Recently, we visited Misawa, Japan. We stayed with our good friends, Rob & Athena Vina for this trip. Since we were there to relax, we kept our sightseeing to a minimum, but we managed to see some pretty awesome things!

A little bit about Misawa

Misawa (三沢市 Misawa-shi) is a city located in Aomori Prefecture, and is the location of a large military base, named Misawa Air Base. Misawa is located in the flatlands on the southern shore of Lake Ogawara on the east coast of Aomori Prefecture, facing the Pacific Ocean. The nearest large city is Hachinohe which is 30 to 40 minutes away by car. The surrounding area is mostly rural and scenic. There is some limited nightlife, mostly concentrated around the American air base. Tokyo is an hour away by air, about 3 and a half hours by train, and about 10–12 hours by car. Misawa has well-defined seasons. Though short, autumn is beautiful with pleasant temperatures, late-blooming flowers, and the changing colors of the trees. Winter gets serious in early December, peaks in January and February, and starts fading near the end of March. Strong winds often intensify the cold temperatures. Snowfall is erratic, however even the heaviest snowfalls can melt quickly. In early spring, the winds switch and come from the eastern coast off of the ocean. May is usually quite pleasant with warm temperatures. The onset of summer usually brings the rainy season. This normally begins in mid-June and continues for an unpredictable period of time. However, it normally clears out around mid to late July. The end of July through August can get quite hot.^[1]D