A "Mystery Tour of the Soma District in Hirosaki City, Aomori Prefecture" was held from February 21 to 23 in the Soma District of Aomori / Hirosaki City (former Soma Village).

This tour was planned by Tsubasa Shimoda and Ryuichi Yoneyama, who have been working as a “regional cooperation team” in the area since 2015. The recruitment conditions for participants are limited to female college students who go to Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture.

Mr. Shimoda said, "Matsumoto and Hirosaki have many similarities, such as castle towns, apples, and snowy regions, but there are differences between the top and the bottom in terms of life expectancy and differences in information transmission. From the perspective of young women We planned it so that we could cooperate with PR in the area. "

Mr. Chika Suzuki, a third year student at Shinshu University, and Saori Nomura, a first year graduate student, participated in the two-night, three-day tour. On the first day, after sightseeing around Hirosaki Park, we moved to Soma area by a light truck. We enjoyed a barbecue barbecue with about 30 men living in the Soma area. On the second day, we participated in the "Sawada Candle Festival" venue held on the same day as a volunteer, after practicing work on the brand "Hiba apples" in the area and snow competition with snowshoes. On the third day, we had a paper making experience and made an apple pie.

The two people who participated were the first to get to know each other on this tour. “I couldn't tell the tour contents in advance, and even when I heard it, he didn't tell me that it was a mystery,” Nomura said with a wry smile. "It was a valuable experience for the first time, such as pruning apples and having a torch." Mr. Suzuki recalls, "The barbecue wild we did in the warehouse on the first night was amazing."

Mr. Shimoda said, “By seeing the reactions of the participants, I was able to recognize that the daily life in the Soma area is unusual. In this area, there are slightly different customs from Hirosaki, and it is a mystery. It may happen, so I would like to continue to publicize Soma in the future ".