Tōhoku region

Tohoku (東北 Tōhoku, literally "East-North") is the northeastern region of Japan's Honshu island.

Traditionally a poor rural backwater with a harsh climate, today's Tohoku offers the traveller some of the best scenery in Japan. In winter, the Snow Country (Yukiguni) of the western Japan Sea coast racks up some of the highest snowfall figures in the world, which also means great skiing and lots of hot springs to warm up in. Tohoku also has many castles and samurai residences, making it a good place to take in some history. It also serves as a good backup plan for cherry blossom viewing, since the trees blossom a few weeks later here than they do in Tokyo/Kyoto.

• Aizu-Wakamatsu. — Former castle town rich in history
• Akita. — capital of Akita Prefecture
• Aomori. — northernmost city in Honshu
• Hiraizumi. — historical site with several large temples
• Hirosaki. — the cultural capital of the North
• Kakunodate. - Preserved samurai district famous for its cherry blossoms
• Morioka. — capital of Iwate with beautiful rivers
• Sendai. — capital of Miyagi and the largest city in Tohoku. It enjoys the epithet Mori no Miyako, "The Forest City", due to its dense tree lined thoroughfares and forested public areas.
• Yamagata. — featuring the mountain temple of Yamadera

Aizu-Wakamatsu. — Former castle town rich in history

Akita. — capital of Akita Prefecture

Aomori. — northernmost city in Honshu

Hiraizumi. — historical site with several large temples

Hirosaki. — the cultural capital of the North

Kakunodate. - Preserved samurai district famous for its cherry blossoms

Morioka. — capital of Iwate with beautiful rivers

Sendai. — capital of Miyagi and the largest city in Tohoku. It enjoys the epithet Mori no Miyako, "The Forest City", due to its dense tree lined thoroughfares and forested public areas.

Yamagata. — featuring the mountain temple of Yamadera

• Dewa Sanzan - a set of three temples representing birth, death, and rebirth, popular among pilgrims
• Kinkazan. — small island with a shrine and hiking trails
• Matsushima. — one of Japan's Three Great Views
• Mount Bandai.
• Naruko. — famous for its hot springs and kokeshi dolls
• Shimokita Peninsula. — featuring the scenic Yagen Valley as well as Mount Osore, the mythical entrance to Hell
• Towada-Hachimantai National Park. — scenic Lake Towada, gorgeous Oirase River Valley and the hot springs of Hachimantai Plateau
• Nyuto Onsen. — popular hitō (hidden hot spring) resort in rural settings in Akita.

Kinkazan. — small island with a shrine and hiking trails

Matsushima. — one of Japan's Three Great Views

Mount Bandai.

Naruko. — famous for its hot springs and kokeshi dolls

Shimokita Peninsula. — featuring the scenic [[Yagen Valley]] as well as [[Mount Osore]], the mythical entrance to Hell

Towada-Hachimantai National Park. — scenic Lake Towada, gorgeous Oirase River Valley and the hot springs of Hachimantai Plateau

Nyuto Onsen. — popular hitō (hidden hot spring) resort in rural settings in Akita.

• Narrow Road to the Deep North — in the footsteps of haiku poet Matsuo Basho

• Dewa Sanzan — three mountains holy to the ascetic cult of Shugendo

Information in English tends to be sparse in rural Tohoku, since foreign travellers are few in these parts; most people are also apprehensive around foreigners even if you can speak Japanese.

The rural Tohoku accent, known as zūzū-ben for its characteristic feature of turning all "s" sounds into "z", can be difficult to comprehend at times even if you do understand Japanese. Most people are however well versed in school-standard hyōjungo, and English is also somewhat spoken by urban youth.

Most visitors come to Tohoku for hiking, nature, history and hot springs, not necessarily in that order. Highlights include the temples of Hiraizumi, the holy mountains of Dewa Sanzan and the secluded hot springs of the Shimokita Peninsula. Heavy snowfall also makes this a top skiing destination in winter, but due to longer access times from the main cities, the resorts tend to be less developed (and less crowded) than those around Nagano.

