After leaving Hokkaido, we arrived at Aomori City, our first port of call on Japan’s largest island, Honshu. With a forecast for a nice warm day, we were excited to visit the Seiryu-ji Temple, a beautifully terraced garden which houses a five-story pagoda and is renowned for its towering bronze sitting Buddha, the largest in Japan at twenty-one meters tall. We were invited to participate in a meditation demonstration and session led by our hosting Buddhist monk.
Following a very peaceful experience at the temple, we returned to Aomori City for a visit to the Nebuta Museum, exhibiting a celebration of the Nebuta summer festival in which bright, colorful floats parade the city each August, a true photographer’s dream. Not only did we see and learn about the festival’s origins, but we were also given the chance to examine the processes and fine skill that go into making the floats.
