Tsugaru / Aomori Cultural Tidbits

The goal of this page is to display the cultural tidbits that I've learned while living in Aomori City. The information here while not only consist of information on the city level, but also cultural information about the Tsugaru Region of Aomori and also Aomori Prefecture as a whole.

Here's a link to the prefecture's website in English if you want to learn more. http://www.pref.aomori.lg.jp/foreigners/index.html

Disclaimer: this is really meant for me as a reminder of what I've learned about my region during my year teaching English in Japan. These points will not be 100% accurate, so be warned before you read on.

Aomori Prefecture

Tsugaru Region of Aomori Prefecture

Language (Great Resource: http://www.en-hirosaki.com/dialect_word.html)

津軽弁（つがるべん）
(tsugaru-ben; the Tsugaru Dialect）

• しゃっこい
  (Shakkoi; Cold)
• わいは
  (waiha; Surprised)
• わいや
  (waiya; Very; a lot of)
• へばな
  (hebana; "See you later!")
• わ
  (wa; I)
• な
  (na; you)
• か
  (ka; Go ahead; Here you are)
• け
  (ke; "Try it" / "please eat!"; Please)
• いくべ
  (ikube; "Let's go!"
• まいね
  (maine; Bad; "Don't do that!")
• どうさ？
  (dosa?; Where are you going?)
• ゆうさ
  (yusa; To the onsen)
• むつい
  (mutsui;
• んだ
  (nda; "Is that so")
• め
  (me; yummy; tasty; delicious)
• めごい
  (megoi; cute)
• じゃんぼかる
  (janbo karu; Hair cut)

Aomori Food

Dishes

• jappa jiru A fish soup made out of the remains of the fish that people don't often eat. No worries though folks, it doesn't have a literal head in it (that is, my school lunch's jappa jiru didn't have a fish head in it... can't say the same for an authentic, homecooked version).

Regional Specialties

• Apples:
  Aomori Prefecture is the largest grower and distributor of Apples throughout Japan. It is the birthplace of the Fuji Apple that we all know about, but they have also many other kinds of apples including:
  ときりんご (toki ringo; Toki Apple)
• Garlic:
  The city of Takko (田子町；takko-machi）is known throughout the prefecture for their garlic production. They're actually sister cities with Gilroy, California! They also host an annual Garlic Festival during the autumn that, unfortunately, I didn't make it to.
• Scallops

Aomori Music

Traditional Songs

• 津軽海峡・冬景色（つがるかいきょう・ふゆげしき）
  (tsugaru kayikyou fuyu geshiki; "Tsugaru Strait - Winter Scene"
  石川さゆり (いしかわさゆり）
  (ishikawa sayuri; Sayuri Ishikawa)

Music

• 津軽三味線（つがるじゃみせん）
  (tsugaru-jamisen)
  The tsugaru-jamisen is a shamisen from the Tsugaru region of Japan.

Tsugaru Art Styles / Handicrafts (Recommended Read: http://www.en-hirosaki.com/page/culture_04.html)

• 津軽塗（tsugaru-nuri; Tsugaru Laquerware）
• こぎん刺し（kogin-zashi; Kogin Embroidery）
• （tsugaru nuruyu kokeshi; Tsugaru Nuruyu Kokeshi Dolls）