Trip Report-Tohoku Summer Festival Road Trip!

This is my second trip report here, this time on a recent summer road trip through Tohoku. We were a group of three, all foreign residents living in Japan. I know Tohoku isn’t as explored as central Japan so I hope that this is helpful for people wanting to explore up north! I have had the Aomori Nebuta Festival on my bucket list for a while, and was originally going to do a shorter trip just to Aomori to see it, but decided to expand to a week long road trip with the objective of seeing Tohoku’s Three Great Festivals (Akita Kanto, Aomori Nebuta, and Sendai Tanabata), plus Nagaoka Hanabi, and invited my two friends to come along.

I included way too many details, so this report came out way longer than I expected. Sorry for the long windedness!

August 3rd-Niigata/Nagaoka Hanabi

Flew into Niigata Airport at around 2:30. We took a taxi directly to our accommodations to check in and drop off our bags, then went straight to Nagaoka station via local train and shinkansen. 

We arrived at Nagaoka Station at about 4:30 and it was packed with people. They were funneling everyone off of the platform through one exit. Once we got down the stairs to the main floor of the station we were then mixed in with the crowd of all the trains from Tokyo as well, which led to significant bottlenecking. It took us about 20 minutes from getting off the train to getting out of the station. And it was hot in there. The long line to get out wasn’t a huge deal because we still arrived with plenty of time to get to the riverside, find our seats, and grab snacks and drinks. However, it did make us quite anxious about getting home, as we needed to make sure we could catch a shinkansen that would get us back to Niigata station in time for our last local train back to our accommodation. 

The fireworks were beautiful, and once the sun went down, the heat was a lot more tolerable. There were a lot of food stalls at the venue, and also local stalls set up along the streets to the river, and many of them didn’t have long lines, so finding food was easy. The conbinis were packed though.

This was the only event on this trip we purchased tickets for. We entered the ticket lottery which was for residents outside of Nagaoka. There is a separate ticket sale for foreign tourists but I am sorry I don’t know the details for that one. We got our first choice of seats, which was the Phoenix Block, or block 10 if you look at the seating map. The downside of these seats was that when I looked at the map, I thought there would be fireworks going from multiple places, one being directly across the river from us. This wasn’t really the case, as the majority of the fireworks were launched from the southernmost point on the map, and the spots across the river were really only used two or three times during the grand programs. It didn’t ruin the experience or anything, as we could still see great, but had I known, I likely would have tried for seats further south, like block 11 or 12. I would have thought they would try to alternate spots a bit, as that area did end up getting pretty smokey. 

Still worried about catching the shinkansen, we decided to pack up and slowly walk back to the station just before 9:00. We thought the staff would have been really strict on keeping people moving along the walkways, but there were a lot of people standing up there taking pictures, so we were still able to see most of the show. We were walking down the street by the time the final program started, but we could see most of it, and got some really cool pictures of fireworks above the buildings and street lights. 

The set up for getting on the trains was really well done compared to when we arrived. The main street leading up to the station was completely shut down for cars, and they had signage indicating what line you needed to be in, way before you reached the station. All we needed to do was follow the signs for shinkansen to Niigata, and everything moved really smoothly. I can’t say for sure, but it did seem that they were running more trains than was indicated online. These were also the only train tickets we bought in advance, which I really recommend doing if you attend this festival.

We got back to our accommodations, which was the I Eco III Niigata. It was a decent way away from Niigata city centre, and cost about 30k yen between the three of us, for a room with a double bed and a single futon. This place was more of a share house situation, that seemed to do short stays, as well as long term rentals, so all bathrooms and showers were shared. Overall, it was really clean and quiet. It would have been nice to be closer to Niigata station, but the only option I saw started at 26k yen for a single room and 35k for a double. 

August 4th-Akita/Kanto Matsuri

After checking out the next morning, we headed to Niigata Station to pick up our car from Toyota Rent a Car. We had a long drive to Akita this day so as soon as we were set we headed out. One of my friends is really into collecting stamps and tickets from michi no ekis (roadside stations) so that was one of our primary goals during the drives. We made sure we hit stops in all the prefectures we were in, which was really fun as they all offer something a bit different. We didn’t make any other stops on this leg of the journey, and I think it was around 4:00 or 5:00 when we got to Akita city and checked into our hotel. 

