Why Go?‘The rough sea, stretching out towards Sado, the Milky Way.’Matsuo Bashō, The Narrow Road to the Deep North (1689)

In the days of Matsuo Bashō, the famous travelling poet, a trip to Northern Honshū was synonymous with walking to the ends of the earth. Tōhoku (東北; literally ‘northeast’) is still very much the rugged north, a land of hulking volcanic massifs and remote hot springs, of ancient folk beliefs and unique customs born of centuries of isolation.

In a sense, nothing has changed, and yet everything has changed. In 2011, an enormous earthquake and tsunami destroyed a long stretch of coastline. The recovery effort, happening at both government and grassroots levels, faces huge challenges, but this shouldn’t stop you from visiting. The vast majority of Northern Honshū was spared sig-nificant damage and remains as attractive as ever to those seeking, as Bashō was, an off-the-beaten-track adventure.

Northern Honshū (Tōhoku)

When to Go

Dec–Feb Siberian cold, but great skiing and yukimiburo (snow viewing from an onsen).

Jun–Aug Mild summers come to life with spirited festivals and magnificent greenery.

Sep–Oct A brief but intense autumn is marked by spectacular displays of foliage.

F DNOSAJJMAMJ

Aomori°C/°F Temp Rainfall inches/mm

0

16/400

8/200

12/300

4/100

10/50

0/32

-10/14

30/86

40/104

20/68

Best Onsen¨¨ Tsuru-no-yu Onsen (p515)

¨¨ Aoni Onsen (p511)

¨¨ Sukayu Onsen (p506)

¨¨ Zaō Onsen (p527)

¨¨ Naruko Onsen (p492)

Best Hikes¨¨ Dewa Sanzan (p522)

¨¨ Hakkōda-san (p505)

¨¨ Akita Komaga-take (p513)

¨¨ Iwaki-san (p512)

¨¨ Oirase-gawa (p506)

Fukushima Prefecture ..477Sendai .......................483Matsushima ..............489Hiraizumi ..................494Tōno ..........................496Morioka .....................500Aomori ......................502Hakkōda-san ............505Towada-ko ................506Hirosaki .....................509Tazawa-ko ..................512Kakunodate ...............516Akita ...........................518Sado-ga-shima .........530

©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd

no

rtHern

Ho

nsH

ū (tōH

oku)

no

rtHern

Ho

nsH

ū (tōH

oku)

no

rtHern

Ho

nsH

ū (tōH

oku) H

ON

SH

ū (TŌ

HO

Ku

) HIg

HlIg

HT

S475

Ozenuma-kŸ

ShinkansenTŸhoku

LineShinkansen

JŸetsu

ShinkansenYamagata

LineShinkansen

LineAoimori

TŸhoku

LineJR Kamaishi

Main LineJR TŸhoku

Main LineJR ±u

LineAkita Shinkansen

LineJR Yamada

(HokkaidŸ)Tomakomai

Hakodate(HokkaidŸ)

TomakomaiOtaru;

wanNoheji-

Kashima-nadaSea of

wanAomori-

O C E A NP A C I F I C

J a p a no f

S e a

KaikyŸTsugaru

wanIshinomaki-

Sado

Stra

its

Mutsu-wan

YuzawaEchigo-

PREFECTURE

PREFECTURE

PREFECTURE

PREFECTURE

PREFECTURE

PREFECTURE

PREFECTURENIIGATA

PREFECTUREYAMAGATA

PREFECTUREMIYAGI

GUNMA

TOCHIGI

FUKUSHIMA

IWATE

AKITA

AOMORI

Matsushima

Kakunodate

Fukushima CityKitakata

Ichinoseki

Naruko

Kisakata

Akadomari

SanjŸ

NagaokaKashiwazaki

Muikamachi

Maebashi

Hitachi

Daigo

Kuroiso

Haramachi

IwanumaNagaiShibata

Murakami

ShinjŸ

Furukawa

Kitakami

HanamakiYokote

±magari

Oga

HonjŸ

Noshiro

±date

Kazuno

Ninohe

Towada

Goshogawara

Ishinomaki

Kesennuma

Iwaki

KŸriyama

Sakata

Hachinohe

Ayukawa

Onagawa

±ma

Yonezawa

Mutsu

Aomori

Hirosaki

NikkŸ

MitoMashiko

Numata

Niigata

Aizu-kŸgenTajima

Aizu-Wakamatsu

Tsuruoka

Yamagata

Noheji

RyŸtsu

Utsunomiya

MoriokaAKITA

PlateauBandai

sanHakkŸda-

(Fukushima Dai-Ichi)Fukushima One

KŸgenMyŸko

YuzawaGALA

OnsenYunokami

TunnelSeikan

Naeba

ZaŸ-san

National ParkHachimantaiTowada-

National ParkBandai-Asahi

Tono Valley

(2145m)Naeba

(1819m)Bandai-san

(2038m)Iwate-san

(1625m)Iwaki-san

O¥-

sanm

yaku

(2236m)ChŸkai-san

Inawashiro-ko

HokkaidŸ

Oga Peninsula

Awa-shima

Tobi-shima

PeninsulaTsugaru

AirportNiigata

AirportAomori

Akita Airport

46

45

4

49

49

13

7

4

7

ExpwyJŸban

ExpwyKan-Etsu

ExpwyBan-Etsu

ExpwyAkita

ExpwyTŸhoku

ExpwyHachinohe

PeninsulaShimokita

OnsenNy¥tŸ

Sendai

Hiraizumi

Yamadera

ZaŸ Onsen

SanzanDewa

Sado-ga-shima

TŸno

Towada-ko

0 50 km0 25 miles

Northern Honshū (Tōhoku) Highlights1 Following the footsteps of the yamabushi (mountain priests) through the sacred peaks of Dewa Sanzan (p522)

2 Soaking your worries away at rustic Nyūtō Onsen (p515), in the mountains above Tazawa-ko

3 Cycling through the Tōno Valley (p496), the land that time forgot

4 getting away from the mainland crush on Sado-ga-shima (p530), a former island of exile

5 experiencing one of Tōhoku’s legendary festivals, like the Tanabata Matsuri in Sendai (p483)

6 dodging ice-covered trees known as ‘ice monsters’ at Zaō Onsen (p527)

7 Making a pilgrimage to the mountaintop temples of Yamadera (p526), just as the poet Matsuo Bashō did

8 exploring the apocalyptic landscape of Ozore-san on the Shimokita Peninsula (p508)

9 reliving the glory of Hiraizumi (p494), the 11th-century Buddhist paradise on earth

a Traipsing around the verdant shores of Towada-ko (p506), Honshū’s largest crater lake