83
NOTES OF A JOURNEY FROM AWOMORI
TO NIIGATA, AND A OF VISIT TO
THE MINES OF SADO.
BY
J. H. GUBBINS, Esq.
Read before the Asiatic Society of Japan on the
14th April 1875.
———o———
The Bay of Awomori, at the extreme end of which stands the town of the same name, is among the best in Japan, the harbour being well protected while there is deep water close to the shore on all sides.
The town of Awomori, which is the seat of the Awomori Ken, is extremely uninteresting, and there was comparatively little left to see of it on the occasion of our visit, as more than half of the place had been destroyed by fire the year before. Its Meibutsu or production for which it is famous, is a kind of sweetmeat made of beans and sugar. No particular industry is carried on, but a considerable trade passes through the town, as it is the favourite place of communication between this part of the country and Hakodate, owing to its proximity to Hirozaki which was formerly the castle-town of the district; while on the other hand it is conveniently situated with respect to the great cattle-province of Nambu. Cattle and rice are the chief exports to Hakodate, while from that place skins, fish, and foreign merchandise of all kinds are imported. Another thing which tends to give a certain importance to
