Hirosaki, Castle city in Aomori Prefecture, Japan.
Hirosaki is a castle city in southwestern Aomori Prefecture that spreads across the Tsugaru Plain with Mount Iwaki rising to the northwest. The city produces twenty percent of Japan's apple harvest, with numerous orchards offering fruit picking experiences from September through November.
The Tsugaru clan built the castle in 1611 and established a domain with 100,000 koku of rice production during the Edo Period. The castle complex became the center of the region and shaped the development of surrounding settlements for more than two centuries.
The Neputa Festival features illuminated paper lanterns depicting scenes from Japanese mythology, accompanied by traditional Tsugaru-jamisen performances. The streets fill with the sounds of three-stringed instruments as the lanterns move through the summer night, casting colored shadows.
The best time to visit is late spring when cherry trees bloom or autumn when apple orchards open for picking. The city can be explored comfortably on foot or by bicycle, as the main points of interest lie within manageable distances from one another.
The castle tower is the northernmost wooden castle structure in Japan and stands surrounded by more than 2,600 cherry trees in the park grounds. The structure was once moved to allow repair work on its foundation, with the entire tower remaining intact and later returning to its original spot.
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