Aomori Apple Park

We took our first steps onto Honshu island when dismounting the ferry and entering the Aomori terminal. The atmosphere of the new city was more or less similar to Hokkaido since it was still the same country, just less cold and snowy. We would have loved to admire the uncharted land some more, but we were against the clock since there was still a half-hour train to Hirosaki city where our day truly started.

Our journey along the Ou main line was tranquil, similarly to the one to Hakodate. The two of us were awake to see the gliding landscape and just like we thought, we passed acres of apple orchards. Once we were at Hirosaki station, we took a special bus – Tamenobu – directly to the apple park with a quarter hour left until three.

The park closed at five, but we weren't in any rush since it wouldn't take long to see all the attractions.

Ringomori said, "We [I] vaguely studied the park on the journey here. It's mainly made up of orchards with over 2300 trees and eighty different varieties. Their top attractions at their disposal were tours and hands-on experience with apple producing; harvesting and juice making."

I pointed at a plethora of tents to the right of the entrance and asked what those were for, and she said there was a festival happening and they had additional attractions for a limited time.

"There's an apple farmhouse on the southern side of the park, it appears to be quite intriguing, would we [You] like to check it out?"

I agreed to everything she requested, which prompted her to ask, "Am…Am I being too pushy or annoying? You don't have to––"

"Not once have I ever thought that of you," I interrupted. "Don't worry about it, we're [I'm] just happy we're [You're] excited about this."

We entered through the gates of apple shapes and colors and walked the path that led us to a red postbox with an apple on top of it; these would constantly be seen throughout the park. For the sake of not wanting to repeat myself every time she did it: More often than not, Ringomori recorded us and the scenery.

People with baskets filled to the brim with apples passed us by as we traversed the smaller fields and the festival tents. Traditional music was heard and food trucks were parked in a line along the cardinal bricked path. There was an agreement made to make that the last thing we saw, and our first attraction was to the left up some stairs.

There was a building called the Ringo no Ie – Apple House. In front of it was one of Aomori's most famous statues, a bronze little girl picking up a basket full of apples with a determined face.

"Rinko-chan!" shouted Ringomori.

"Who?"

"This is the 'Apple Little Girl' statue. Apparently she's commonly referred to as 'Rinko-chan' due to 'ko' and 'go' being the same character."

She recorded the statue from head to toe, and asked me to take a picture of her as she stood next to it. On either side of the statue were miniature apple tricycles that could be used by kids to traverse the paths. We then entered the House and it was practically a grocery store, but with apples only.

The entrance had a small gift shop with an array of accessories and souvenirs. There was also an unexpected cameo that caused our eyes to widen and jaws to drop.

"RONDselia?!" we comically exclaimed.

To our amazement, the park had done the collaboration with RONDselia back when they were a band and still sold merchandise like small figurines, pins and pottery, and apple red clothing with the characters on it. A store clerk approached us and asked if we needed assistance.

"Yeah, we'll [I'll] have this pin and that mug."

Then Ringomori said, "And we [I] shall have that shirt along with this bottle cap figure, please."

"Okay," said the clerk, "so will that be two of each, since you both want them?"

"No sir," I answered. I pointed my hand to myself then her and said, "We'll [I'll] have this. We'll [She'll] have that."

The store clerk was understandably misunderstanding our situation, which was the goal. He must have seen the amusement on our faces and decided to go along with it and we eventually got our items in a bag without worry.

The House's snacks consisted of apple-baked cookies, fruit sticks, jam, and juice; all mass produced by the park. Next to the store was a pathway that led to the real Apple House, which was a giant skeleton model of an apple. Hollowed out and filled with displays, we were able to browse the different varieties of apples.

"There it is, the Toki apple."
She approached the golden fruit and said, "Their harvesting month is October, but we [I] hope there's still some late bloomers on the branches."

At the exit of the skeleton model was a sign saying "Grasswork" in English lettering, but apparently it was a typo due to how the Japanese pronounce and use katakana for foreign words, so it was meant to say "Glasswork" instead.

The area contained wall-embedded displays of the same apples as before, but made of opaque iridescent stemware pieces. I didn't quite understand the art behind it, but it was fascinating nonetheless.

Adjacent to the Glasswork was a mini library with apple recipes and famous storybooks that include the fruit, for example: "Ten Apples Up On Top" and "Secrets of the Apple Tree." There were inflatable figures of the RONDselia members along with other idol bands scattered around the House.

Near the exit was a cafe counter that offered delicacies consisting of apple sundaes, soft-serve, and cider for the adults. We elected to not order from here, and exited the House.

Similarly to "Rinko-chan" at the entrance, the exit had another memorial statue that said "Town of Friendship Monument" on the plinth.

Further south of the Apple House was the "Picnic Square Park" where facilities like a playground and picnic tables were popular with families. We simply strolled through the site to get to the next attraction. There was an abundance of colorful flower bushes and weeds – wearing vibrant colors like yellow and orange – along either side of the concrete and dirt paths. I knew they were autumn and summer flowers, and not spring ones.

After the stroll through the picnic park, we arrived at the large "Ornamental Apple Orchard." It was one of three major orchards where people harvest. We were handed two wooden baskets, but settled for one as we entered the maze and toured the trees.

"Are these Toki apples?" I asked, pointing at a branch of yellow apples.

"No, these are Kiou apples. They're a late variety in the harvest, being ripe in late October."
She then pointed at a reddish pink apple on the opposite side of the path.
"That is a Sun Fuji apple. Super-sweet and crisp, they go well with a honey component."

We continued further along and she confirmed a Toki apple tree and picked a few to place in the basket; they would be the only variety we'd harvest. For the rest of the tour, she told me a fact or two about each new apple variety we passed. To be able to accurately remember something like that required passion and dedication, her love for apples was deeply-rooted.

A staff member further ahead of the path approached us and asked if we needed any help. With Ringomori as my expert guide, I told him we were okay. Upon saying that, he said,
"This orchard's actually the least visited one of the three here. It's too far for people to come all this way."

Ringomori and I glanced at each other and the corners of our lips raised. Once again, we were different from the masses.

The worker asked, "If you two want, you can take those apples and turn 'em into cider, it's good stuff."

The legal drinking age was twenty, so we weren't legally allowed to enter the cider building even if we wanted to. I figured that the worker assumed we looked older than we really were. Not revealing our age, Ringomori denied the offer.

"Very well then, customers. Allow me to offer you guys something else then. Would you two like to plant a tree into the orchard? There will be a plaque with the name of the apple variety of your choosing along with your names underneath it. You get to claim ownership of a tree!"

Our answer were equal, and we were taken to the edge of the orchard where a few holes were already dug into the dirt and a line of black tree pots sat above them. We selected a Toki tree and some workers planted it into the ground, then we were given the first pour of water. We filled a form with our names and a plaque would be erected soon.

That was the moment our presence was solidified in Aomori.