Northern Honshū (Tōhoku) POP 9.2 MILLION
©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd Northern Honshū (Tōhoku) POP 9.2 MILLION Why Go? Aizu-Wakamatsu ........... 5 ‘The rough sea, stretching out towards Sado, the Milky Way.’ Matsuo Bashō, The Narrow Road to the Deep North Bandai Plateau ..............8 (1689) Sendai ........................... 11 In the days of Matsuo Bashō, the famous travelling poet, Hiraizumi ......................21 a trip to northern Honshū was synonymous with walking to Tōno ............................. 23 the ends of the Earth. Tōhoku (東北; literally ‘northeast’) is Morioka ....................... 26 still very much the rugged north, a land of hulking volcanic massifs and remote hot springs, of ancient folk beliefs and Aomori ......................... 29 unique customs born of centuries of isolation. Hirosaki ....................... 35 In a sense, nothing has changed, and yet everything has Tazawa-ko .................... 38 changed. In 2011, an enormous earthquake and tsunami (see Kakunodate ..................41 p 7 ) destroyed a long stretch of coastline. The recovery effort, Akita ............................ 43 happening at both government and grassroots levels, faces enormous challenges. This shouldn’t stop you from visiting. Dewa Sanzan ...............46 The vast majority of northern Honshū was spared signifi- Zaō Onsen ...................50 cant damage and remains as attractive as ever to those seek- Sado-ga-shima ............ 54 ing, as Bashō was, an off-the-beaten-track adventure. Best Onsen When to Go Tsuru-no-yu Onsen (p 44 ) Aomori °C/°F Te m p Rainfall inches/mm Aoni Onsen (p41) 40/104 16/400 Sukayu Onsen (p 35 ) 30/86 12/300 Zaō Onsen (p56) 20/68 8/200 Naruko Onsen (p20) 10/50 4/100 0/32 -10/14 0 Best Hikes J FDNOSAJJMAM Dewa Sanzan (p51) Dec—Feb Sibe- Jun—Aug Mild Sep—Oct A Hakkōda-san (p 34 ) rian cold, but summers come to brief but intense Akita Komaga-take (p 43 ) great skiing and life with spirited autumn is marked Iwaki-san (p40) yukimiburo (snow festivals and by spectacular viewing from an magnificent displays of foli- Oirase-gawa (p 35 ) onsen).
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