You’re going to have to give me a minute because for the second day in a row I convinced myself I needed to try all the beers at a brewery. Not only that but was a typical Japanese brewpub which meant no tastes of beer, no taster tray, just full-size beers. After the customers I was talking to figured out I wasn’t from Japan, they sent me to a second taproom where I convinced myself that would be a good idea to try even more beer. I got really lost on the way back but Akita isn’t that big and I wasn’t too far from my hotel.

But first, breakfast in Hirosaki. The breakfast at the Hirosaki Route-Inn was included and was pretty good. The only bad part was the coffee, and I thought that would be remedied by the coffee machine in the lobby (it was not).

In any case, I made it to Akita on the same express train that I took the day before but this time I rode to the terminus in Akita-city. I was disappointed at the station when they wouldn’t let me on the Shinkansen platform to look at the Akita Shinkansen (a mini-Shinkansen line that doesn’t go as fast and also only goes from Morioka to Akita.) I just wanted to see it and my rail pass would let me ride it but they wouldn’t just let me on the platform for rubbernecking purposes.

I got to the Dormy Inn and I broke out my laptop to try to frantically find a hotel for Sunday night (the next night). During the train ride down my friends from Niigata convinced me to ditch my plans to go to Yamagata on Sunday (tomorrow) and just arrive in Niigata early because Typhoon 17 was on its way (I’m not sure who named it Tapah, but it’s just called 17 in Japan).

Fortunately, I found a Toyoko Inn for cheap ($40?) but it wasn’t close to the train station. I also tried to find a way to still get a ride on the Akita Shinkansen without delaying my trip to Niigata too much. Fortunately the guy at the ticket counter was friendly to train nerds so he got me tickets that went from Akita to Morioka, back to Akita, and then down to Niigata. The Akita-to-Akita trip was about three hours, but I would be back in time for the 1PM train from Akita to Niigata.

After that it was tourist time. The first thing I went to was the “Folklore and Performing Arts Center” where they did the lantern balancing from the Kanto Matsuri. It was another museum dedicated to a festival like the Nebuta/Neputa festival museums of both Aomori-city and Hirosaki.

I had to get there quickly because the demonstration where they balanced the lanterns on their foreheads, chins, hands, and hips was about to start. Later in the afternoon I saw them doing the same thing on the street.

I got the “loop ticket” and did most of the things available to me, the Akarenga art museum, the Kubota-jo museums (Satake historical museum and the castle turret display), the art gallery in the Atorion Building, and the Akita Citizen’s Market.

And then dinner. Was it wise to drink my dinner again? Probably not, but that’s just how I do it. I had five beers at Beercafe Aqula and both of the Japanese craft beers on tap at Beer Flight (they also had several American craft beers).

I did have SOME dinner, excellent sausages at Aqula:

And snacks on the way home:

I also took advantage of the big bath in the hotel and now I’m about to pass out.