We then walked to the main street of the festival to find a spot to watch the show. We did not have tickets, but there was plenty of free seating along the sidewalks. By the time we got to the main street, most of the curb was claimed by either people seated, or by mats and blankets people had left. This was really common at these festivals, but everyone is really respectful about not moving other people’s things. There was plenty of room to start a second row behind everyone, but no one had really started doing that yet, so we were worried we’d be committing some festival faux pas if we sat behind people. But, we went for it anyway, and sure enough before the festival started, the second row was full of people standing or sitting. We didn’t bring seats or blankets ourselves, but after claiming a spot, I ventured out for food and came across a man selling foldable cardboard seats for 400 yen each. We each grabbed one and they were perfect for sitting behind the people along the curb. They weren’t super comfortable or durable but they lasted long enough for both the Kanto and Nebuta Matsuri.

The festival itself was amazing. I had seen pictures of the lanterns, but really had no idea what to expect. It was pretty mind blowing to see the performers lifting the lantern poles, and honestly it was fun and dramatic whenever the lanterns would fall. Definitely make sure you stay till the end when they connect all the poles together and lift the lanterns super high. After the festival the performers wait in the street for a bit and let people get up close for pictures. One man even had our guy friend try to lift the lanterns himself, which are apparently significantly heavier than they look.

After a stop at the beer garden we walked back to our hotel at the Dormy Inn. Highly recommend this hotel chain as they usually have baths and free noodles in the evening. It was a great location, but definitely our most expensive accommodation at 28k for a double room and 18k for a single. I’ll talk more about booking hotels later, but the extra cost was definitely worth it. 

August 5th-Iwate

This was a free day with no events or festivals planned, so we did a lot more road tripping and focused on stopping at places along the way to Morioka. First thing, we wanted to find Kanto Matsuri goods. We wandered downtown Akita a bit after checking out of the hotel and came across the Akita Inu Station. There are no dogs on site on Mondays, but the shop was still open and we got some cute akita inu goods. We also came across the daytime Kanto festival, which is competitive and performances are judged. We didn’t stick around for long but it was still cool to see. 

After leaving Akita city we drove to Lake Tazawa. We hit up two beautiful shrines along the lakeside. It was pretty hot so our stops weren’t long. We decided to get lunch near the lake, and at this point we had mostly only eaten festival food, so we were pretty keen for a sit down meal. Since it was later in the afternoon, most places were closed between lunch and dinner services, but we came across a pizza place called Yama no Hachimitsu Ya. I find pizza to be hit or miss in Japan but this place was definitely a hit. Honey on pizza might sound weird but honestly it was some of the best pizza I have had in Japan. We also checked out the honey shop next door where you can sample almost every flavour of honey you can think of. 

From here it was straight to Morioka, with the odd michi-no-eki stop. We stayed in the Morioka Grand Hotel Annex. 16k for a deluxe room with a double and single bed. We had dinner at a nearby ramen shop. I cannot remember the name of the shop, but we were a little worried because it wasn’t until after we ordered and sat down that we realised all the broths were made with anchovies. No allergies to be worried about, but we were expecting some really fishy ramen to come out. However it was actually really tasty ramen and the fish flavour was quite subtle and nice.

August 6th-Aomori/Nebuta Matsuri

Our hotel for the next two nights was in Hachinohe, which is about 45-90 minutes from Aomori via train (plus drive to the hotel) or a 90 minute drive. Originally our plan was to drive straight to Hachinohe, check in, park the car near Hachinohe station, which is on the far end of the city, then take the train to Aomori. The night before we did end up deciding to go straight to Aomori instead, as I wasn’t sure what the seating situation would be like, and stopping in Hachinohe would be cutting it close to the start of the parade. This worked out well. We had time for a michi-no-eki stop and got to Aomori with time for a late lunch, explore the city a bit, and hit up some local shrines.

Seating was similar to Kanto, where we ended up starting a double row behind people sitting on the curb (shoutout again cardboard stools). The biggest difference was it was really clear where the paid seating was for Kanto, but at Nebuta, the chairs hadn’t been set up yet so we were worried about putting our stuff down in a paid area. I had also read in some forums that it's a challenge to find free spots to watch the parade from for this event but I did not find that to be the case, personally. If you give yourself enough time, there is plenty of space to sit, and in the worst case scenario, I think it would have been really easy to stand and watch the parade almost anywhere. 

