Tag: onsen

Relaxing. Chilly. Quiet. If you have been to Tokyo, Aomori is the opposite. With fewer people and a slower pace, it truly feels like a getaway. Plus, it has a lovely bay area, if you like the sea.

I took these photos during our early morning walks to catch the sunrise at the Aomori Bay, about a stone’s throw from Dormy Inn, where we stayed for four nights. Walking down, albeit almost freezing at 1°C during a November autumn morning, with your other half to view the glorious sunrise and the peaceful morning is pure bliss.

Where is Aomori?

Aomori is located at the northern tip of Japan’s main island, just south of Hokkaido. It is a large prefecture made up of 10 cities, 22 towns and 8 villages. Three regions make up the area. The Mrs and I visited two during our 20th wedding anniversary last autumn – the Tsugaru region which includes the cities of Aomori and Hirosaki and the Nanbu region with Oirase Gorge and Lake Towada. The third region is Shimokita which we didn’t have time for. The Aomori prefecture is part of the larger Tohoku region which also includes the prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima, and Niigata. For more information on Aomori, visit here.

Aomori in Autumn

We visited Aomori in Autumn but we’ve been told that it’s also great in the other seasons. There’s something for everyone every season. Spring is great for Sakuras of course, especially at Hirosaki Castle and its park. In summer, there is the vibrant and colourful Nebuta Festival. Winter transforms Aomori, known as the snowiest city in the world, into a magical wonderland. And then there’s autumn with the beautiful red, orange and yellow foliage or “koyo” (紅葉) in Japanese. The trees almost glowed in golden sunlight. We found ourselves constantly pausing to take it all in. The air was crisp, and the colours were vivid—almost like walking through a painting.

You can check here for Japan’s autumn foliage forecast. According to the forecast, the best time to view koyo in 2025 is between mid-November to late November. But the forecast may change nearer to the date. Autumn arrived late by about two weeks last year.

Just chill and explore

Aomori City is quaint. There are no mega malls or rows of big shopping centres like in the major cities of Tokyo and Osaka. Its streets are quite old-school, giving a laid-back, suburban vibe. In the streets near the Aomori station, when you hear a melodious chime, you know it’s time to cross the road. Yes, they are pedestrian crossing chimes. I can still hear the melody in my head – “Mi-So-Do-Mi-Re-Re-Do-Do-Ti-La-La…”. We love the tune! It’s as if we are transported back in time.

There are many small shops, eateries, restaurants and cafes along its streets. There was one we kept going back to. It wasn’t anything fancy or one of those “must-eat” kind of places but whenever we were there, the place was packed. It was simply simple, affordable and tasty authentic Japanese food that just fills you after a long day out. That restaurant is Ootoya at 1-chōme-8-6 Shinmachi, Aomori, Japan, 030-0801. We love their Black Vinegar Chicken and Vegetables! There’s a recipe for this that I found on the internet. Have yet to try it.

Another place that we love is this cosy little cafe – Coffee Marron at 2-6-7 Yasukata, Aomori 030-0803 Aomori Prefecture. It has a pretty high rating on Tripadvisor and Tabelog.

Where to stay?

We love onsens, so we love Dormy Inn Aomori! It’s so great after a long day out to soak in the hot baths and if you are game, they also have a little outdoor bath where you can soak under the chilly autumn night sky. 気持ちいい～！(Kimochi ii~! which means feels good or pleasant)

Another wow factor for us is the… Apple Juice! I swear, after tasting the fresh Aomori apple juice, you won’t want to drink any other apple juice. The apple juice was really really good. We would drink it whenever we could. We wanted to buy packs of it back to Singapore and thought we would be able to find them easily in Tokyo on our way back. Big mistake. We couldn’t find any. We were sorely disappointed. So, if you love apple juice like us, please get them while you are in Aomori.

We ended up scouring online stores from Singapore — yes, that’s how hooked we were. We ordered them online via Redmart – Seiken Japanese 100% Natural Aomori Apple Juice – and they weren’t cheap. It’s about S$7/pack. The other one we tried – JA Aoren Aomori Pure Apple Juice – which also tasted good was from Yukiyama via Lazada. That’s about S$8/bottle. They weren’t the same ones that we drank over there but they were still good. If you are in Aomori, try looking out for these two brands below. Dormy Inn Aomori serves them.

So why is Aomori apple juice so good? That’s because Aomori produces 50 million tons of apples annually and they are among the world’s best in quality. I’ll share more about their apples in my next post.

Oh, besides apple juice, Dormy also serves free coffee in the morning, free ice cream and probiotic drinks after the onsen, as well as a hot bowl of soba every night.

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Getting to Aomori

You can take a domestic flight to Aomori from Tokyo which takes about 1hr and 20min, or you can get onto the Tohoku Shinkansen from Tokyo Station to Shin-Aomori Station and connect to Aomori Station. We took the Shinkansen. Here’s what we did.

1. Arrange luggage delivery to the hotel in Tokyo as we will be there for the latter part of our journey. You can arrange for the delivery at Yamato Transport, Terminal 3, 2F, Delivery Service Counter (open from 5.45am) after customs clearance, or at Terminal 2, 2F, Delivery Service Counter.
2. Exchange JR East rail pass and book reservations for Shinkansen to Aomori at JR Office (open 6.45am), Terminal 3, 2F, after customs clearance or Terminal 2 Tourist Service Counter.
   • Tip: If you are going to be at Aomori or the Tohoku region for at least 5 days and travelling quite a bit within, I suggest getting the JR East Tohoku Area rail pass for about S$263 (adult) or S$131 (child) which is quite value-for-money as it provides unlimited travel across JR East lines, including local, limited express, and express trains, Shinkansen, Tokyo Monorail and buses etc. Or get the 6-day JR East-South Hokkaido Rail Pass for S$317 (adult) and S$159 (child) if you want to go to Hokkaido as well. The Hokkaido Shinkansen connects Hakodate city and Aomori city in one hour.
3. Train Route: Haneda Airport to Aomori Station