Japan is a land of cultural elegance and extraordinary visuals, and Tohoku Province and Nagano Prefecture are no exception. They offer geographical diversity, culinary artistry, abundant nature, and an experience made richer by Japan’s history, enduring mythology, and deep spirituality.
Covering the northern end of the main island of Honshu, Tohoku Province stretches from the Pacific Ocean in the east to the Sea of Japan in the west. It contains six prefectures (akin to counties): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi and Yamagata.
Several hours south in the Chubu region, Nagano Prefecture and its hot-springs-loving macaques complement Tohoku perfectly.
No worries, there are hot springs for humans, too, plus delectable cuisine and a stunning temple in Nagano’s city center with a key to paradise hidden deep in its darkest recesses. Who am I to doubt?
14 Amazing Things to Do in Japan Off the Beaten Path
From samurai estates lined with weeping cherry trees to hot springs where wild snow monkeys perfect the art of relaxation, this corner of Japan rewards intrepid travelers.
You’ll sip world-class whisky, search for hidden keys to paradise in pitch-black temple passages and witness mythical creatures roar to life in thundering performances that have captivated locals for centuries. Here’s how to experience it all.
1. Ride a Bullet Train
Japan’s famous bullet trains make traveling easy. Hurtling along at over 200 mph, the 228-mile journey from Tokyo to Sendai, Tohoku’s capital, takes just 90 minutes on East Japan Railway (JR East).
Pick up a delicious bento box at the station before boarding and watch for a glimpse of majestic Mt. Fuji on the left side of the train as you go. Clean, comfy high-speed trains run between Tokyo and Nagano, too.
2. Sip Single Malts in Sendai
Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture is a great launching point for exploring Tohoku. It’s also home to one of Japan’s most famous exports: Nikka whisky (spelled without the “e,” as it is in Scotland).
Nikka makes single malts and blended whiskeys and hosts tours and tastings at its Miyagi distillery, which has been producing spirits for more than 50 years.
3. Dive Deep into Samurai Culture
Photo by Christine Loomis
Three centuries ago, Kakunodate in Akita Prefecture was home to samurai warriors. Eighty samurai families once lived along Bukeyashiki-Dori, a broad boulevard lined with weeping cherry trees.
Today, visitors can tour six of the original homes. Two belonged to wealthy samurai families, while four smaller, simpler homes depict warriors’ more modest middle-class life.
Kakunodate is also home to excellent restaurants, museums, and hundreds of cherry trees, which are celebrated each spring during a cherry blossom festival.
Book an overnight at JR East’s convenient station-adjacent Hotel Folkloro Kakunodate, so you have plenty of time to explore all the town has to offer.
4. Discover Authentic Local Crafts
Akita prefecture’s namesake dogs were originally bred here. We didn’t see any as we walked around town, but their image can be found in multiple forms in local shops and galleries, along with cats in every possible form (an endearing Japanese obsession).
Also, look for lovely kabazaiku crafts made in Kakunodate from cherry tree bark and brightly painted Kokeshi dolls, which originated in Tohoku and stand in eye-catching displays in shop windows across the province.
5. Visit a Shrine on the Oga Peninsula
Shrines are Shinto or Hindu, while temples are Buddhist. You’ll find both in Tohoku. The Shinzan Shrine is set in a dense cedar forest on Akita Prefecture’s far western Oga Peninsula.
This shrine is fascinating for its unlikely melding of traditional spiritual practices with the region’s mythical Namahage, boisterous creatures celebrated at the shrine annually in a winter festival.
6. Beware the Namahage
Coastal villages in Oga traditionally endured harsh, punishing conditions, especially in winter, and thrived only if every villager worked hard. Woe to those who didn’t.
Legend says the fearsome, ogre-like Namahage came stomping and bellowing down the mountain annually to frighten slackers and misbehaving children into changing their ways. Do they still roam the mountains? Best to behave and work hard, just in case.
You can learn all about them at the Namahage Museum, which displays a vivid collection of masks. If you arrive on a day when the last traditional Namahage mask carver is at work, stay to watch his unique artistry.
Next door at Oga Shinzan Folklore Museum, the mythical creatures roar to life in thundering performances that retell the legend of the Namahage and the hapless villagers who caught their attention for all the wrong reasons.
Read More: 10 Fascinating Facts About Japan That Most Travelers Miss
7. Enjoy Food as Art
Cuisine in Japan is an art form, an edible reflection of the culture, exquisite, sensual, colorful, and an ode to orderliness. Tohoku’s local cuisine derives from cold winters, high mountains, and the sea.
Hearty specialties such as hot pots, udon noodles, tuna, scallops, beef, skewers of sticky rice and petite pickled vegetables are served in iron kettles, colorful dishes and lacquered boxes. No matter how crowded the table gets, somehow it all looks lovely.
