There are many hotels and a few hostels around Towadako so finding a place to stay isn’t really a problem unless you plan a last minute trip to go during a holiday or peak season (fall). While the lake is beautiful be sure not to miss Oirase Stream. If you live in Tohoku it is definitely worth a visit.

The easiest way to access Towadako is to take a bus from Hachinohe, Morioka or rent a car and drive there. Here are details about taking a bus and here is the story of Lake Towada.

You can see larger and higher quality images at the gallery.

If you are going to see the fall leaves know that the two areas of Nikko change colors at different times. The Nikko National park at a much higher elevation and tends to change color about 2 weeks before the central area. I was there just a little late for Nikko National Park area just a little early for Central Nikko

Nikko National Park has is most famous for Lake Chuzenji, Kegon Falls (above left) and Ryuzu Falls (below). Actually, there are very many waterfalls, big and small, in and around Nikko, so if waterfalls are your thing, Nikko is a great place.

Access to Nikko National Park can be a little bit difficult for a tourist as there is no train that goes there and can only be reached by bus or car. It takes about 45 minutes to get there with no traffic. The bus schedule is fairly infrequent and somewhat limited and if you go on a weekend or during a peak travel time, the buses will get heavily delayed due to heavy traffic going up and down the mountain. If you have a valid driver’s license, I recommend renting a car as it will give you a lot more freedom to go to more places. The only down side to this is that parking can sometimes be somewhat tricky if you want to do a lot of hiking because there are some really nice hiking trails.

If you want to go hiking, I recommend the Lake Chuzenji Observation Course, which starts around Kegon Falls and ends at the top of Mount Hangetsu. As you can see in the photo above, at the top of Mt. Hangetsu there is a spectacular view of Lake Chuzenji and Mt. Nantai. The course takes about 5 hours and is about 11km. Also a really nice course is hiking across the Senjogahara Plateau. This is actually more of a trail rather than a hike as you walk along a wooded boards for most of it, but this two and half hour walk from Ryuzu Falls to Lake Yunoko (below) has wonderful scenery.

Once you arrive in Nikko there is plenty of available information about the surrounding area and attractions in English, but if you want more information now, see the official Nikko Tourist site.

If you are going to see the fall leaves know that the two areas of Nikko change colors at different times. The Nikko National park at a much higher elevation and tends to change color about 2 weeks before the central area. I was there just a little late for Nikko National Park area just a little early for Central Nikko.

Nikko is about 2 hours by train from Tokyo and there is no shinkansen that stops there. From Tokyo, you should take a train from Asakusa and if from the north you can take a shinkansen to Utsunomiya (if you like gyoza, Utsunomiya is famous for gyoza) and change to the JR Nikko line. For more information about access, see the Nikko Tourist Site.

To be honest, you probably only need a day to see most of, if not all, of the temples Nikko has to offer. The main ones you will want to see are Toshogu Shrine (housing the mausoleum of shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu and that of his grandson Iemitsu), Rinnoji, Futarasan Jinja (a shrine which dates to the year 767) and Shikyo Bridge (sacred bridge which after November 2006 you can no longer walk across).

For more information see the Japan-Guide or the official Nikko Tourist Site.

From the station you can walk to some places of interest but also there are a few buses and taxis if you don’t want to walk the whole time. One of the more popular places to go is Naruko Gorge. It is about a 30 minute walk from Naruko Onsen Station and it takes about 1 hour to walk through the gorge. At the end their is a really famous bridge, that you can see in the photos here, and a really nice view of the gorge. I recommend taking the bus to the end of the gorge where the bridge is and then walking back towards the station through Naruko Gorge. The gorge, while being slightly commercialized, is actually quite a nice and easy walk with a few waterfalls, bridges and interesting rocks and cliffs. As you can imagine, being as it is a gorge, sometime the lighting can be somewhat tricky with places completely in shadow and completely in direct sunlight.

