It was our last night in Aomori and I picked where we would be having dinner. One of our friends already went back to Tokyo ahead of us, as he would be working in the office the next day. Ryan, Razel, and I were left in Aomori. Tonight's dinner would be decided by me.
The night prior when we were out looking for a convenience store, we passed by a place that seemed like an alley of shops. It got me intrigued, to be honest, so I told the gang we would be dining there.
With our big coats covering our bodies, off we went for an adventure looking for food.
It was snowing heavily the moment we went out of the hotel but we didn't mind. We decided we would be eating out and drinking on our last night here. The day before and this day, Razel and I were working in the hotel, but the next day, we would be taking a vacation leave to enjoy our last day in Aomori where we went to see the Great Buddha, make and eat nokkedon, shop in A-factory, enjoy and learn Nebuta Museum and many more. Ryan already used his vacation leave on this day where he went snowboarding and onsen with Jellie. Aomori specialty drinks, here we come!
Google Maps said it's a 4-minute walk from our hotel but because it was snowing heavily, 4 became 10. We were very careful on the road, it was slippery so any moment, your butt would be kissing the snowy road.
Aomori Yatai Village Sanfuri Yokocho (青森 屋台付 さんふり横丁) is its complete name. I've read reviews on Google before coming that this place would be the place to go if you wanted to succumb to Aomori's local dishes and have a talk with the locals. This place may be small but it's full of local shops so we could choose from them.
Yatai (屋台) in English means food stalls or carts. Yokocho (横丁) in English literally translates to an alley, but it's been the term for a narrow alley full of restaurants - izakayas and pubs and the like. Hence, we were expecting to be able to choose among the small shops in here.
This yatai village is kinda far from Aomori Station, so tourists visiting this place would have to walk or take a cab to reach this place.
When we arrived, as expected it was full of snow, but we were not expecting the snow would reach our knees in some areas of the alley. It was so challenging to be able to walk in this alley. We chose to traverse the whole yokocho as it's very small and decide then and there where we would be eating.
The snow had piled up, and we're not sure where we're stepping. One step and your leg could go all the way deep down in the snow.
It was past 7 when we were walking in this narrow alley and we noticed there were many shops that weren't opened. Was it because we came on a weekday night? I know izakayas in yokochos start opening their business at night but at this day, were they on a day off?
We reached the other end of the yatai village. It was full of snow, as expected, but the lights were so beautiful, this one I didn't expect.
Out of the shops that we've seen, only the ones in the front were open. They were really small shops, where you would be eating in the counter, or you're the only customer.
It would be too intimate if we would be dining here. Because it seemed too silent, we decided we would not eat there.
It was not the best decision but we had fun checking out the place. Walking on that narrow road was dangerous but thrilling. It was unfortunate that we weren't able to dine in at least one of the local shops in the yokocho but probably on other days like Fridays or the weekends, it would be livelier than this.
Still, it was an unexpected twist of fate - it truly became an adventure. Who would have thought this wrong decision of mine would lead to a fun strolling exploration?
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Thanks for reading!
See you around! じゃあ、またね！
With love,
All photos are taken using my phone unless stated otherwise.