• Shirakami-Sanchi Home to Asia's largest natural beech forest
• Hiraizumi Pure Land Buddhist sites from the former capital of the Tohoku Region
• Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining - The Hashino Iron Mining and Smelting Site is listed among the many sites that make up this World Heritage Listing (Kamaishi)

[[Shirakami-Sanchi]] Home to Asia's largest natural beech forest

[[Hiraizumi]] Pure Land Buddhist sites from the former capital of the Tohoku Region

Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining - The Hashino Iron Mining and Smelting Site is listed among the many sites that make up this World Heritage Listing ([[Kamaishi]])

• Hirosaki Castle The northernmost of Japan's 12 original castles and the only one located in the Tohoku Region, famous for its cherry blossom festival (Hirosaki)

Hirosaki Castle The northernmost of Japan's 12 original castles and the only one located in the Tohoku Region, famous for its cherry blossom festival ([[Hirosaki]])

• Aizu-Wakamatsu Castle The largest castle in the region in the former powerful Aizu Province (Aizu-Wakamatsu)
• Yamagata Castle The castle gate has been reconstructed and excavations around the site remain ongoing
• Yokote Castle A small castle known for cherry blossoms in spring and kamakura igloo festival in winter (Yokote)
• Shirakawa Castle (Shirakawa)
• Kubota Castle (Akita)

Aizu-Wakamatsu Castle The largest castle in the region in the former powerful Aizu Province ([[Aizu-Wakamatsu]])

Yamagata Castle The castle gate has been reconstructed and excavations around the site remain ongoing

Yokote Castle A small castle known for cherry blossoms in spring and kamakura igloo festival in winter ([[Yokote]])

Shirakawa Castle ([[Shirakawa]])

Kubota Castle ([[Akita]])

• Morioka Castle (Morioka)
• Aoba Castle (Sendai)
• Taga Castle (Sendai)

Morioka Castle ([[Morioka]])

Aoba Castle ([[Sendai]])

Taga Castle (Sendai)

• Dewa Sanzan - A group of 3 temples serving as spiritual centers of shugendo mountain worship, Hagurosan is famous for its pagoda.
• Bodaiji Temple - Known as the "Gateway to Hell" and one of Japan's Top 3 spiritual sites (Osorezan)
• Chusonji Temple The most famous of Hiraizumi's temples, known for its golden hall. (Hiraizumi)
• Yamadera - One of Japan's most picturesque mountain temples (Yamagata)
• Zuihoden Housing the famous lord Date Masamune's grave (Sendai)
• Zuiganji Temple and Godaigo Hall Scenic temples around Matsushima Bay (Matsushima)

[[Dewa Sanzan]] - A group of 3 temples serving as spiritual centers of shugendo mountain worship, Hagurosan is famous for its pagoda.

Bodaiji Temple - Known as the "Gateway to Hell" and one of Japan's [[Japan's Top 3|Top 3 spiritual sites]] ([[Osorezan]])

Chusonji Temple The most famous of Hiraizumi's temples, known for its golden hall. ([[Hiraizumi]])

Yamadera - One of Japan's most picturesque mountain temples ([[Yamagata]])

Zuihoden Housing the famous lord Date Masamune's grave ([[Sendai]])

Zuiganji Temple and Godaigo Hall Scenic temples around Matsushima Bay ([[Matsushima]])

Originally peasant food for long winters, Tohoku food tends to be strong flavoured and salty, and the area is famous for its pickles. In mountain regions you will certainly have a chance to sample sansai-ryōri (山菜料理), prepared from herbs and plants harvested from the forests and hillsides. Rice from Tohoku is also famous, with Miyagi's sasanishiki (ササニシキ) and Akita's Akita-komachi (秋田小町) being the flagship varieties.

Tohoku is an important fruit production area and produces most of Japan's apples (Aomori), pears (Yamagata), cherries (Yamagata) and peaches (Fukushima). Yonezawa in Yamagata is famed for beef, and beef tongue is a specialty of Sendai. Akita is best known for kiritanpo (きりたんぽ), a hot pot with pounded rice and a chicken stock. Horsemeat is commonly eaten in mountain regions of Iwate.

Unlike the shōchū-swilling south, Tohoku is sake country and manufactures some fine rice wines.

• Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido is a short hop away from Tohoku's northern tip.