Oga peninsula

This our last day in Akita prefecture. Me and my friend wanted to have a day on our own. Traveling non-stop with someone is a great experience but can be sometimes a bit exhausting. When you travel with others you have to talk about your plans all the time. That’s why it’s also nice to have separate days. It’s nice to change dynamic and to explore just on your own for a day.

Today I’m riding a train to a random destination nearby Akita city. This is a small town by the sea called Oga. I’m not quite sure what there is to do there but it don’t care. Theses are often fun destinations. Let’s explore.

Arriving in Oga.

My first stop was the small tourist office at the station. I quickly realized that they were absolutely nothing to do in this town. Even the seaside wasn’t so nice. Anyway. I’m here so let’s get a slow walk around.

Oga from above. A very quiet town located in a Peninsula. No even one shop was open on the day I went. The only few locals I met were in there 70’s. With a car you can explore further and some spot looked really nice on the map.

I didn’t had a car but the tourist office recommended me to take a trip to the nearby Namahage Museum. Namahages are “monsters” who scare childrens. They are well known in Akita and especially in Oga Peninsula. After a short 10 min taxi ride there we are.

Namahage Museum located in the wilderness , a peaceful spot for a museum.

What are theses Namahage actually ?

Any bad kids .. ?

Namahage in traditional Japanese folklore is a demonlike being, portrayed by men wearing hefty oni (ogre) masks and traditional straw capes (mino) during a New Year’s ritual of the Oga Peninsula.

BOO !

On New Year’s Eve, young men of the various villages dressed as Namahage go from house to house shouting loudly “Are there any crybabies here? Any kids who don’t listen to their parents?” and “Does the woman of the house wake up early?”

Pretty scary masks isn’t ?

The collection in this museum was impressive. I was quite surprised to find such a nice museum in Oga. Adventure days lead you to interesting places for sure. I wasn’t aware of this Folkore tradition in Japan. Inside the museum you could see some footages of the Namahage event during the New year. The young kids were freaking out ! It was fun to watch and also quite crazy ! These kids must have been traumatized for a while after.

To get a little taste of the Namahage festival , the museum also displays a reconstitution of this event.

In this old house you can have your Nahamage experience all year long. There is about 6 performances a day.

The host getting ready to receive the Nahamages. The tension is slowly building up in the room.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK …
And here they are !

What ??

It was suprised to see them and I have to say I was quite scared at first.

To the people of Oga, the Namahage are visiting gods that come with the New Year to warn against laziness, and bring protection from illness and disasters, a good harvest, and plentiful food from the mountains and sea. The houses that welcome the Namahage prepare traditional food and sake and offer it graciously to them.

They love sakes !

Around the museum you can find a peaceful Buddhist temple and a nice trail in Nature.

Beautiful temple surrounded by Nature.

And a mysterious trail just behind…

Up .. ?

Finding a secret temple in the middle of the forest. The trail was going way further but I didn’t had time to hike and it was getting cold.

Back on my steps to the first temple. You can help yourself in the rest room and make yourself some Green tea which I did. I love theses “Help yourself” services in Japan. Somehow here it’s possible to make it happen because overall the Japanese people are very respectful toward others and objects. This will be hard to imagine in France ^^ sadly.

Back to the station with an Australian / Japanese couple met on my way. Time to try the local speciality …. THE FISH ICE CREAM !
Fish ice cream with fish eggs on top of it. Sounds disgusting right ?

I didn’t had the fish eggs but the ice cream alone. It was actually Delicious ! I think they used “Dashi” (a light fish stock used in many dishes) for the ice cream. The mix sweet and salty worked perfectly well and it didn’t had any “Fishy” taste . Such a good surprise !

Our stop in Akita prefecture was great. It was such a different experience than the most famous destinations in Japan. I can only recommend to get lost in theses rural areas , they retain so much history and are so relaxing to travel in .

Now getting back to Tokyo again for a short stop. New adventures along the way.

See ya !