Akita Prefecture offers tourist attractions such as Yasaka Shrine, Mt. Ontake, and Mt. Chokai; sightseeing events such as Hanawa-bayashi, Tanabata Festival, and Kanto Festival; and local delicacies such as Inaniwa udon, Kiritanpo, and Iburi Gako.
Akita is a land of well-known folk arts and festivals, such as Dainichido Bugaku, a folk performing art that is a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, Namahage (a type of Japanese dance) performed in Oga City, Mikane Town, and parts of Niigata City, and kamakura, snow caves made from snow. Akita is also a land of folk tales and legends, such as "Sarukani Gassen," a story about a sly monkey and a crab that gets even with the monkey after the crab kills the crab's parents.
Many stone tools and other artifacts have been excavated from ruins in Akita Prefecture, indicating that people have lived in the area since the Paleolithic Era. The prefecture is known as a place to visit for those interested in ancient times, as the national government has conducted excavations for paleontological research.
Akita Prefecture was part of the Dewa and Mutsu Provinces until the Meiji era (1868-1912), and before that it was under the control of the Oshu Fujiwara clan, making it a land of endless interest to history buffs.
The Shirakami Mountains, registered as a World Natural Heritage site, is located in the northwestern part of Akita Prefecture and is home to one of the world's largest distributions of primeval beech trees. Although access to the World Heritage-listed area is prohibited due to nature conservation, visitors can enjoy the scenery of the Shirakami Sanchi through the trail to Kodake and the trail to Futatsumori, both near the World Heritage-listed area.
In addition to the Shirakami Mountains, Akita Prefecture is home to abundant nature, including Lake Tazawa, which is the deepest and most transparent lake in Japan, and is a sightseeing spot where visitors can enjoy the tranquility of nature.
Akita Prefecture has numerous hot springs, including Odate and Kazuno Hachimantai, Noshiro and Shirakami Mountains, Akita City, Oga Peninsula, Yurihonjo and Nikaho, Omagari and Senboku, Tazawako, Nyuto and Tamagawa, Yokote City and vicinity, Yuzawa City, Koan and Akinomiya, where you can rest your body while enjoying the spectacular view of nature.
One of the best parts of sightseeing is tasting the local food, and Akita Prefecture offers more than enough of that as well. The kiritanpo, which is made by mashing hard-cooked rice and simmering it with vegetables and chicken, Hinai chicken, known as one of Japan's three great landlocked chickens, hatahata, Akita's prefectural fish, and yakisoba with a fried egg on top are all famous as champions of B-class gourmet cuisine.
Akita's culinary delights are endless, including Inaniwa udon, which is known as one of Japan's three best udon noodles along with Sanuki udon and Kishimen udon.
Kakunodate, the castle town of Kakunodate Castle that flourished in the Edo period, is known as "Michinoku's Little Kyoto" for its old and quiet atmosphere. Within a compact area of about 2 km in radius, many old buildings such as samurai residences still exist, making it a popular sightseeing spot with its elegant townscape. In the past, the inner town (samurai town) and outer town (merchant to...»
Located along Route 341 leading to Lake Tazawa in the southwestern part of Towada-Hachimantai National Park, this quiet hot spring is surrounded by the bosom of the Yake Mountains. The hot spring gushes out into the hot spring's upper hand, reaching the boiling point, and boasts a gushing volume of 9,000 liters per minute, the highest gushing volume in Japan for a single location. The spring is ...»
Visitors can experience a demonstration of the traditional Namahage, which has been strictly preserved in the local Mayama area since ancient times, in a kyokka (a farmhouse with an L-shaped flat roof) with a distinctive thatched roof. Visitors will be overwhelmed by the power of the Namahage, which can be seen up close as it ravages through the house. Also nearby are the Mayama Shrine, the Many...»
The Ogasawa Mine, a historic site, celebrated its 1,300th anniversary in 2008. The mine, one of the largest in Japan, stretches 800 km in length, and the tunnels for visitors to see are reproductions of the conditions of workers in those days....»
This mysterious, circular lake with a diameter of approximately 6 km is the deepest caldera lake in Japan, with a maximum depth of 423 meters. It is also known as Japan's Lake Baikal (the deepest lake in the world) and is the 17th deepest lake in the world, and because of its depth, it never freezes even in winter. The surface of the lake is a fantastic lurid color, with high transparency and be...»