8. Sleep on a Tatami Mat
At Hotel Ogaonsen Yuinoyado Bettei Tsubaki in Oga, guests can choose a Western-style room or a traditional (and seriously comfy) tatami-mat guest room.
The hotel provides yukatas (similar to kimonos) and slippers in all rooms, and Japanese guests wear both around the hotel.
Do as the locals do and go all in for an immersive experience. But don’t do as I did and forget to change from your bathroom slippers to those meant to be worn outside the room—super embarrassing.
9. Attend a Public Prayer Session
During public prayer sessions at beautiful Zenpoji Temple in Tsuruoka, the prayer room fills with rhythmic chanting, drumming, and the muffled clap of sacred pages, seen stacked above.
The monks host multiday retreats for serious spiritual exploration, meditation and prayer. Guests immerse themselves in daily life at the temple, which includes silence, self-reflection and chores.
10. Hike to a Pagoda in the Forest
In Tsuruoka, local monks watch over the Three Sacred Mountains of Dewa — Haguro, Yudono and Gassan.
From Mt. Haguro’s base, a trail leads down stone steps to a glen, over a bridge, past a waterfall and through a thick forest.
Guided by the mountain monks (aka yamabushi), hikers arrive at a five-story pagoda hidden deep among the fragrant cedars that has withstood time and harsh winters for some 600 years. It’s well worth the forest walk.
Tsuruoka offers much beyond its outdoor treasures, including a dazzling jellyfish display at Kamo Aquarium, known as “The Dream House of Jellies.”
Thanks to an abundance of seasonal foods, marine life and 60-plus heritage crops, Tsuruoka has earned UNESCO’s “Creative City of Gastronomy” designation. By all means, eat!
11. Head to Nagano to Find Paradise
Once a hub for trade, travel and pilgrimage, Nagano Prefecture’s landscape is one of expansive forests, snow-clad peaks and abundant geothermal hot springs—a favorite of the region’s macaques.
Nagano hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics and remains a premier region for outdoor enthusiasts. It’s also known for apples, buckwheat noodles and sake.
In the city of Nagano, one must-visit is Zenkoji Temple, a vast 7th-century complex visited by devout Buddhists for more than 1,200 years. Among the temple’s most intriguing features is an utterly lightless passageway winding beneath it.
Following a guide through the disorienting darkness, visitors feel along the wall for a key (more like a knob). If they touch it, paradise is said to be theirs, though there is no word on how long that might take.
The temple also holds a statue of Buddha, hidden from sight for more than 1,000 years.
12. Bathe in an Onsen
Nagano Prefecture has many onsens or natural hot springs, several at inns and resorts built around the springs like those at Yudanaka Onsen Yorozuya in Yamanouchi.
Men and women bathe separately (no swimsuits permitted). The sublimely relaxing experience somehow also leaves bathers feeling invigorated. Onsen bathing is a fine excuse for wandering about the inn in a robe and slippers, along with the rest of the guests.
Just one session in the steamy pools and you’ll totally get the snow monkeys’ obsession with hot springs.
Read More: Japanese Onsen Public Hot-Spring Etiquette
13. Slurp Soba Noodles
Hot or cold, soba (buckwheat) noodles are thick and typically served in a basket and accompanied by flavorful broth, scallions, wasabi, mushrooms, and tempura.
When dining on soba noodles, slurping is not only accepted, it’s expected. The highest-quality noodles are still made by hand, like these at Soba-dokoro Korin, a cafe in Iiyama, Nagano.
14. Witness Snow Monkey Bliss
Japanese macaques (aka snow monkeys) are the focus of Jigokudani Yaen-Koen, the wild snow monkey park in Yamanouchi, Nagano, a photo-op extravaganza.
The monkeys are free to roam where they wish, but lounging in the natural hot springs is clearly a preferred activity. It seems they learned to appreciate hot pools decades ago by watching guests at a nearby inn.
Unfazed by photo-happy humans, the macaques are usually blissed out and oblivious to the crowds peering at them in their steamy monkey spa.
You can reach Jigokudani Yaen-Koen via bus or taxi from the JR station in Nagano. Then from the parking area, it’s just a 30-minute walk up a wide forest pathway to the hot springs and monkeys.
Note: Steps and uneven ground in and around the park make good shoes a must.
After exploring Nagano Prefecture, hop a train back to Tokyo and spend a day or two to round out your visit to this remarkably beautiful and engaging country.
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Author Bio: Colorado-based Christine Loomis is a longtime freelance writer/editor who covers general travel, family travel, culture and lifestyle, restaurants and hotels and meetings and conventions. She almost never checks bags and has written 17 children’s book to indulge her love of rhyming.
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