Jenny Goes Abroad

Aomori

It was a seemingly far-fetched dream of mine to go to Aomori (a prefecture known for its apples!) to see Dazai Osamu’s memorial museum in the small town of Kanegi, but when the opportunity arose to make it the central topic of my essay in my Modern Japan class, I eagerly took it. This area was definitely the most rural of all the places I would visit in Japan and at times was slightly terrifying, especially when it was snowing, windy and the sun had gone down. I went with my brother in early January to probably the least touristy area of all the places I would visit in Japan during my study abroad.

Aomori was a small city that wasn’t as populated as I expected it to be. Coming from the U.S., it surprised me that even in the least populated cities of all that I traveled to in Japan, the public transportation system was reliable and made areas fairly accessible. The people I came across were friendly and the atmosphere wasn’t rushed like it is in Tokyo. It was a quiet, small city with some shrines that are worth taking a look at. There’s a certain tranquil atmosphere unique to the stillness of a shrine surrounded by snow.

I spent a day in Kanegi, the small town that Dazai Osamu grew up in. Since it was winter the sun set before 16:00 and when we tried to go to a nearby train station to get back to Aomori, it appeared abandoned despite the directions from Google Maps. While traveling to places with less reliable transportation infrastructure, be prepared to lose time to figuring out how else to you can get from point A to point B. Besides the one incident leaving Kanegi to get back to Aomori, the train/subway system was consistently reliable throughout Japan.

Dazai Osamu Museum in Kanegi

I remember discovering Dazai Osamu through a quote from his “The Setting Sun” in the first volume of my favorite manga. After reading the summary of “The Setting Sun” I didn’t think I’d be interested in his works but when I heard about “No Longer Human” I decided to give it a try. I finished the novel and felt that Osamu had somehow been able to express what I was thinking at one point in my life better than anyone I had ever known. It was refreshing in that respect, but also sad because Dazai Osamu’s life was not an entirely happy one. He is an author whose works and life have been the subject of my research since freshman year of university because his words spoke to me when I thought no one else would be able to relate. For that, I will always be thankful. When the opportunity to research his life, memory, and impact on his hometown arose, I didn’t hesitate to plan a trip to Kanegi, the small town where Dazai spent his childhood.

After leaving Kanegi station, I realized that this was the smallest town I had probably ever been to. While the small town does reflect its historical memory of Dazai, with the shop next to his museum and childhood home stocked full of souvenirs dedicated to the author and his books, the town has its own charm.

This experience is one I had been anticipating for such a long time that it was quite surreal to bring that to fruition. I also felt this gave me a taste of what it might be like to do research in the field of my interest or traveling to study a particular subject or topic. I’m looking forward to conducting research that brings me to specific locations later in life and this experience has certainly helped me generate interest for on-site research.