The "Namahage" events held on New Year's Eve in almost all areas of the Oga Peninsula are all terrifying in appearance, but in fact, the masks and costumes vary widely. The museum exhibits many valuable materials on why the legend of Namahage lives on in this area of Oga. The masonry exterior walls made of Oga's cold wind stone and the interior decorated with plenty of Akita cedar give the place...»
Tsuru-no-yu Onsen is the oldest hot spring in Nyuto Onsenkyo and was once used as a therapeutic bath by the feudal lord of Akita. Located at the foot of Mt. Nyuto, the area is surrounded by virgin beech forests and offers an original Japanese landscape. There is a ryokan "Tsuru-no-yu Onsen" and an annex "Yama-no-Yado" with a quiet atmosphere equipped with a private open-air bath. There are four...»
This is a beautiful 60-meter-long V-shaped gorge formed by the rapid flow of the Minase River. It is about 8 km long and is included in Kurikoma National Park. The valley is home to countless waterfalls, both large and small, including Fudo Falls and Yakushi Falls. Visitors can enjoy the fresh greenery in spring, autumn leaves in fall, and large "shigakko" icicles that descend into the gorge in w...»
Nyuto Onsenkyo is the generic name for the hot springs scattered along the foot of Mount Nyuto in Towada-Hachimantai National Park. This hot spring village is dotted with rustic one-house inns surrounded by deep mountains, each with its own unique source, offering a variety of spring qualities. Myonoyu, Ogama, Kaniba, Magoroku, and Kuroyu are located downstream, and Tsuru-no-yu is located along ...»
The rotating observatory is located at the top of Kanpuyama, and the rotating observation room on the fourth floor is 355 meters high. It offers a 360-degree panoramic view of the entire city, including the Hachirogata reclaimed land, the Sea of Japan, Chokai Mountain, the Shirakami Mountains, and Irimizaki. Kankuyama is known as a popular place for paragliding due to its beautiful grass-covered...»
Kubota Castle was once the residence of the Satake clan in Hago Province (formerly Dewa Province). The sites of the main and second citadel of Kubota Castle have been developed into a comprehensive urban park called Chiaki Park. Kubota Castle was built in 1602 by Yoshinobu Satake, the first lord of the Akita Domain, and became the center of the Akita Domain for 12 generations of 267 years. Chiak...»
The garden boasts a total of 6,000 beautifully blooming dahlia plants of 700 varieties from 14 countries around the world. In the small garden spreading over a vast site, there are blocks of giant and large-flowered dahlias across the central road, as well as blocks of medium-large, medium-small, and variegated dahlias. Around 2 hectares of peacock plants are also planted around the dahlias, and ...»
The aquarium has a large tank that reproduces the habitat of fish in the "Sea of Oga," and exhibits rare fish from around the world, including the Akita Prefecture fish, the grouper, as well as sea lions, penguins, polar bears, and many other creatures. Visitors are also encouraged to experience the "touch pool" where they can directly touch and learn about sea creatures, and the "3D theater" whe...»
This is the oldest wooden shibai-goya with a blend of Japanese and Western styles that has not been moved or restored and is still in use today. It is a two-story wooden building with gabled gable ends. The exterior is Western-style, but the interior is a typical Japanese-style playhouse with hanamichi (a pathway for flowers), suppon, and a revolving stage, etc. The building is characterized by i...»
Senshu Chishu Park is an urban park (general park) developed on the site of Honmaru and Ninomaru of Kubota Castle, which was the residence of the Satake Clan. The park covers a total area of 16.29 hectares, with lush greenery and the Osumi Tower of Kubota Castle and the Honmaru Front Gate, etc., which convey the atmosphere of the feudal domain era. Kubota Castle was built in 1602 by Yoshinobu Sa...»
At the Yokote City Fureai Center, a cultural and sightseeing complex, you can learn about the history of the traditional "kamakura" event that has been passed down through the generations in Yokote City. In the "Fantastic Gallery," a video showing Yokote's four seasons is shown, and the history of kamakura is introduced through panel displays and other exhibits. The museum has a "kamakura room" ...»