❖ Hotel Pick-up

09:00

Your private English-speaking guide meets you in your hotel lobby in Hirosaki city to begin a relaxed walking tour of the castle town. Together you set off toward Hirosaki Park, a short distance from the central hotels, while your guide introduces the history of the Tsugaru region and the highlights ahead.

❖ Hirosaki Park and Outer Moat

09:30 - 10:15 (45 min)

You enter Hirosaki Park along the outer moat, where rows of sakura trees descend toward the water and cast their reflection across the stillness of the surface. The park covers the grounds of the former Hirosaki Castle estate and has welcomed visitors since the early Meiji era. Your guide explains the layout of the moats, the strategic role of each gate, and the seasonal traditions that draw locals back year after year.

❖ Naka-no-hashi Red Bridge

10:15 - 10:45 (30 min)

You arrive at Naka-no-hashi, the vermilion bridge that crosses the inner moat and offers one of the most celebrated cherry blossom views in Japan. From the centre of the bridge, the moat narrows into a corridor of pink petals, while the still water mirrors the canopy above. Your guide shares the timing of the sakura bloom and the best vantage points used by local photographers.

❖ Hirosaki Castle

10:45 - 11:30 (45 min)

You reach Hirosaki Castle, the seat of the Tsugaru clan that ruled the region for nearly three centuries. Originally completed in 1611, the keep was struck by lightning and rebuilt in 1810; the present three-storey tenshu is one of only twelve original castle keeps remaining in Japan. Your guide describes the Tsugaru family's rise to power, the layout of the inner citadel, and the recent relocation of the keep onto the stone base during the ongoing restoration of the foundation walls.

❖ Sakura Tunnel Walkway

11:30 - 12:15 (45 min)

You walk through the sakura tunnel that runs along the western moat, where the branches of facing trees meet overhead to form a continuous canopy of blossoms. With more than 2,600 sakura trees across the park, including ancient Somei Yoshino and Shidare-zakura varieties, this corridor is considered among the finest hanami walks in the country. Traditional paper lanterns line the path, lit in the evening for yozakura viewing.

❖ Meiji-era Western Architecture

12:15 - 13:00 (45 min)

Leaving the park, you explore the streets of central Hirosaki where Meiji-era Western architecture tells the story of Japan's opening to the world. You pass landmarks such as the Aomori Bank Memorial Hall, the Old Hirosaki City Library and the Former Hirosaki Post Office, each a carefully preserved example of Renaissance-revival and pseudo-Western design built by local carpenters who reinterpreted European blueprints in wood. Your guide brings these buildings to life with stories of the missionaries, merchants and architects who shaped the town in the late nineteenth century.

❖ Iwata House and Ishiba House

13:00 - 13:30 (30 min)

You walk into the quiet streets of the old castle town to visit two of Hirosaki's most evocative survivors of the Edo era. Ishiba House (旧石場家住宅), a merchant residence of the late Edo period, preserves the dignified façade of a prosperous trading family, with deep eaves, dark timber and a kitchen and living quarters still arranged as they were in the 18th century. A short walk away, Iwata House (旧岩田家住宅) offers a contrasting glimpse of samurai life, a low-eaved warrior residence where the original mid-Edo layout, garden and family altar remain almost untouched. Both houses are designated Important Cultural Properties of Aomori Prefecture, and your guide explains how their architecture and everyday objects map the social order of the Tsugaru domain.

❖ Saishoin Temple Five-Storey Pagoda

13:30 - 14:15 (45 min)

You arrive at Saishoin Temple, a Shingon Buddhist temple whose vermilion Five-Storey Pagoda rises above an old samurai quarter. Completed in 1667 and designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan, the pagoda was built to console the souls of those lost during the campaigns to unify the Tsugaru region. In spring, weeping cherry trees frame the temple approach in cascading pink, a quiet contrast to the bright moat-side blossoms earlier in the tour.

❖ Tsugaru Neputa Village

14:15 - 15:00 (45 min)

Your final visit is to Tsugaru Neputa Village, a cultural centre that gathers the heritage of northern Tohoku under one roof. You stand beneath the colossal painted floats of the Hirosaki Neputa Festival, held every August, and listen to live performances of Tsugaru shamisen, the percussive three-string lute developed in this region. Artisans demonstrate Tsugaru-nuri lacquerware and other regional crafts, and you have time to browse handmade pieces or pause for tea before returning.

❖ Tour End

15:00

Your guide returns you to your hotel in Hirosaki city or to a nearby station of your choice, concluding a slow walking journey through the heart of Tsugaru.