Yes, I do love free and easy trips to Japan. I last spoke about Japan begin made up of four main islands, Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku and Hokkaido. This time I was in the Tohoku region which is in Honshu. Today , I am going to cover my self drive trip in Akita, one of the 7 prefectures in Tohoku. The other 6 prefectures in Tohoku being Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Yamagata, Fukushima and Niigata.

When you are in Northern Tohoku, it is about as local and authentic as it can get. This isn’t a place where you will see many foreign tourists. During my trip there, all I could see were local tourists, I was the only foreigner in the area. I guess the reason might be that this is rather far from Tokyo for foreigners to want to make this side trip.

How did I land up in Akita? Well, I really wanted to go to Aomori but I wasn’t able to get a connecting domestic flight there. I reckoned that since I was driving, Akita wasn’t that far away from Aomori anyway. The thought of driving from Narita to Aomori did cross my mind. However, that’s a good 10 to 13 hours of driving, essentially driving the entire day. And the other killer bit would be the road toll that one would have to pay for the journey, which is probably more than the price of the domestic air ticket. And you would still need to add in the cost of fuel plus the day’s car rental cost.

I ended up spending 3.5 days in the Akita area and here are some of the place that I had visited.

 

1. AEON outlet near the airport

My flight landed in Akita is the late afternoon. At the airport, the Toyota Rent A Car shuttle van took me to the rental car station which was just beside the airport. This was a rather small place compared to the outlet at Chitose.

This time I rented the Toyota Ractis, a compact wagon. It was in a higher priced category P2 but ended up being cheaper than the P1 cars for me as the 15% Hertz Gold discount was applicable for the P2 category and above.

My first port of call was the Aeon outlet. This was a short, less than 10 minute, drive from the rental car station. At the supermarket, I picked up 2L mineral water bottles, green tea in pet bottles, snacks, buns, sweets and some instant noodle and instant porridge food packs. Much cheaper to shop here than to buy these at the convenience shops.

However, it was only on my drive back to the airport for my flight home that I realized that there was something like a shopping/restaurant strip in that area that I should have visited too, maybe on my next trip.

 

2. Akita city

I spent the night in APA hotel, a business hotel located in the Akita city area. This hotel has some free parking lots, but as I had arrived rather late, all were taken up and I had to park at a public car park nearby. Fortunately, there was a favourable night parking rate.

Then I walked towards the Akita station area to look for a place for dinner. If you are travelling in a group, this restaurant serving Akita food might be an interesting spot for you.

Other than the few food establishments, it was rather quiet in the night.

 

3. Shirakami Sanchi

The next morning, I drove north towards Shirakami Sanchi. It was a nice relaxing drive along the coastal stretch in Noshiro after exiting the expressway.

For details on my Shirakami Sanchi visit, please do see my earlier post  featuring this UNESCO site.

 

4. Oga Peninsula coastline

Towards the end of the trip when I was back in Akita again, I stayed in North Akita instead of the city area for a change. I took this opportunity to explore the Oga Peninsula (男鹿半島) coast driving along route 59 which is hugging the coastline. To enjoy the scenic route drive, visit and experience the attractions along the way, it would probably take you an entire day or more.

For more information, there is a small visitor centre /rest stop area which kind of marks your entry into the Oga area. You will not miss this place with these 2 Namahage giants marking the spot.

Inside the visitor centre, you will find this map of the Oga attractions on the wall.

 

Here are some of the key attractions along the way.

a) Cape Nyudo Lighthouse

Cape Nyudo (入道崎) Lighthouse is one of the popular destinations. It is located at the extreme north end of the Oga Peninsula and offers a spectacular view of the rugged coastline and is an excellent spot for viewing the lovely sunset. This would likely be your final viewing stop along the Oga coast.

There is a pathway down to the shoreline if would like a closer view of the rocks.

Found in the same area are stone markers indicating the 40 degree north latitude line.

 

b) Oga aquarium GAO

The Oga aquarium GAO (男鹿水族館GAO, Tel: +81-185-32-2221) is located at the southern end of the Toga bay facing the Sea of Japan. This would probably be your stop just before Cape Nyudo Lighthouse. It features the following exhibits:

• Umidai aquarium of Oga
• Saltwater fish corner of Japan
• Akita river Corner
• Coral Corner
• Amazon Corner
• Polar Bear
• Penguin
• Jellyfish Corner
• Sandfish (sandfish Museum)
• Touch pool
• Flipper ‘s Museum

And if you hungry, there is a restaurant serving lunch.

 

c) Namahage museum

The Namahage museum (Tel: 0185-22-5050, なまはげ館) is located in the Shinzan area within Oga. This is one of the attractions that is not along the coastline, so you would to make a detour. The museum serves to provide information about the Namahage history and traditions. You might also be able to catch a performance or enjoy the experience of transforming yourself into a Namahage.

 

 

d) Godzilla rock

Godzilla Rock (ゴジラ岩) is one of the geological attractions here, a natural sculpture caused by erosion from waves. It is aptly named due to its close resemblance to the Godzilla character. To catch the perfect view of fire (evening sun) coming out from Godzilla’s mouth, you might want to visit during mid-April or mid-October.

You can view this picture from the ANA Experience Japan site.

 

Unfortunately I did not have enough time to explore more places and in more detail. It was a hurried visit as it was unplanned. In addition, there was a hurricane warning that day for the evening and I wanted to be back in the hotel before then. Hopefully I will be able to make another trip soon. In the meantime, have a fun time exploring Akita and the Oga coastline!

Ja
KL