Monday, May 17, 2010

Wild Horses of Cape Shiriya

You know those days that sneak up on you by surprise and end up being so completely perfect and happy that you know you'll always remember them, even if you didn't do anything all that remarkable? This was one of those days.
Corey and I decided it was time to take ourselves out on another little driving adventure this weekend, so we made our way up the Shimokita peninsula (the northeastern tip of Honshu, about 3 hours-ish from Misawa). Our aim was to see the "wild" Kandachime horses that live on Cape Shiriya and to generally just enjoy the Spring weather since the weekend was remarkably rain-free (a rare occurrence up here).
The drive up and back was so much fun. Corey had a grand ol' time cruising along the curvy, coastal roads while I snapped pictures left and right. We managed to dead-end ourselves into a couple of tiny, hodge-podge little crooked villages along the way, and drove through giant windmill farms, newly green forests, and rocky shorelines. Total beauty.
The horses were sort of neat to see. I don't really think they qualify as "wild" though. Supposedly they're left over from the days when they used to be bred for the emperor. They're fenced off in a large open preserve on the coast, and apparently local farmers feed them hay in the winter. (Kandachime literally means "to stand in the cold." These horses handle the harsh frozen winters well and are, I hear, quite majestic to see standing stoicly in the snow during the winter.) Plus they're pretty darned acclimated to people- crowds walk into the fields where they roam to pet, photograph, and otherwise pester them. Definitely the tamest "wild" animals I've ever seen.
Even though it was a bit cold by the ocean, we spent a good long time aimlessly walking around the beach exploring and enjoying ourselves. We were two happy day-trippers when we arrived back to Misawa in the evening, and even happier after we topped ourselves off with some sushi and ice cream.
I have a few more pics from the day posted HERE if you'd like to see them.
Awesome day!!

1 comment:

crazy bunny lady said...

That DOES sound like an awesome day! You got some great pictures, and it looks like you guys had a blast! I'm so glad you had fun!