Night Life

Kawabata is the Nightlife district in Akita town. Hanging out as foreigners in lesser-known areas is a fun experience. The locals are not so used to see foreigners which creates Curiosity. The many Izakaya’s in the area retains a very “Japanese” energy.
A few nights in Kawabata..!

The red light.

More red lights.

Kawabata nightlife district entrance. The area feels young and quite popular. Many Restaurants , Izakaya’s and .. girls bar ! Actually many girls bar , we were quite suprised. In Japan theses bars aren’t prostitution bars (even though this might exist) but rather a space to chat with pretty girls. A phenomenon that’s very common here.

Akita sake , little delight. The variety of Sake is impressive and tastes change quite a lot from one variety to another. You can pick up from many Sake ranging from Dry to Sweet.

Sake is an alcohol made from Rice and obviously Water is the most important element here . Akita prefecture is well known for having pure air and water , which therefore creates perfect conditions to create amazing sake. Also this so called pure air apparently impacts Womans Beauty. That’s what men says anyway 😉 Akita girls have the reputation to be the prettiest in whole Japan , we can agree on that I think 🙂

Sushi Bar , Happy time. Such a good energy inside.

People enjoying their evening.

Before / After.

We went to a local hot spring on our first day in Akita. We met a young Japanese guy from Akita city , after talking a little bit we got invited to come at a special venue in Akita town. Our friend was actually Singer and Guitarist in a local band…

A new experience is waiting for us.

What type of music can that be ..?

Punk rock night !

This was epic. The energy in that small music venue was insane. We got surprised to acknowledge how the contrasts can be strong in Japan. From one side you have the typical Japanese person , who doesn’t like to stand out , stays polite and quiet and on the other side you have a much more eccentric Japan. You have places where people gather to release a lot of their emotions and happiness. It really feels like two worlds to us. Somehow the separation between life and work is even bigger in a country like Japan where work is considered to be a central point. This Punk Rock venue with locals was super fun and we felt like entering a secret room. Cool experience even though our ears were ringings afterwards..!

Trying local specialty : Kili Dampo or Rice stick. This was cooked in a hot pot (Nabe) with vegetables and a soy sauce broth , yummy.

Our time is Kawabata , Akita , was fun. We glad we came to this lesser-known city. In fact there is a few day trips that can be done from here. Akita town could be a good base to stop and explore from there.

Goodnight Kawabata.

Good night Akita .

After a few days in the town it was time for us to explore the rural area’s that Akita offer’s. We decided to rent a car for one day and see that Nature.
For next episode we are getting out the town to discover a secret Onsen and a Samurai town …

See ya