Editing Travel Plans/Winter 2023 Asia (section)

=== 2024-01-06 Saturday: Morioka → Hakodate ===

Idea of things to do it in Morioka in the morning/day:

* walk through Morioka Castle
* coffee at Nagasawa Coffee
* Bookstore at Booknrd

Other Moiroka ideas:

* https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Morioka

From [https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/travel/52-places-travel-2023.html#morioka NYTimes]:

: The city of Morioka, in Iwate Prefecture, however, is often passed over or outright ignored. Circumscribed by mountains, it lies a few hours north of Tokyo by Shinkansen, the Japanese high-speed rail lines. Morioka’s downtown is eminently walkable. The city is filled with Taisho-era buildings that mix Western and Eastern architectural aesthetics as well as modern hotels, a few old ryokan (traditional inns) and winding rivers. One draw is an ancient castle site turned into a park.

: There’s also fantastic coffee, including one of Japan’s third-wave originators: Nagasawa Coffee, whose owner, Kazuhiro Nagasawa, is so committed to his beans that he uses a vintage German-made Probat roaster, which he personally imported and restored. Azumaya serves up all-you-can-eat wanko soba, which comes served in dozens of tiny bowls; Booknerd offers classic Japanese art books; and Johnny’s, a jazz cafe, has been open for over 40 years. An hour west by car: Lake Tazawa and dozens of world-class hot springs.

;Train: Morioka→Hakodate: anything that gets into into hakodate not too late, e.g., Hayabusa No.27  (w/ change to train to hakodate) 16:37 → 18:54
;Stay: Hotel booked in Tripit/Agoda