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For our last weekend in Aomori Kate and I decided to check out not one, but two wrestling shows! First we saw an All Japan show in the same Hirosaki gym that we witness the infamous bloodbath between Gosaku and Mr. Pogo some time ago. Then we drove to Daisen City in Akita to say farewell to our friends at Michinoku Pro.

Follow up:

Friday night's All Japan show wasn't all that interesting to be honest, but it did give me a chance to see some washed up WWE superstars up close including Rosie, Bull Buchanan and D-Lo Brown.




While All Japan's roster was mostly made up of beefy mean looking wrestlers, their support staff were wearing perhaps the cutest T-shirts I have ever seen.



Wrestling fans.




Before heading to Akita, Kate and I had a farewell sushi night with Angela & Kevin.



Between Hirosaki and Akita along route 7 is a strange abandoned castle-looking structure that sits on an otherwise pointless overpass. I figured this would be my last chance to find out what it was, so we pulled over to take a closer look.




Looks like it was some kind of drive in restaurant for scooter bikes.





Also along route 7 were these interesting fiberglass statues. It's rare to see 'outsider art' such as this along roadways in Japan, with the exception of tire men.



This show probably had fewer than 100 people in the crowd and only had mats to sit on, much like the very first Michinoku show that I went to in Onoe.




Looks like the entire roster has taken Sasuke's lead and are running for public office. Actually I think these sashes had something to do with a summer tournament which this event was a part of.



What the Hell is that in the audience? Someone actually watched the entire show while wearing that costume. So weird!




Poor Banana once again suffers the agony of defeat.



More wrestling fans.




Takeshi Minamino (who sadly has dumped his green Los Salseras outfit) takes a boot to the throat from mini Jinsei. With Pineapple, Mango and Takeshi taking on new personas Michinoku somehow seems less colorful than before. At least there's still Banana I guess.




Kate meets Tigers Mask (not to be confused with Tiger Mask). I'm not sure why, but Tigers Mask seemed to take issue with my Sasuke T-shirt and taunted me throughout the night. One of the Sato twins also called me "gaijin" and told me to shut up after I taunted him with "Sailor Boy" and "Keep on Journey" chants. What a fun show! I'm really gonna miss the gang at Michipro. Pro-Wrestling here in North America just isn't the same.