Day 2 in Akita

Day 2 in Akita

Early in the morning, we ate breakfast at hanamaru udon because it was open and near us.

The open space outside Akita Station looks so new, wide and clean.

On this day, we rented a car so that it is easier for us to travel around.

Along the way, we saw windmills.

First stop was to take picture withThe Big Namahage Statues( 巨大なまはげ).

Website: https://oganavi.com/spot/94/

As we continued our journey, we made a pit stop at this place that has a nice little cafe.

After that, we continued our journey to the Namahage Museum (なまはげ館).

Website: https://namahage.co.jp/namahagekan/

There we got to enjoy a show about namahage. The room itself is smoky and we all had to sit on the floor. The namahage will appear as the story is being told to us and they will start scaring kids who are there. 

The story itself is used to frighten lazy or naughty children. Some of the kids near us were really scared and cried very loudly.

In Akita, at most tourist spots, we will see these carts with old ladies selling rose shaped ice cream called Babahera Ice (ババヘラ). The rose shape reminds me of the ice cream in Seoul but the flavours are different. Babahera is made of strawberry and banana flavoured ice cream.

Here are some shots taken inside the museum.

Everything namahage is in this museum. If you are interested to learn more about namahage, this is the place to visit. While I did not read in depth all the signs and explanations, it was nice to just look at all the displays that were available.

Lastly, a group pic before continuing our journey.