20 Things to Do in Aomori

If you want to enjoy nature in Aomori, the best time to visit is from April to May when the temperatures are pleasant.
During this period, you can enjoy the beautiful landscapes of winter and spring simultaneously, with snow lingering on the mountains and vibrant greenery and flowers like canola blossoms.
If you wish to see the highly popular Aomori Nebuta Festival, plan your visit for early August.

Aomori Prefecture has two airports, Aomori Airport and Misawa Airport. You can fly from Tokyo, Osaka, or Nagoya in about an hour to an hour and a half.
Aomori Airport also has international flights, making it easily accessible from overseas.
Additionally, you can reach Aomori by Shinkansen or express bus, providing various transportation options.

The Aomori Nebuta Festival is held in Aomori City between August 2 and 7 every year and attracts as many as 1 million visitors every year. It is one of the three major festivals in the Tohoku region and is designated as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Asset property by the Japanese government.

Wa Rasse is an eye-catching, modern, red museum close to Aomori Station. It was opened in 2011 to preserve Aomori Nebuta Festival held between 2nd and 7th of August every year. The highlight is the exhibition of Nebuta used in the real festival. In the two-story-tall spacious hall. 9m-wide, 7m-depth and 5m-tall Nebuta floats are powerful to see. Nebuta chant is played in the hall, allowing you to feel like you are in the middle of the festival.

This art museum is 5-minute on foot from Sannai Maruyama Historical Site, the world cultural heritage site. The highlight of this museum is ALECO for the ballet, painted by one of the prominent artists in the 20th century, Marc Chagall (1887 - 1985).

Tsugaru Family resided in this castle in the Edo Period where the government of Hirosaki Feudal Domain was set up. In the Meiji Period, according to the ordinance to abolish castles, it was abandoned and later became a park. The first castle tower had been burned down by lightning in 1627. In 1810, the castle tower was rebuilt and three towers and five gates remain to this day. These nine structures are designated as national important cultural properties.

The museum was opened in 2008 as the central facility of the city's art-based local cityscape project. Many of the works are large three-dimensional works in which the entire space becomes the work of art, rather than paintings. The art square across from the museum, as well as the streets surrounding it, are scattered with artworks, transforming the entire town into an open-air contemporary art museum.

This large historical village site was registered as a world cultural heritage in 2021. It was excavated in 1992 during the site analysis for a prefectural baseball stadium.
Pit dwellings and pillar supported buildings, graves, dumping grounds, roads, etc. from early to mid Jomon Period (about 5900 - 4200 years ago) were found that depict the village set-up and the surrounding environment.

This market has some fresh fish caught locally at Hachinohe, specifically from Japan’s finest port, the Hachinohe Bay. Various local fish merchants built this market, as they united their stores near the port. It celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2020. Across an area of 4200m, there are 60 stores, with the sounds of busy merchants echoing around.

This is a 300 meter-long triple-arched wooden bridge over Lake Fujimi. The bridge is known as "Nagaiki-no-Hashi" (bridge of long life) and is popular for its longevity blessing. The bridge is also renowned for "Tsugaru no Sakasa Fuji" (Mt. Iwaki reflected on the lake surface), which can only be seen on clear, windless days and was used in a JR East TV advertisement. Near the bridge are Crane Nature Park and Fujimi Lake Park, which are also good places for a stroll.

An Onsen resort with a long history that opened about 340 years ago. It is said that the name "Shika-no-yu" came from an anecdote about an injured deer that healed its wounds in the hot spring, and the name was changed to "Sukayu Onsen" in an accent. Despite its location deep in the mountains, it has been widely known as a therapeutic hot spring since the Edo period (1603-1868) and was registered as The first National Health Onsen Resort in 1954. As the name suggests, the spring is an acidic sulfur spring that effectively treats sensitivity to cold and neuralgia.

The ruins sit on a plain 90m above the ground. The castle was inhabited by the Mito Nanbu Clan from the late Muromachi period to the early Edo period. In the Edo period, the Morioka became the main residence in this heavily fortified castle, which explains the time period.

Takayama Inari is the major shrine in Aomori with blessings of good harvest, safety in the voyage and business prosperity. The founding is unclear, but a wealthy family ruling this area in Kamakura through Muromachi Periods is said to have built this shrine. The highlight is the path from the main hall to Shinmeisha Hall. A number of about 2m-tall gates stand along which are called Senbon Torii (A Thousand Gates). There are more than 200 gates gifted with wishes for safety.

Kabushima Island is one of the prominent nesting places of black-tailed gulls in Japan. Climbing up a flight of stone steps, you will find Kabushima Shrine, which was founded in 1269, standing on the top of the hill. During the Edo period, in the feudal domain of Hachinohe-han, the shrine had been worshiped enthusiastically by the successive feudal lords since the time of the first feudal lord.

Misawa Airport in Misawa is the only airport in Japan where the US air force, Japan Air Self Defense force and commercial planes share. The Misawa Aviation & Science Museum is the symbol of the city deeply involved with airplanes, and its theme is the sky and flight.

Nakamachi Komise Street is a sightseeing place at the center of Kuroishi city.
This street has kept its cohesive atmosphere since the feudal period and it is said to be a rare case around Japan. The wooden arcade called Gnagi-zukuri built by special technique is characteristic of the successive arcade. This technique is generated to be able to keep the walk under the heavy snow, which is used to be mainly seen along the sea side of Japan but Nakamachi Komise Street and a part of Niigata prefecture are the only place to keep this scenery. The arcade was designated as an important preservation district of historic buildings in 2005.

This onsen ryokan is located at the foot of the Shirakami Mountains. Many guests visit the ryokan to enjoy the open-air bath on the edge of the waves, only one meter from the ocean. The name "Furofushi Onsen" was given to the inn based on the founder's wish that "if you cure yourself here, you will never grow old or weak.　
The baths are extraordinary when taking a bath while watching the sunset, turning everything as far as the eye can see into a golden hue. The reddish-brown water, which is rich in iron and salt, has a sterilizing effect on wounds and smooths the skin, allowing you to enjoy the hot spring water from the source to your heart's content.

Oirase Stream, a renowned tourist attraction awarded two stars in the Michelin Green Guide, stretches approximately 14 kilometers from the shores of Lake Towada at Nenokuchi to Yakeyama. It's a national Special Place of Scenic Beauty and Natural Monument, celebrated for its waterfalls, clear streams, giant rocks, and steep cliffs.

This vast mountainous area covers nearly 13 hectares over northwestern Akita and southwestern Aomori, which has rarely been affected by humans since ancient times. The world’s largest primitive beech forest hosts various native wildlife. The valuable ecosystem was registered as a World Heritage Site in 1993.

Lake Towada spans over Towada City, Aomori and Kosaka Town of Kazuno county, Akita. The volcanic activities of Mt. Towada, which began almost 200,000 years ago, has created the caldera lake. The 12th largest lake in Japan, the 3rd in depth, it is designated as Japan's Area of Special Scenic Beauty and a natural monument along with the Oirase Gorge stemming from the lake.

Hakkodasan, one of Japan’s 100 Famous Mountains, is the collective name of the multiple mountains in southern Aomori City. The main one is Mt. Otake, 1,585m above sea level, with Takada-Odake, Idodake, Akakuradake, and ten mountains all consist of North Hakkoda. Six mountains including Kushigamine consist of South Hakkoda. Hakkoda Ropeway takes you up to the Sancho-koen Station, where alpine plants bloom all over Mt. Tamoyachi as well as many delightful ponds dot the area.

Mt. Hakkoda is the general name for a volcano group consisting of 18 peaks, centering on the 1,584-meter-high main peak, Mt. Oodake and it is one of the 100 most famous mountains in Japan.
The vast high-altitude marshland and the magnificent panoramic view from the summit are attractive. The area is also popular as a skiing and mountain climbing course and can be enjoyed throughout the year.