Akita & Oga Peninsula
A prefectural capital on the Sea of Japan side of Tohoku, where the August Kanto Festival lifts thousands of lanterns aloft; head west to the Oga Peninsula for Namahage folk traditions, the Nyudozaki coast and crater lakes.
Akita & Oga lies on the Sea of Japan side of Japan's Tohoku region. Akita City, the prefectural capital, makes a good base, with the Oga Peninsula jutting out about 40 km to the west. Akita's sights are mostly within walking distance west of JR Akita Station: Senshu Park on the site of Kubota Castle, the Akita Museum of Art designed by Tadao Ando, the Kanto Festival folk performing arts centre and the Akarenga Kyodokan museum; at the Akita Citizens' Market next to the station you can eat seafood rice bowls and buy iburigakko (smoked pickled radish). The Oga Peninsula is the home of the Namahage: the Namahage Museum and Oga Shinzan Folklore Museum, Cape Nyudozaki, the GAO Aquarium, Mt. Kanpu and the Hachibodai crater lakes form the classic loop, and the south coast has Godzilla Rock and the Unosaki coast. Best time to visit: the Kanto Festival on August 3–6, when city hotels need booking months ahead; the Namahage Sedo Festival on the second weekend of February and the New Year's Eve Namahage tradition make for a good winter visit; May–October is best for driving around Oga. Getting there: the Akita Shinkansen "Komachi" takes about 4 hours from Tokyo to Akita Station, or fly to Akita Airport. The JR Oga Line runs to Oga Station, but buses on the peninsula are infrequent, so rent a car or join a sightseeing taxi or bus tour. Allow 2 days: one in the city (optionally with a day trip to Kakunodate) and one on the Oga loop, staying overnight at Oga Onsen. Winters on the Sea of Japan side bring frequent wind and snow, so drivers need experience on snowy roads.
Top sights
- Senshu Park (Kubota Castle Ruins) – The ruins of Kubota Castle, a park a ten-minute walk from Akita Station. The moat with lotus flowers, the reconstructed Osumi Yagura and ch…
- Namahage Museum & Oga Shinzan Folklore Museum – Displays more than 100 Namahage demon masks from villages across the Oga Peninsula. At a thatched traditional house, it recreates the New Y…
- Cape Nyudozaki – The northern tip of the Oga Peninsula. A 40th parallel monument, a black-and-white striped lighthouse and grassy slopes overlooking the sea…
- Akita City Folk Performing Arts Center (Kanto Festival Center) – A year-round venue for the Akita Kanto Festival, where you can see giant kanto poles hung with 46 lanterns up close. On weekend live demons…
- Akita Museum of Art – A Tadao Ando–designed museum of exposed concrete. Its highlight is Tsuguharu Foujita's 20-meter-wide mural Events of Akita.
- Akarenga Kyodokan (Former Akita Bank) – The former head office of the Akita Bank, completed at the end of the Meiji era. Its red-brick and white-stone Renaissance-style exterior a…
- Akita Castle Ruins – The remains of the northernmost fortified outpost the imperial court established on the Sea of Japan coast in the Nara period. The reconstr…
- Akita Port Tower Selion – A 143-meter glass observation tower at Akita Port. Its 100-meter observation deck is free to visit and offers views of the Sea of Japan, th…
- Akita Citizens' Market – A long-established market beside Akita Station, packed with Akita specialties such as seafood donburi, hatahata (sailfin sandfish), and smo…
- Shinzan Shrine – An ancient shrine at the foot of Mount Shinzan and one of the birthplaces of the Namahage tradition. The Namahage Fire Festival is held her…
- Oga Aquarium GAO – A large aquarium overlooking the Sea of Japan. Its polar bears, penguins, and an 800-ton tank recreating the offshore reefs of Oga are the…
- Mount Kanpu – A grassy volcano at the entrance to the Oga Peninsula. Its rotating summit observatory offers 360-degree views of the Hachirogata reclaimed…
- Hachibodai Observatory (Ichinomegata & Ninomegata) – A free viewpoint from which you can see the Ichinomegata and Ninomegata crater lakes and Togawa Bay at the same time. It showcases Oga's di…
- Oga Onsen – A hot spring town on the north coast of the Oga Peninsula. Many inns have baths overlooking the sea, and the evening Namahage taiko drum pe…
- Godzilla Rock – A sea-eroded rock at Shiosezaki on the south coast of the Oga Peninsula. From the side it looks just like Godzilla, and at sunset you can f…
- Unosaki Coast – A flat rock-shelf coast on the south side of Oga. At low tide you can walk hundreds of meters out to explore the tide pools, and it is list…
Where to eat
- Akita Kiritanpo-ya Akita Station Main Branch – A local izakaya beside the west exit of Akita Station, where you can try Akita classics such as Hinai chicken kiritanpo…
- Minoko – A well-known stone-grill restaurant at Nyudozaki on the northwest tip of Oga Peninsula. Hot stones are dropped into a w…
- Sato Yosuke Akita Branch – The Akita city branch of Inaniwa udon house Sato Yosuke, beside the west exit of Akita Station. Its signature Two-Flavo…
- Shuhai – A long-established izakaya in Sanno, Akita City, founded in 1977. It is known for Hinai chicken dishes, house-made tofu…
Itineraries
- Akita & Aomori Sea of Japan Coastal Drive – Drive from Akita to the Oga Peninsula, then follow the scenic Gonosen coast through Juniko and Hirosaki to Aomori.
- Grand Tohoku Six-Prefecture Rail Loop – Depart from Tokyo and loop through all six prefectures of Tohoku, exploring both the Pacific and Sea of Japan coasts.