FIRST TRIP 005: AKITA, JAPAN
With over seventy percent of its land covered by forests, Akita Prefecture in Japan’s northern Tohoku region is blessed with an abundance of nature. The Shirakami mountain range, home to the country’s largest virgin beech forest, sprawls across the north of the prefecture, and Mount Chokai, the second highest peak in Tohoku, looms to the south. Akita is home to numerous festivals, including the Namahage Demon Mask Festival, and it is the birthplace of woodworking of exceptional beauty. For gourmet enthusiasts, the local specialty is kiritanpo (a pipe-shaped food made of rice), and you should be sure to taste Akita’s famous jizake, a sake produced from spring to winter. This season or any, head north and discover a place of ancient traditions and extraordinary natural beauty. The following slideshow is from our First Trip Series.
Along the Fujiwara Shopping Street, we found this beautiful woman [1], Fujiwara Katsumi, who is seventy-seven years old in this picture. The picture she is holding is from when she was eighteen. You can likely find her selling sansai, or Japanese mountain herbs, and mushrooms, along the Fujiwara street in the city market. Subterranean water streams down from this thirty meter-wide cliff at Mototaki no Fukuryusui [2] in Kisakatamachi, almost as if it is being forced out by the sheer weight of Mt. Chokai. In Kosaka, the Korakukan [3] was established in 1910 as a public welfare facility for miners. It’s a small theatre in which Meiji-era traditions are preserved, and it has become a symbol of culture and the arts. It was designated a Nationally Important Culture Asset in May, 2002.
A view from the bridge over Shibukurogawa River [4], which leads to Tamagawa Onsen in Tazawakomachi. Route 341, which follows the course of the river, is popular with motorists for its stunning scenery. One of Japan’s finest hot springs, Tamagawa Onsen [5] in Tazawakomachi, can be found at the base of Hachimantai’s Yakeyama. Many people visit the onsen hoping to receive the health benefits which the strongly acidic water is famous for. The temperature of the source water is a searing 98 degrees Celsius. The Odate Jukai Dome [6] in Odate, constructed from cedars native to Akita Prefecture, ranks the structure among the world’s largest wooden domes.
In Kakunodatecho, a town known as the little Kyoto of Michinoku and famed for its cherry blossoms and beautifully preserved samurai mansions, the over 400-year old festival, Hifuri Kamakura, is held to celebrate the lunar new year. On February 13th and 14th, participants attach a charcoal sack to a rope roughly one meter in length and light it on fire. The participant then takes hold of the end of the rope and swings the flaming bundle around in circles. Evil is chased away by the fire, and prayers for good health and strong crops are offered. On the 13th anyone can give it a try and complimentary guide maps are available at Kakunodate station and local tourist bureaus.
The Hifuri Kamakura Festival is held twenty minutes from Kakunodate station and JR Akita Shinkansen station (Tazawako Line) stations.
This story originally appeared in Paper Sky No. 12 (Texas & Mexico: Diaries of the Tex Mex Borderland, 2005).
