7 the reason why Aomori ought to be in your Japan journey itinerary

In Japan’s under-explored Tohoku area, the huge prefecture of Aomori unfolds as a panorama of bucolic plains and peaks. For adventurous travellers, it provides a quiet various to the busy southern touring circuit. One of Japan’s most well-known festivals — Nebuta Matsuri — takes place right here in August, however Aomori can be dwelling to sake breweries, cherry blossom hotspots, a protracted dramatic shoreline and Mount Iwaki, the prefecture’s ‘mini Fuji’.

1. Hirosaki Castle

One of Japan’s few remaining ‘original’ castles — most are pretty fashionable reconstructions — this tiered pile has been present process restoration work following the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. It was picked up entire and moved to a brief spot in Hirosaki Park, however will probably be returned to its unique foundations within the park in 2026. While the surface is probably the most spectacular bit, you can too go to the interiors and scramble up steep steps to an higher ground museum.

2. Apple tradition

Apple farming has been raised to the extent of artwork in Aomori, permeating native life. Here in Japan’s agricultural heartland, it’s not nearly rising apples, however rising the very, best. In town of Hirosaki, big, shiny apple sculptures greet guests; in each cafe, flaky apple pies stare out from home windows; and bars serve apple brandy and warming cider. In autumn, onsens are full of ripe apples that slowly poach within the steaming waters, perfuming the air. And, in fact, there’s additionally the unmissable apple bushes, with orchards and devoted parks providing pick-your-own experiences.

 (Why this Japanese prefecture is obsessive about apples)

3. Gono line

Skirting the west coast from Akita to Hirosaki, the Resort Shirakami sightseeing train offers a day journey with dazzling surroundings, from dramatic coastal rock formations rising from the Sea of Japan to an abundance of fairly orchards. Pack a lunch and pay attention for bulletins that allow you to disembark the prepare at common intervals to snap images, purchase souvenirs or — in a single weird case — shoot basketball hoops on a court docket constructed into the prepare platform.

4. Nebuta Matsuri

One of Japan’s most well-known summer season festivals, the Nebuta in Aomori City spans a whole week in August. Two dozen illuminated, handmade paper floats are paraded via the streets every evening as costumed onlookers chant ‘Ra se ra se ra se ra’ and beat taiko drums. At different occasions of the yr, you may nonetheless go to the Nebuta museum on the Aomori City waterfront to achieve perception into the custom and examine the earlier years’ award-winning floats.

5. Oirase Gorge & Lake Towada

Away from the coast that defines a lot of Aomori, the plush Oirase Gorge is a wonderland of historic beech bushes and thick moss, gushing waterfalls and steely rock faces. Follow a strolling path as much as 9 miles alongside the gorge waterway till you attain Lake Towada, an unlimited and deep expanse ringed in peaks. Onsen lodge Oirase Keiryu overlooks the trickling waterway and is surrounded by scorching springs cloaked in bushes.

6. Kogin-zashi

This native embroidery custom has its origins in Aomori’s chilly winters: hemp-based peasant clothes wasn’t heat sufficient by itself, so girls started reinforcing it with cotton stitching, which developed into elaborate geometric patterns. The artwork is sustained at this time by feminine makers on the Kogin Institute in Hirosaki. On a tour, find out how the institute works with a community of ladies who produce items from coin purses to obi belts for kimono, and take a look at it for your self.

7. Seafood experiences

Aomori’s prolonged shoreline means it’s dwelling to ample marine riches. In Aomori City, you may make a scrumptious DIY ‘scattered sushi’ — sashimi over a bowl of rice, domestically known as nokkedon (bowl with toppings) — within the fish market. Meanwhile, in port metropolis Hachinohe, tour old-school fishermen’s bars with a guide. At every cease, you’ll be given a drink and snack, resembling grilled squid, and get to talk to the aged girls who usually run them.