Hirosaki castle

Japan and no castle? The demolished one in Sendai does not count. Definitely possible.  During the Meji restoration, a lot of the seats of power of the feudal lords have been demolished.

Hirosaki castle is, therefore, better known to be one of the most desirable backdrops for the cherry blossoms than as a stately attraction. To get there, the OU line was a good guess. And then 40 minutes by foot instead of the 100 Yen bus.

Even though multiple gatehouses are still visible and the walls show how much of a stronghold this used to be,
the keep itself is a smaller version of the original one that burned down after a lightning strike to alleviate concerns by the nearby Takugawq Shogunate. Furthermore, it is no longer in its original place at one of the corners of the inner wall since 2015 as the walls started to buckle. There are pictures showing how the transfer of the keep was done by a lot of volunteers.  It looked like they made a party out of it. The repairs are expected to take until 2025, at least.

Walking through the castle with its multitudes of stone walls and moats is definitely a nice experience. Even if the cherry trees are not in bloom.
If you bring your own picnic,  there is even a big area to sit down and relax.

To the north of the north gate is the Samurai district.  With 4 old houses, Samurai and their families lived in. When I visited, only two were open. But it was still interesting to see how the houses were built and what the layout was. At one of the houses, the minder explained a bit to me in English. Whereas at the other one, the older gentleman spoke only Japanese. Limiting the information a bit.

Even though I went through the other half of the castle to see the lookout towers disguised as storehouse, I did not visit the botanical garden. Others told me that it is spectacular.

After walking  back to the train station through main street, I had to ask an attendant if the next train back was a local or a more expensive express train. Somehow, I could not determine that.

On the way back, I double-checked the JR website, and they were confident that all trains would be running on time tomorrow. So all systems go for the next part of the trip.

For dinner, we did ask the friendly cat robot to deliver the plates.