Just five weeks after my previous trip to Japan’s Tōhoku region in the north of Japan I was back for a more widespread adventure taking in five prefectures including four that I had never previously visited. All of this was done using local trains and due to their more limited nature in this part of the country I had to plan everything very carefully which often meant having to run to various locations and back! I was away for five nights this time and these were the main highlights…

Day 1: I travelled up to Koriyama (Fukushima Prefecture) via Utsunomiya and headed west from there for an hour or so. A half an hour walk to the 57 metre tall Aizu Jibo Daikannon Statue followed. More details here

It was then 90 minutes on foot to Aizu Sazae-do Temple which is recognised as a Naturally Designated Important Cultural Asset. This 16.6 metre high, three-storey, hexagon shaped Buddhist structure was built in 1796 and is the world’s only wooden building remaining from the mid-Edo Period. It’s quite unique in that two ramps come up from both the front and rear entrances and are united via a little bridge at the top having made two revolutions. More details here

A few bus rides later and I was at a historical landmark known as Nakamura-yama; a  mountain in a completely silent corner of Aizu Wakamatsu featuring load of bizarre-looking family tombs standing atop turtle-shaped stones. More details here

Day 2: After spending the night in Sendai (Miyagi Prefecture), I travelled up to Hiraizumi with a short stop in Furukawa early morning to see the interesting looking architectural design of the Osaki Civic Hall.

In Hiraizumi I went to Genbikei Gorge by bus. What was capturing most people’s attention was not the beautiful views of the gorge but the wooden bowl zipping across the valley on a wire. Across the valley is a restaurant which is able to send dango (a Japanese sweet made from rice flour) to customers without them going anywhere near the bricks-and-mortar building! I later went to check it out in more detail and got to meet the man behind the creation. More details here

Takkoku no Iwaya lies six kilometres south-west of Hiraizumi station and one bus every hour goes in that direction. It’s a beautiful temple built below an overhanging cliff which isn’t something you see too often. More details here

Motsu-ji Temple was next and that is supposedly very well known in Japan as a representative of a Heian period land garden and has thus been designated a Special Place of Scenic Beauty. Motsu-ji may be a temple but it’s the garden which is of interest to most people as it’s a World Heritage Site and a spectacle of beauty that has not changed in over 800 years.

Next it was onwards and upwards to Morioka (Iwate Prefecture) which is famed for a few different types of noodles. Jajamen at the city’s most popular restaurant was my choice.  More details here

Day 3: Summer watermelons are the speciality of an area in Iwate prefecture and that is supposedly the reason why this gas tank has been decorated to look exactly like the big fruit. Getting to this place was my first mission of the day and it involved more walking. Just the 55 minutes on foot one way this time! More details here

It wasn’t quite all local trains on this trip up north to the Tohoku area as I had to take a two hour bus from Morioka to Hirosaki. Eating apple curry in a European style house within the grounds of Fujita Memorial Garden was my priority and after that I visited Hirosaki Castle which is the symbol of the town. More details here

The final stop of the day was to see the station with a giant 17.3 metre clay figure nicknamed Shako-chan. More details here

I arrived in Aomori late evening and made it to a restaurant just before they closed to sample the unique miso milk curry ramen. More details here

Day 4: There wasn’t too much time to look around Aomori in the morning but I did go to see the pyramid shaped ASPAM building. It is actually supposed to look like an “A” (to represent the A in Aomori Prefecture) rather than a pyramid! More details here

Over 200 stunning torii gates winding their way gently up the hill through the traditional Japanese garden of Takayama Inari-Jinja Shrine was the destination but getting there took a lot of effort. From Aomori it was 75 minutes to Goshogawara via a quick change in Kawabe. There was then an 80 minute wait before the bus left at 12:30 pm and that took a further 46 minutes. Even though the bus stop was called Takayama Jinja Iriguchi mae, it was still another 40 minutes on foot from there! It was all worth it though. More details here

One hour south of Hirosaki is this station consisting of nothing much more than a traditional Japanese drum which doubles up as a waiting room. The drum is just under four metres in length. There was absolutely no sign of life anywhere near this station, and I had to wait there for two hours until the next train arrived to take me back up the line to my nights accommodation in Odate. More details here

Day 5: Odate was only ever going to be a place to spend the night but little did I know beforehand but it’s actually the birthplace of Shibuya’s beloved, faithful dog Hachiko. The bronze statue of Hachi was first unveiled in front of the station in July 1935 but the government ordered it to be withdrawn in 1945. In the mid-80’s there was a movement to get the statue back and it eventually returned in November 1987 after fundraising. More details here

Namahage is a Japanese ogre tradition originating in the Oga Peninsula area of Akita Prefecture. I wanted to see these awesome figures outside Oga Tourist Information Centre but yet again it took a fair amount of effort in getting there to see them. More details here

At Akita station I headed straight for the bus station and immediately hopped on to a bus to see the fine architecture of Akita Prefectural Gymnasium. More details here

Day 6: The previous day saw me travel over 400 kilometres south to Koriyama (Fukushima Prefecture) and the final destination of this whole trip was Pyramid Onsen (Tochigi Prefecture) which was 80 minutes on foot (one way) although I did get offered a lift by a car driver passing by on the way back when it was raining! More details here

Click here to read ‘An Unfinished Kannon, A New Buddha Statue, A Beautiful Bay, Cave Temples, Mini Fuji, Spiderman, Sperm, Capsule Hotels & Local Train Travel In Miyagi & Fukushima (2018)’

Click here to read ‘A Trio Of Top Sights In The Aizu Wakamatsu Region’

Click here to read ’24 hours In Sendai’

Click here to read ‘On The Fox Trail……At Zao Fox Village (Miyagi)’