Zen Temple Area

The Second feudal load Tsugaru Nobuhira moved Zen temples from the entire Tsugaru region to this site in 1610 to serve as a protective fortress on the southwest flank of the castle.

Ishiba Family Residence

The Ishiba were dealers in household goods and straw products in the Tsugaru Domain. This structure was built at the end of the Edo Period.
●Hours:9:00 AM~5:00 PM
●Closed:Irregular holidays
●Admission:100-yen（Junior high school students and older）

Iwakiyama Shrine

Iwakiyama Shrine is said to have originated in 780, when shrine was built on the peak of Mt. Iwaki. In the feudal days, the Tsugaru loads professed great faith in the shrine, was reconstructed in the early Edo period. The carvings, painted in vivid colors, are worth a visit.

Choshoji Temple

This family temple of the Tsugaru clan was originally built in Ajigasawa, but was moved to the present location upon the construction of Hirosaki Castle, to serve as its southwestern guardian.
●Date:April to November（From December, confirm before visiting）●Hours:9:00 AM~ 4:00 PM●Admission:300-yen（adults）; 250-yen（Junior high school students and under）

Tsugaru-han Neputa Village

Neputa is Hirosaki’s summer festival and has been designated as a national important intangible cultural asset. In the museum, you can see Neputa floats traditional tsugaru crafts, and listen to live performances of Tsugaru Shamisen.
●Hours:9:00 AM~5:00 PM（Jan~Dec）（※Dec~Mar. Performance until 4:00 PM）
●Closed:12/31●Admission:550-yen（adults）;　350-yen（High & Junior high school students）;　200-yen（elementary school）;100-yen　（children 3 & older）;Group discount available 　for 25 or more.

Former Hirosaki City Library

This Renaissance-style building was built by the great architect Sakichi Horie. Features such as the octagonal dome-shaped twin towers and the stonework foundation suggest a high standard of European-style architectural technique. The building has also been used in the past as a boarding house and a café.
●Hours:9:00 AM~5:00 PM
●Admission:Free

Hirosaki City Apple Park

Hirosaki is the center of apple production in Japan. Apple Park is located near Mt. Iwaki,and if it is clear you can get a spectacular view of it. This park features 1,000 trees and 60 varieties of apples. You canlearn about apple cultivation, marketing and nutrition as well as the history of apple production. Throughout the year there are various events to enjoy, and it has something to offer to every member of the family!

Saishoin Temple Five Storied Pagoda

This pagoda was built about 350 years ago by Nobuyoshi, the third load of the Tsugaru clan, to commemorate those who died in battle, friends, and enemies alike, during the unification of Tsugaru. The five-storied pagoda, which stands 31.2 meters high, is considered the most beautiful of its kind in Tohoku.

UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site Shirakami Sanch

With one of the largest virgin beech forests worlds in the world, the mountainous Shirakami-Sanchi area covers over 130,000 ha of southern Aomori and northeastern Akita. It became Japan’s first world Heritage Site in December 1993. The natural ecosystem is well-preserved, and a great variety of animals and plants can be found here.

Spring

Summer

Autumn

Winter

Tsugaru Lacquerware

The Tsugaru region is known for its lacquerware. Kara lacquerware requires 40 applications of lacquer before it is finished. It is considered one of the most elegant lacquerware styles in Japan.

Bunaco

Bunaco is a modern wood craft that works the wood of the beech tree（buna）into various shapes, including bowls, vases, and lamps. It is known as one of the crafts unique to the Tsugaru region.

Kogin Embroidery

Embroidery was one of the tasks of women during the long winter months. The women of poor farm families mended and reinforced the fabric of family members’ work clothes by stitching in cotton thread in geometric patterns. Lately, this method of embroidery is used for such items as business card holders, wall hangings, and table centers.

Apple・Apple Juice

Hirosaki City is Japan’s leading producer of apples and it has rich in vitamins, minerals, and fiber, are both good and good for you.

Apple Pie

Apple pie is made with fresh Hirosaki Apples are baked and sold at various pastry shops in the Apple City, Hirosaki.

Tsugaru Ramen

The uniqueness of Tsugaru ramen is in the recipe of its soup of dried small sardines or sun dried sardines. Not only soup, but also thin noodles make Tsugaru Ramen delicious. The variety of ramen fish soups is one of the Tsugaru Ramen characteristics. You can try a lot of toppings as well; green onion, roast pork, fermented bamboo shoots and dried wheat gluten. Especially in Tsugaru Region you can try ramen with roast porkin it, which is more popular here than naruto.

Kaiyaki-Miso

Kaiyaki-Miso is a home style cooking with a big scallop shell used as a pan to grill a beated egg with miso and stock. Depending on the area, fish or scallops are added in it. It was a nutritional food to eat when sick. It is a very simple dish but used to be a delicacy at the time eggs were precious. Scallop shells bring out the flavor of stock as using repeatedly as pans. People in Tsugaru and Shimokita area enjoy this dish.

Kenoshiru

The word Kenoshiru is originated from "kayushiru （porridge）", Kenoshiru is a miso soup cooked with root vegetables such as daikon radish, carrots and burdock, edible wild plants, and deep-fried tofu which are thoroughly diced into bite-size pieces. The soup tastes better after aging and repeatedly reheated. People used to eat the soup from Jan 15（Little New Year's Day）praying for good health.

Airplane

Shinkansen（JR）

Railway（JR）

Express Bus

Wi-Fi Information

Cycle Net Hirosaki (Rental Bicycle)

Dotemachi Loop 100-yen Bus