita JR 秋田駅 (1413 hrs) > Tazawa-ko JR 田沢湖駅 (1511 hrs)
by Komachi 24.

Tazawako Ekimae 田沢湖駅前 (1525 hrs) > Tazawako-han 田沢湖畔 (1644 hrs)
by Ugo Kotsu Bus 羽後交通バス. [1,010 yen]

Visited Tatsuko-zo たつこ像.

Visited Goza no ishi Shrine 御座石神社.

Tazawako-han 田沢湖畔 (1732 hrs) > Tae no yu 妙の湯(1805 hrs)
by Ugo Kotsu Bus 羽後交通バス. [670 yen]

Check in: Nyuto Onsenkyo Tae no yu 乳頭温泉郷 妙の湯
http://www.taenoyu.com/

Dinner: Tae no yu 妙の湯

- End of Day 8 -

Tohoku 2016 東北の旅 - Toyoko Inn Akita Eki Higashi Guchi 東横イン秋田駅東口

Stayed 18.05.2016 (Wed)

Booked thru' hotel website.
Single room = 5,437 yen

Was assigned a room on the 10th floor and was able to capture a good overview of Akita city on the west side of the train station.

Convenient. On Day 7, I made my way to Akita city via Resort Shirakami and stayed overnight at Toyoko Inn  Akita Eki Higashi Guchi which is located on the east side of Akita JR Station. The appearance of this particular branch of Toyoko Inn did not follow its conventional design and colour scheme; looks like a modern commercial building from the outside. The 14 storey tall building which the hotel is housed within is called ALVE アルヴェ, a community center for the local population. However, the internal layout and design breeds familiarity as it is reverted to “Toyoko Inn” style right upon I stepped into the hotel lobby. 

Hotel is highly accessible; upon exiting from the ticket gates of Akita JR Station, the route right up to the hotel entrance is completely sheltered. As compared to the west side of the train station, where shopping malls/departmental stores and a number of places of interest are located at, the east side has more residential development and felt relatively quieter. There were no significant differences in the services provided by this particular branch. In short, this is an inexpensive, no frills hotel and its strategic location facilitates travelling within the city, for both business related and tourism purposes.

Spacious lobby transformed into a breakfast dinning area in the morning.

Entrance to the hotel, on the second floor of the building.

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Toyoko Inn Akita Eki Higashi Guchi 東横イン秋田駅東口
〒010-0002  秋田県秋田市東通仲町4-1
https://www.toyoko-inn.com/search/detail/00087/

How to get there?

(1) 1 minute walk from Akita JR Station East Exit / Higashi Guchi 秋田駅東口. 

Tohoku 2016 東北の旅 - Akita JR Station 秋田駅

Akita inu. Akita JR Station 秋田駅 is the terminus station for Akita Shinkansen line 秋田新幹線 and is also served by Ou main line 奥羽本線, Oga line 男鹿線 and Uetsu line 羽越線. Finally reached the capital city of Akita Prefecture on the midway of my expedition of Tohoku region in May 2016. The first thing that comes to my mind whenever Akita is mentioned, is definitely Akita inu 秋田犬 (dog). The touching story of Hachiko, the loyal and faithful Akita inu who waited for his master’s return everyday at Shibuya Station over a period of nine years, continues to attract many visitors to pay respect to its bronze statue erected at Shibuya Station. Had the opportunity to come up close with Hachiko’s statue on my very first trip to Tokyo in 2011. Odate city 大館市, in Akita Prefecture, is the homeland of Akita inu. Apart from understanding the roots of Akita inu through the local museum, visitors can meet the dogs at various facilities as well. It takes about 1.5 hours by limited express Tsugaru train from Akita to Odate via Ou main line; this is one place I hope to visit on future trips to Japan.
Akita inu no sato / Akita inu museum 秋田犬の里・秋田犬ミュージアム: https://akitainunosato.jp/sp/

Met an Akita inu when I was at Tazawako-han 田沢湖畔.

Trains serving this station include:
(1) Komachi こまち, the high speed train which commutes eastwards for Shizukuishi 雫石駅, Tazawako 田沢湖駅,  Kakunodate 角館駅, Omagari 大曲駅 and ends at Morioka 盛岡駅. Here, the train combines with Hayabusa and continues its journey southwards to Sendai 仙台駅 and Tokyo 東京駅.
(2) Resort Shirakami リゾートしらかみ, is a limited express sightseeing train which commutes between Aomori 青森駅 and Akita 秋田駅 via Ou main line 奥羽本線 and Gono line 五能線. A total of three round trips is made per day (on most days) by a fleet of train comprised of three different themes - Buna 橅, Aoike 青池 and Kumagera くまげら.
https://www.jreast.co.jp/railway/joyful/shirakami.html
(3) Limited Express Tsugaru つがる, commutes between Aomori and Akita via Ou main line 奥羽本線, stopping by Shin Aomori 新青森駅, Hirosaki 弘前駅, Owani Onsen 大鰐温泉駅, Odate 大舘駅and Higashi-Noshiro 東能代駅.

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What's nearby?

(1) Bus terminal, in front of West / Nishi Exit.
Platform #10: for Akita city loop bus Gururu 秋田市中心市街地循環バスぐるる.
A convenient feeder bus service which makes an anticlockwise loop in the city, stopping by places of interest such as Senshu Koen 千秋公園, Neburi Nagashi-kan ねぶり流し館 and Akita Shimin Ichiba / Citizen's Market 秋田市民市場. The buses are separated by 20 minutes interval and the bus fare per trip is 100 yen.
https://www.city.akita.lg.jp/kurashi/kotsu/1012207/1007651.html



(2) Akita city tourist information center 秋田市観光案内所, located within the train station.
Operating hours: 0900 - 1900 hrs

Shopping malls in the vicinity: Fonte on the left and Seibu on the right.

(3) Shopping malls and departmental stores, 1 minute walk from West / Nishi Exit.
There are a couple of shopping malls and departmental stores in the vicinity.
- ALS アルス and Topicaトピカ, both malls are connected seamlessly to the train station. MUJI and 100 yen shop WATTS are housed on the first floor of ALS, while there are restaurants and eateries, which operate till 2200 hrs, on the third floor of Topica.
- Fonte フォンテ , the first shopping mall on the left after taking the descending escalator after exiting from the train station. LOFT is on its second storey while Seria (100 yen shop) occupies the fourth storey.
- Seibu Akita Branch 西武秋田店. This is Seibu's only branch in Tohoku region and is located on the right after exiting from the west exit.







(4) Akita Shimin Ichiba / Citizen's Market 秋田市民市場, the biggest wet and dry market in Akita Prefecture is located 5 minutes walk from West / Nishi Exit. Dropped by the market after breakfast to check out the food/ingredients used by the locals here. Very spacious and well organised market in which the wet and dry areas are separated.
Operating hours: 0500 - 1800 hrs; closed on Sundays.
http://www.akitashiminichiba.com/

(5) Senshu Koen 千秋公園 and Kubota Castle 久保田城, 8 minutes walk from West / Nishi Exit.

(6) Akarenga kyodo-kan / Akarenga Museum 赤れんが郷土館, 15 minutes walk from West / Nishi Exit.

(7) Neburi Nagashi-kan ねぶり流し館, 15 minutes walk from West / Nishi Exit.

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Commemorative stamps: