Region

Tohoku

Base in Sendai or Morioka; add one onsen night. Skip a Tohoku-only JR Pass unless you ride 5+ long legs.

Plan your trip to Japan Plan a trip

More: share, save offline, report a correction

Key facts · Japan

Best months: Apr–May, Oct
Visa: Depends on your passport
Currency: Yen (JPY)
Language: Japanese
Plugs: A · B · 100 V
Time zone: UTC+9 all year

Month by month hereIn detail ↓

Rules in force · 5

East Asia ↗Every border in East Asia is a full international border, Hong Kong and Macau included: an entry permission for one never covers the next.
East Asia ↗Ferries between Korea, Japan and China cancel in rough seas and typhoons; keep a flight or a spare day behind every sea leg.
Japan ↗IC cards (ICOCA/Suica) are topped up with cash at station machines.
Japan ↗Smoking while walking is banned in most city centres; use designated areas.
Japan ↗Shinkansen bags 160–250 cm (L+W+H) need a seat reserved with the oversized-baggage area.

Tohoku is six prefectures of mountains, snow country, hot springs and castle towns, 1 h 40 to 3 h 30 north of Tokyo on the Tohoku Shinkansen. It is not a loop you can do from one bed: the east coast (Sendai, Morioka, Aomori) runs on the bullet train, while the Japan Sea side (Akita, Yamagata, Hirosaki) needs spurs, buses or a car. Pick two or three bases, keep the rest for a second trip.

Where to sleep

5 places in this region

Sleep base

SendaiCity guide
Largest city in Tohoku; Shinkansen hub, Matsushima and Akiu Onsen as day trips.
Best Apr–May, Oct–Nov
JFMAMJJASOND
Open Sendai →
MoriokaCity guide
Central base for Iwate; good start for a car, 2 h 30 from Tokyo.
Best Apr–May, Oct–Nov
JFMAMJJASOND
Open Morioka →
AomoriCity guide
North end of the Shinkansen; Hirosaki, Towada and the Hokkaido ferry.
Best May–Jun, Aug–Oct
JFMAMJJASOND
Open Aomori →

Day trip

YamagataCity guide
Yamadera and Zao Onsen; spur line from Fukushima.
Best Apr–May, Oct–Nov
JFMAMJJASOND
Open Yamagata →
AkitaCity guide
Kakunodate and Nyuto Onsen; spur line from Morioka.
Best May, Sep–Oct
JFMAMJJASOND
Open Akita →

Plan the nights

How to split the nights, day-trips and what to do with your bags

Open Plan the nightsClose Plan the nights3 partsNights · Day-trips · Bags

Night sequences

4 nights: Sendai 2 + Morioka 2, Matsushima and Hiraizumi as day trips
6 nights: Sendai 2 + Morioka 2 + Aomori 2, one onsen night swapped in
8 nights: Add Akita or Yamagata with a car for the interior

Tohoku is large and rural: waits of 2 hours or more between trains happen on interior lines. Buses are often faster west-east — Morioka to Hirosaki is about 2 hours by direct bus versus roughly 4 by train.
Rural train services are slow and infrequent; a rental car helps north of Sendai, but many mountain roads close in winter.
Tokyo to Aomori by expressway is about 900 km (559 mi), roughly 10 hours of driving — do not treat it as a day's drive.Tokyo to Aomori by expressway is about 559 mi (900 km), roughly 10 hours of driving — do not treat it as a day's drive.

Day-trips door to door

To	From	Door-to-door p50	Last return	Note
Matsushima	Sendai	45 min	unknown	Frequent trains; bay temples and the islands close late afternoon.
Hiraizumi	Sendai	60 min	unknown	Shinkansen to Ichinoseki, then a local line; Chuson-ji is the main stop.
Yamadera	Sendai	75 min	unknown	About 1,000 steps to the upper hall; go early, the stairs ice up in winter.
Hirosaki	Aomori	60 min	unknown	Castle and cherry festival in late April; check the festival dates each year.
Kakunodate	Morioka	90 min	unknown	Shinkansen to Kakunodate; samurai district and cherry trees along the river.

Bags between cities

Luggage forwarding (takkyubin) between Tohoku cities is usually next-day (D+1); the receiving hotel must accept it. Same-day is not standard.

When to go

Months and weather

Open When to goClose When to go2 partsSeasons · Climate

Seasons at a glance

From each city's month table

Pick a month to see where to go.

Only good-now countries

Show all 12 months, country by countryHide the 12-month table

Country	JJan	FFeb	MMar	AApr	MMay	JJun	JJul	AAug	SSep	OOct	NNov	DDec
Sendai	ok	ok	ok	go	go	×	×	×	ok	go	go	ok
Morioka	×	×	ok	go	go	ok	×	×	ok	go	go	ok
Aomori	×	×	ok	ok	go	go	ok	go	go	go	ok	ok
Yamagata	×	×	ok	go	go	ok	×	×	ok	go	go	×
Akita	ok	ok	ok	ok	go	ok	×	ok	go	go	ok	ok
Japan (country-wide)	go	go	go	ok	go	ok	ok	ok	ok	go	go	go

Go: the good monthsFair: workable, mixedPoor: heat, rain or hazeAvoid: storms, floods, closuresno data yet

Computed from each country’s own data; hover a country name for the source. Advisory countries are left out.

Climate strip

Month by month

Zone	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
Pacific side (Sendai, Morioka, Aomori)East coast and north	cold	cold	ok	best	best	wet	hot	hot	ok	best	ok	cold
Japan Sea side (Akita, Yamagata, Hirosaki)West coast and interior	snow	snow	snow	ok	best	ok	hot	hot	ok	best	ok	snow

best: dry, mildok: workablehot: short walking windowswet: daily rain

Pacific side (Sendai, Morioka, Aomori): Rainy season June to mid-July; August is hot and humid inland; typhoons Aug–Sep can hit the coast.
Japan Sea side (Akita, Yamagata, Hirosaki): Snow Country: some of the world's heaviest snowfall from December to March. Ski season runs roughly December to early May at the higher resorts.

Cherry blossom arrives a few weeks later than in Tokyo and Kyoto — late April in Sendai, late April to early May in Hirosaki and Kakunodate — which makes Tohoku a second chance if you miss the main season. The August festival weeks (Nebuta in Aomori, Kanto in Akita, Tanabata in Sendai) fill beds months ahead.

Getting in and passes

Arrival times and regional passes

Open Getting in and passesClose Getting in and passes2 partsGet in · Passes

Get in

Door-to-door p50, 2026 estimate

From	To	How	p50	Note
Tokyo	Sendai	Tohoku Shinkansen Hayabusa or Komachi, all reserved	~1 h 40	Nonstop after Omiya; trains continue north to Morioka, Hachinohe and Aomori.
Tokyo	Morioka	Tohoku Shinkansen	~2 h 30	The practical start for Iwate and for a rental car.
Tokyo	Aomori	Tohoku Shinkansen	~3 h 30	North end of the line; through trains continue to Hakodate on the Hokkaido Shinkansen.
Sendai Airport (SDJ)	Sendai Station	Sendai Airport Access Line	~25 min	Mostly domestic; a few international flights to China and South Korea. Akita Airport also fields some international services.
Hokkaido	Aomori / Hakodate	Hokkaido Shinkansen or ferry	~1 h by rail to Hakodate	Ferries link northern Tohoku ports with Hokkaido and Nagoya; check sailing days.

Regional passes

Verdict first

JR East Rail Pass (Tohoku area)

check

5 consecutive days, 2026 estimate ¥30,000. Pays only if you ride several long Shinkansen legs inside the window; it excludes the Tokaido Shinkansen to Kyoto and Osaka and the Nagano and Niigata areas.

Nationwide JR Pass

skip

Rarely pays for a Tohoku-only trip; run the fares for your legs.

Seishun 18 Ticket

check

Cheap but slow: local trains only, seasonal sale periods, no Shinkansen. Only worth it if you are not in a hurry.

Eat and move on

Regional food and where to go next

Open Eat and move onClose Eat and move on2 partsFood · Go next

Regional food

Where and when it works

Dish	Where	Timing / trap
Gyutan (grilled beef tongue)	Sendai	The city's signature dish; set meals with barley rice and oxtail soup.
Wanko soba	Morioka and Iwate	Small bowls refilled until you cover your bowl; servers keep count.
Morioka reimen and jajamen	Morioka	Cold noodles and miso-topped wheat noodles; both are cheap lunch options.
Kiritanpo	Akita	Pounded rice on skewers, usually in a hot pot with chicken broth.
Sansai-ryori	Mountain areas	Wild herbs and shoots from the hillsides; strong, salty and seasonal.
Yonezawa beef	Yonezawa, Yamagata	Lunch sets are the value play; reserve dinner in festival weeks.
Fruit	Aomori apples, Yamagata pears and cherries, Fukushima peaches	Pick-your-own orchards open in season; check dates locally.

Go next

Hokkaido

planned

Hokkaido Shinkansen from Aomori to Hakodate, ~1 h

The natural continuation north; Sapporo is a longer ride on from Hakodate.

Tokyo

Tohoku Shinkansen, 1 h 40 to 3 h 30

Fly home from HND or NRT if the ticket is open-jaw.

Kanto

Shinkansen south from Sendai

Nikko and the Tokyo day-trip belt sit on the same JR East network.

Kansai

Shinkansen via Tokyo, or fly

No direct Tohoku–Kansai Shinkansen; the Tokaido line starts at Tokyo.

Planning aids

Built from this guide's own data

Open Planning aidsClose Planning aids2 partsIn numbers · Going in…

Region in numbers

Where to sleep: 3 bases
Day trips: 5, 45 min to 1 h 30
Nights suggested: 4–8 nights
Ways in: 5 listed
Best months: May, Oct (all zones)

Going in…

Pick a month for the weather in each zone of the region, plus the country-wide rating and holidays.

Pick a month.

Plan your trip to Japan Up to Japan

Deep dive

Photos, reading and every source

Open Deep diveClose Deep dive1 partSources

Sources

officialTravel to Tohoku — official regional tourism guide
officialJR East — rail passes and Shinkansen
officialJR Bus Tohoku
officialJapan Meteorological Agency
secondaryWikivoyage: Tohoku, revision 5315267 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Ask about Tohoku

Loading…

Was this useful?