Aomori Hidden Gems
The apple orchards and beech forests at the top of Honshu, where Japan's most explosive summer festival meets some of its oldest surviving woodland.
7 spots
Climate & Best Season
Cold and famously snowy — the Hakkoda mountains record among the deepest snowfall on earth. Mild summers around 25°C; visit August for Nebuta, October for autumn colour.
Famous For (Food)
- Apples
- Ōma bluefin tuna
- Scallops
- Senbei-jiru (cracker hotpot)
Signature Sights
- Nebuta Matsuri
- Shirakami-Sanchi beech forest
- Lake Towada & Oirase Gorge
- Hirosaki Castle cherry blossoms
Hotokegaura
Two kilometres of white volcanic tuff on the western shore of the Shimokita peninsula, eroded by wind and sea into tower…
Tanesashi Coast
The unusual thing about Tanesashi is that the grass runs to the rocks. Natural turf — grazed by horses for centuries, wh…
Takayama Inari Shrine
Everyone photographs the tunnel of torii at Fushimi Inari in Kyoto, packed shoulder to shoulder. Takayama Inari has some…
Tsuru no Maihashi
Three timber arches in a row across a reservoir, three hundred metres end to end, built in 1994 from three thousand logs…
Juniko Aoike
Juniko is a scatter of thirty-three lakes and ponds in beech forest at the western edge of the Shirakami mountains, form…
Stairway National Route 339
National Route 339 runs up the Tsugaru peninsula to Cape Tappi, and for 388 metres of its length it is a flight of 362 c…
Inakadate Rice Paddy Art
In 1993 the village of Inakadate, looking for something to do about a declining population, planted a small design in a…