Other places of interest include, Naruko Tropical Botanical Gardens, Katanuma Lake (although it is a lot smaller than I thought it would be), Naruko Damn and a nature trail at Jigokudani (which passes by a famous geyser).

After the onsens and fall leaves, Naruko is also famous for kokeshi dolls, which are small wooden dolls. You walk up and down the main street you can see many shops that sell kokeshi dolls and sometimes you can actually watch them making the famous kokeshi dolls. Also you can find very nice lacquerware (shikki in Japanese) in Naruko Onsen. If you are really into Kokeshi, there is a National Kokeshi Museum you can check out.

To see more photographs from Naruko, see the gallery. Also for more information please see the Miyagi Sightseeing site.

To be honest, it should also be known as “usually too cloudy to see but still beautiful lake,” because most of the time it is really cloudy and you can only catch glimpses of the ever changing lake. I was there for about 4 hours and could actually “see” the shy lake for a total of about 3 minutes maybe and these are by “see”  I kind of mean catch a glimpse.  I am not sure if there is really anyway to find out what the weather is like before going, because I went twice on sunny days but Okamako is so high up on Mount Zao that on a sunny day it was cloudy there (see the very bottom photo). On the other hand, the other photos, taken by Laura Kumataka, were taken on a cloudy and a little rainy day, but again, Okamako is so high up she got above the clouds.  Maybe the secret is going on a rainy day and just hope you can get above the clouds.

Anyway, if you are close by, Okamako and Mt. Zao are great places for hiking in the summer, spring and fall and skiing or snowboarding in the winter and of course nice place to photograph all year long but the best time is during the fall; however, in the winter, Zao is famous for trees getting covered and frozen in snow and having the appearance of “snow monsters,” which make for some interesting photos.  Below is another photo of Okamako to give you an idea how cloudy it can be…when the sun is shining everywhere else!

Yamadera is built into the mountains and offers great views. To get to the top takes about 45 minutes from the entrance. A common thing to do in, as seen in the photo on the right, is to put some money into the bark of trees at temples and then make a wish.

All of these photographs (except the one below) were taken by Greg Logan.

The hiking trail is about a 45 minute to an hour walk (assuming you are not stopping to take photographs–it took me about an hour and half taking photographs), but then after the trail runs out you have to walk another 45 minutes or an hour to get to Yamadera. Also there is not much as far as signs pointing where to go, so don’t go by yourself or don’t go if you are short on time and want to make it to Yamadera.

The hiking trail is really quite beautiful, especially during fall, as you pass by waterfalls, through a gorge and over bridges; however at some points the route can be a little slippery and very narrow. Once you get to the end of the trail you will go up some steps which will take you to a pathway which leads to a road. Once you get to the road, turn right (downhill) and there shoot be signs coming up soon to verify you are going towards Yamadera. Again I do not recommend going by yourself.

The above photo was taken after the hiking trail and walking along the road towards Yamadera.

The most famous place in Furano is called Farm Tomita. The best time to go is in July when the Lavender is in full bloom. I was there in late August and there was still some flowers and lavender in bloom, but if you can, go in July.

Biei is most famous for the rolling hills and trees that have been in famous commercials. If you don’t rent a car, a good thing to do is take the “twinkle” bus. There are two different routes, the flower route and tree route. Both routes go to about 5 different locations and you can get off at some of the places for about 10 minutes to take photos and some places you just drive by. If you want more time or don’t want to be on a schedule you really should rent a car for Furano and Biei as the good places tend to be spread out.

For more information please see the Japan-Guide.com.
Here is the Official Biei Homepage.
Here is the Official Furano Homepage.

There are a few nice things about Lake Toya that I really liked. For one, there are all these (sometimes) interesting sculptures all around the lake (as you can see above). Second, every night in the summer there is a small festival at night where there are fireworks over the lake and also a small traditional dance and taiko drums. Also if you are into outdoor activities there is plenty of hiking, fishing, camping, boating and other water activities available.

For more information please see Japan-Guide.com.