Home

Site map

North Honshu top 10

• Hiraizumi, Iwate-ken
  The small town of Hiraizumi is home to Tohoku's single most compelling sight, the Konjiki-do (Golden Hall) of Chuson-ji temple. Though the hall is a mere 5.5sqm, it still presents an extraordinary spectacle, a jewel box of gleaming gold leaf containing an altar smothered in mother-of-pearl inlay and decked with delicate, gilded copper friezes.
  
  
• Tono, Iwate-ken
  Another small town, set in a bowl of mountains, Tono is takes pride in its living legacy of farming and folk traditions. This is the home of "Tono Monogatari", a collection of legends that still reverberate around the valley, as well as thatched farmhouses, fertility shrines and an impish water-creature called a kappa.
  
  
• Osore-zan, Aomori-ken
  Osore-zan's desolate, volcanic crater is a spine-tingling place where spirits of the dead are believed to linger on their way to Buddha's Western Paradise. I visited on a bleak autumn day to find previous pilgrims had wrapped sad little Jizo statues (the guardian deity of children) in towels and bibs to protect against the coming winter. Some even clutched faded plastic windmills which whispered eerily to each other in the fitful wind.
  
  
• Sado-ga-shima, Niigata-ken
  Once a place of exile for criminals and the politically undesirable, this large, S-shaped island lying off the coast of Niigata, has a unique atmosphere, born of its isolation and distinct cultural heritage. Here you'll find several important temples founded by the exiled Buddhist monk Nichiren, haunting folk songs and unlikely little tub boats called tarai-bune.
  
  
• Kinkazan, Miyagi-ken
  A tiny, mountainous island on the Pacific coast near Sendai, Kinkazan makes a great place to get away from it all. Its original inhabitants - gold prospectors - have long been replaced by Shinto priests, semi-wild deer and not much else. There's an ancient shrine (offering basic lodging) and some great views from the summit of sacred Kinka-zan.
  
  
• Dewa-sanzan, Yamagata-ken
  Another place with a strong spiritual undercurrent, Dewa-sanzan is one of Japan's top pilgrimage spots. It's also home to yamabushi, itinerant mountain priests, who dress in natty, check jackets and pill-box hats. These colourful characters carry a conch-shell horn, which they use to summon the gods - or, these days, perhaps "wave" off a coach-party!
  
  
• Nebuta Matsuri, Aomori, Aomori-ken
  Every August (2-7) the otherwise fairly ordinary city of Aomori hosts one of Japan's biggest and most rowdy festivals, the Nebuta Matsuri. It takes place at night, when giant, illuminated floats are escorted through the streets in a lively parade. At other times of year, you can get a taste of the action at Nebuta-no-sato, a museum on the outskirts of Aomori.
  
  
• Yamadera, Yamagata-ken
  1100 stone steps wind up a steep, mossy hillside to the highest buildings of Yamadera, a Zen temple founded in 860 AD. At the top you can let the pulse-rate return to normal while admiring the views.
  
  
• Hirosaki, Aomori-ken
  This small city to the west of Aomori still retains reminders of its feudal past. Most sights are concentrated around Hirosaki-koen, an attractive park with a jaunty, 3-storeyed keep which draws the crowds at cherry-blossom time. Like Aomori (see above), Hirosaki has its own summer lantern festival and a museum where you can have a bash at the giant festival drums.
  
  
• Bandai Kogen, Fukushima-ken
  In 1888 Bandai-san erupted and in the process dammed the local rivers with its lava flows, creating the plateau of Bandai Kogen. It's a lovely area for summer hiking among some 300 lakes and marshes scattered among beech forests, while in winter the slopes of Bandai-san are popular for skiing.