Akita Prefecture (秋田県 Akita-ken) is in the northeastern Tohoku region of the main Japanese island Honshu.
Understand
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On the rugged Sea of Japan coast of northern Tohoku, cold and snowy in winter and far from major cities, Akita is likely the least visited of all Tohoku prefectures. Until 1000 or so, there were only a few scattered Japanese military forts in the region, holding the native Emishi and Ezo peoples (related to the Ainu of Hokkaido) at bay.
In 2010, the prefecture's population was just over 1 million people, a number that's rapidly falling as the countryside depopulates. These days the few visitors that make it this far come for the natural beauty, hot springs and a sprinkle of ski resorts. Akita is also the original home of the Akita dog (Akita inu), the famously loyal dog of Hachiko fame.
Tourist information
[edit]Stay Akita is the prefecture's official multilingual guide site.
Cities
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- 1 Akita - the prefectural capital
- 2 Nikaho - coastal town at the foothills of Mt. Chokai
- 3 Noshiro
- 4 Odate - hometown of Hachiko
- 5 Oga - the western peninsula, famous for namahage
- 6 Semboku - city with hot springs, Lake Tazawa and historical town remains Kakunodate
- 1 Nyuto Onsen - one of Japan's popular hot springs resorts
- 7 Yokote - famous for its winter kamakura events, yakisoba and manga museum
- 8 Yurihonjo - home of Mt. Chokai
- 9 Yuzawa
Other destinations
[edit]Get in
[edit]By plane
[edit]Akita prefecture is served by Akita Airport (AXT IATA), near Akita city with flights to major Japanese cities and a solitary flight to Taipei, and and Ōdate-Noshiro Airport (ONJ IATA) between Odate and Noshiro, with flights to Tokyo-Haneda only.
By train
[edit]The Akita Shinkansen provides hourly service from Tokyo station to Akita station. Trains are all-reserved and are known as Komachi (こまち) trains. The trains only stop at Ueno, Omiya, Sendai and Morioka before slowing down to travel to Shizukuishi, Tazawako, Kakunodate, Omagari, and finally Akita over conventional rail lines. Trains also reverse direction once at Omagari, the stop before Akita. Komachi trains from Tokyo reach Akita in four hours and cost ¥16,800 each way. Beware that the Komachi trains are coupled to Aomori-bound Hayate trains, which split at Morioka, but as all seats are reserved the chance of getting in the wrong car is minimal at best. For foreign tourists round-tripping from Tokyo, the JR East Rail Pass may be good value; see Tohoku#By train for details
The Akebono overnight sleeper has been discontinued.
By bus
[edit]- JR Tohoku Bus operate a long distance bus Dream Akita/Yokohama Express from Tokyo and Yokohama. It leaves daily from Tokyo station southern Yaesu exit at 21:50 (20:55 from Yokohama station east bus terminal), and arrive Akita station at 06:35 the following day. ¥9,100 single (¥9,500 from Yokohama).
- Odakyu Bus also run an overnight bus service, the Flora, from Shinjuku to Akita. Two departures each night (8–9 hours, ¥9,450 one-way).
- Shuhoku Bus (秋北バス) runs a bus from the Tobu side of Ikebukuro at 22:00 each evening arriving in Kazuno (06:20), Odate (07:05), Takanosu (07:35) and Noshiro (08:35).
Get around
[edit]Talk
[edit]Few people speak English in Akita. If you don't speak Japanese well, factor this into consideration when planning.
The dialect of Japanese spoken in Akita is called Akita-ben. While the accent isn't particularly strong in most of the area, in rural areas it can be very heavily used and consequently incomprehensible even to native Japanese speakers.
See
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Do
[edit]Eat
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Akita's weather and clean water are said to be ideal for growing rice, and the local akitakomachi variety is prized throughout the country.
Perhaps the most well-known Akita dish is kiritanpo. Kiritanpo is essentially a tube made of rice, generally formed around a disposable chopstick. It is often roasted, sometimes after being smothered in miso paste. It is also eaten in kiritanpo nabe, a stew of sliced kiritanpo, vegetables, and chicken or fish, most commonly eaten during the winter.
Another Akita product you'll encounter frequently is iburigakko (いぶりがっこ), a deeply smoked version of the pickled yellow takuan radish. Usually served as a side dish, but occasionally encountered in stir-fries or served with cream cheese as a hors d'oeuvre.
Though consumed throughout Japan, Akita's Oga Peninsula is known for inago, a sweet teriyaki-like dish made of grasshoppers cooked in sake, soy sauce, and sugar.
In late winter, hatahata, or sailfin sunfish is popular, usually cooked in a stew. It has a strong flavor, and females with intact egg pouches are most prized.
Drink
[edit]Akita is famous for its rice akitakomachi for food, but different varieties, such as sakekomachi, are used to brew many brands of sake, some of which are popular throughout Japan. Many of Akita's towns have a local sake brewery, some of which offer tours.
On the outskirts of Kakunodate is the Tazawako Brewery. This microbrewery brews a handful of craft beers, and contains a restaurant with all the brewery's beers on tap.
Go next
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