Tohoku “Œ–k
"Tohoku" translates as "North-East". It includes the 6 northernmost prefectures of Honshu : Aomori, Akita, Iwate, Yamagata, Miyagi and Fukushima. All of them are sparsely populated, and quite mountainous.
The Tohoku region was for a long time the border between "Japan" and the Ainu tribes of the North. The latter were eventually pushed out of Honshu to Hokkaido (then called Ezo), but the Tohoku remained remote from the core of the Japanese civilization.
Touristically, the Tohoku offers lots of mountains (Dewa Sanzan, Komagatake), some volcanos (Osorezan, Bandaisan), plenty of onsen (hot springs) and two of Japan's most beautiful lakes : Towada-ko and Tazawa-ko. Aomori prefecture's Tsugaru and Shimokita peninsulas are famous in Japanese literature and deserve some exploring.
One of Japan's great landscapes, the islands of Matsushima, is possibly the Tohoku most compelling attraction, especially if combined with one of Sendai's festivals.
Few cities are really attractive enough to merit a trip of its own from Tokyo or other parts of Japan. The small towns of Hiraizumi, Kakunodate and Hirosaki are worth visiting if you are in the region. Whereas Hiraizumi is one of the several so-called "little Kyoto" and dates back to the 11-12th century, Hirosaki is a pleasant 17th-century castle town and Kakunodate a medieval samurai outpost.
Both Hirosaki and Aomori's Neputa and Nebuta matsuri justify the detour, for they are some of Japan's most stupendous. Another notable festival is Akita's Kanto Matsuri and its thousands of lanterns carried on huge sticks.
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