Kakunodate — preserved samurai district, Akita Prefecture, Japan
Photo: Ken_Lee via FIND/47 · CC BY 4.0
秋田TŌHOKU
TŌHOKU · 秋田県 · Japan

Akita

Deep snow, rice and sake country, and the fierce Namahage folk tradition.

Akita is a snowy northern Tohoku prefecture famed for its Kanto Festival of giant lantern-laden bamboo poles balanced on performers' bodies, top-grade sake and rice, and Lake Tazawa, Japan's deepest lake. It is also home to the namahage demon-visitor tradition and beautifully preserved Edo-period samurai townscapes.

Akita (秋田) is old rice-and-sake country. Kakunodate (角館) preserves Edo-period samurai residences, and the Oga (男鹿) peninsula keeps the Namahage (なまはげ) New Year ritual alive.

Akita-shi 秋田市Kakunodate 角館Oga 男鹿
Where it isAkita, TŌHOKU
Oga Peninsula, Akita Prefecture, Japan
Oga Peninsula
Kakunodate samurai district, Akita Prefecture, Japan
Kakunodate samurai district
Lake Tazawa, Akita Prefecture, Japan
Lake Tazawa
Namahage Sedo Festival, Akita Prefecture, Japan
Namahage Sedo Festival

Photos: Oga Peninsula — D-Stanley via Flickr, CC BY 2.0 · Kakunodate samurai district — Kmhkmh via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 · Lake Tazawa — T-KIMURA via FIND/47, CC BY 4.0 · Namahage Sedo Festival — D-Stanley via Flickr, CC BY 2.0

01

Getting there

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Akita is ~3h40m from Tokyo by Akita Shinkansen.

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02

What to see

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Oga Peninsula, Akita Prefecture, JapanTop pick

Oga Peninsula & Namahage (Namahage Museum / Oga Shinzan Folklore Museum)

Home of the Namahage New Year ritual, a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. Year-round museums let visitors see masks and live Namahage demonstrations.

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Top pick

Kakunodate samurai district

The 'Little Kyoto of Tohoku': preserved Edo-era samurai residences with black wooden walls, famous for weeping cherry blossoms in spring; six manors are open…

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Lake Tazawa, Akita Prefecture, JapanTop pick

Lake Tazawa (Tatsuko Statue & Gozanoishi Shrine)

Japan's deepest lake (423.4 m) with cobalt-blue water, the golden Tatsuko statue, and the vermilion lakeside torii of Gozanoishi Shrine.

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03

What to eat

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Kiritanpo, Akita Prefecture, JapanMust-eat

Kiritanpo (kiritanpo nabe)

Mashed local rice pressed onto cedar skewers, toasted, then simmered in a Hinai-jidori chicken hotpot. An iconic Akita winter dish originating in the…

Inaniwa udon, Akita Prefecture, JapanMust-eat

Inaniwa udon

Counted among Japan's three great udon. Thin, flat, hand-pulled wheat noodles with a smooth, firm texture, made for over 300 years in Inaniwa, Yuzawa City.

Iburigakko, Akita Prefecture, JapanMust-eat

Iburigakko

Smoked daikon pickle unique to Akita, where the radish is smoke-dried over a hearth (rather than sun-dried) due to the snowy climate; prized for its savory,…

04

Akita at a glance

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05

Say it in Akita

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Ask a local
Kirei desu ne.
It's beautiful, isn't it?
Test yourself
Local word
namahage
the New Year ogre-visitors of the Oga Peninsula
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One more
Koko no yuki wa sugoi desu ne.
The snow here is incredible, isn't it?
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Oga Peninsula, Akita Prefecture, Japan

Sleep in Akita

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07

Next door

AomoriJapan's apple country at the northern tip of Honshu, famous for the explosive Nebuta summer festival.YamagataMountain temples, cherries, and snow monsters on Mount Zaō.Play the 47-prefecture mapUnlock Akita in the RPG-style explorer.

Links marked PR are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Photos: Kakunodate — preserved samurai district — Ken_Lee via FIND/47, CC BY 4.0 · Oga Peninsula — D-Stanley via Flickr, CC BY 2.0 · Kakunodate samurai district — Kmhkmh via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 · Lake Tazawa — T-KIMURA via FIND/47, CC BY 4.0 · Namahage Sedo Festival — D-Stanley via Flickr, CC BY 2.0 · Oga Peninsula — D-Stanley via Flickr, CC BY 2.0 · Lake Tazawa — T-KIMURA via FIND/47, CC BY 4.0 · Kiritanpo — Hyougushi via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Inaniwa udon — Galapadish via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Iburigakko — Asamboi via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Map: Geolonia (MIT).