In August, my wife, Natsuko and I took a road trip through Tohoku, Japan. It was incredible views of luscious green mountains, clear blue lakes, gorgeous waterfalls, picturesque rivers, endless apple orchards, and rocky shores of the Sea of Japan. Tohoku’s nature views are just one of the many reasons one should visit Tohoku.

Natsuko and I started our trip by bullet train from Tokyo to Tohoku. We took the fastest bullet train in Japan called the Hayabusa. My little nephew, a collector of trains, would be very jealous if he knew. Our first stop on our amazing Tohoku trip was Wanko soba in Morioka. Wanko soba is like a food competition mixed with all you can eat. The waitresses keep serving you soba, dropping it into your bowl, one after another, until you put the top on your bowl and say stop. I ate 60 bowls of soba; Natsuko ate 30 bowls. It was delicious and a ton of fun, but I was stuffed for hours after.

Next, we picked up our rental car and took a road trip through the mountains to our hotel near lake Towada. It was an exciting drive through a typhoon. We also stopped to take pictures near lake Towada in the typhoon, it was thrilling but the winds were so strong they broke our umbrellas. After that, we took rest in our hotel in our spacious tatami room, soaked in the hot spring and ate a delicious traditional Tohoku dinner.

The next day was a long and fun day of exploration. We first went to Towada shrine hidden in the mossy forest near the lake. After that, we saw the beautiful statue of two naked women at the shore of the lake. We joked that the statue was about lesbians but you can find the story online if you search Otome No Zou. Then we went to Oirase Keiryu where we took a lovely walk near the river and touched the water fall. It was truly a dream come true for me to be so close to nature feeling the powerful rush of the waterfall above me. After that, we drove to Akita prefecture to see the famous Akita dogs. A cute boy dog that is 8 months old and a girl dog that is a year and a half, were so sweet and playful. The boy loved chasing his tail and chewing on everything we had. Such a big puppy he was. After that long day, we went to our hotel in Hirosaki.

On our third day, we woke up early and went to see the Hirosaki castle. It was a short walk from our hotel. The castle was incredible, we could even try on the King’s clothes. It was very fun and we looked hilarious. Next, we took a drive through pretty apple orchards to the shores of the Sea of Japan where we discovered incredible points to stop and enjoy the ocean. The first was a big rocky shore with boulders the size of elephants. I met a young boy and girl there fishing for little crabs in between the rocks. They were so cute and showed me how to find the crabs. After, we drove for a bit longer and came across a shrine on a boulder in the ocean. It was spectacular. There was a path to an even bigger boulder out in the ocean. You have to be careful of the time you visit because the ocean swallows it up. Luckily, we were there at the perfect timing and could cross the path with the occasional wave hitting us. On the other side of the path was a cave through the big cliff to the other side where you climb up to the top. It was scary and amazing all at once. Definitely a stop everyone should make if they are touring the shores of the Sea of Japan in Tohoku.

For our final stop we visited Japan’s world heritage site, Shirakami Sanchi. The nature views there are so amazing that they left me speechless. The lakes there are absolutely breathtaking. It’s was a wonderful way to end our incredible trip in Tohoku. After that, we drove to our station where we returned the rental car and took the Hayabusa back to Tokyo. Our road trip through Tohoku was one of the most wonderful and romantic trips I have ever had in Japan.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　（Photography: Yuri Manabe）