The parade was awesome. This was the second last day of the festival and the final night parade after all the awards had been presented to the winning floats. I have heard from other people that there are other Nebuta parades that are more worth the experience. I can’t speak to them, so maybe if you can only see one parade, there might be better ones to enjoy, but all three of us really enjoyed it and would recommend Aomori’s Nebuta.

After the parade we drove the hour and a half back to Hachinohe to check into the Hachinohe Il Viale Hotel (16k for a double room for 2 nights and 12k for a single). It was almost midnight when we arrived but overall we were happy to have driven and not dealt with the trains.

May 7th-Aomori/Iwate/Akita

The planning of the day at first was a bit of a misstep on my part. I knew there would be fireworks in Aomori city for the last day of Nebuta, but didn't read the schedule well and assumed there was another evening parade as well. Therefore, our plan was to do a mini road trip to hit a couple of stops we couldn’t see the days before, before heading to Aomori again for another night of Nebuta and fireworks. It wasn’t till about a week before we left that I, thankfully, looked at Nebuta’s schedule again and saw that the final parade was actually in the early afternoon that day. This made us decide to forgo the second night of Nebuta completely, and devote the entire day to road tripping and sightseeing. In the end we were really happy with this. Not that I would never go to Nebuta again, but we all agreed one night was good for this time around.

So, we set off early in the morning to our first stop, which was the Goshono Jomon Museum, which features Jomon ruins (from about 4000-5000 years ago) and an exhibit with lots of artefacts and information. This stop was for our friend who is very interested in history and was really keen to see this site, but he was a bit worried he would be dragging the two of us along. Not going to lie, we weren’t sure what to expect, but it was actually a really interesting and cool stop. Seeing the reconstructed Jomon houses was cool and the museum was really well done. Aside from the staff, we mostly had the place to ourselves as well.

Next was a stop for me at the Garlic Center and Cafe in the town of Takko, famous for, if you can believe, garlic. We all tried different things. I tried the garlic steak set, which was delicious, and a garlic cola. My friends had garlic pasta and ramen, as well as garlic lemonade and garlic wine. I didn’t try the wine as it was my day to drive but I was told it was not good at all. The garlic cola was really interesting, and didn’t taste bad, but I think the garlic flavour might separate somehow and sink to the bottom, as the last sips seemed a lot more potent than the rest. We then finished everything down with some garlic ice cream, and very strong breath mints. I would have scheduled this stop on our drive to Nebuta, but the cafe is closed on Tuesdays, which that day happened to be.

After lunch we took a very twisty road to Towada Shrine near Lake Towada. We had to speed run it a bit to get to our next stop before it closed but it was a very beautiful shrine and worth the stop. Our next and furthest stop, which was on our third friend’s to-do list, was the Akita Inu Dog Center in Odate. There is a room where you can see some Akita’s up close, but through a window, and you can’t actually pet the dogs, which probably is for the best. We were lucky that when we arrived they were taking the dogs out for a walk, so we got to see them up closer than usual. The gift shop had all the akita inu goods you could want, including some really cool dog goshuins that you could take to the local shrine to have dated. Like the garlic cafe, we would have done this stop on our way from Akita to Morioka, but the dog room is also closed Mondays.

After this, the sun was starting to go down, so we began the journey back to Hachinohe. There was still enough daylight to hit one of the stops we cut on the way there to get to the dog center in time, which was a waterfall called Choshino Falls. It was a little sketchy, as you kind of just pull over on the side of the road and walk through some trees, but still a pretty waterfall. 

We got back to Hachinohe in the evening, had dinner at an Indian restaurant and called it a night. Like I said, we were really happy we got to do this trip this day, as we all got to see something we were interested in, and hit up the stops we couldn’t make it to the other days.

May 8th-Miyagi/Tanabata Matsuri

Left for Sendai early, as our car drop off time was 3:00 pm. Using toll roads, we made it there with time for a michi no eki stop, and to drop off all our bags at the hotel before returning the car. We could have opted for a scenic toll free route along the coast, but we would have had to leave even earlier and would have had very little wiggle room.

After dealing with the car business, we headed straight to Sendai Station and the nearby shopping street to see all of the Tanabata decorations. We ended up wandering to the city hall, where a festival square with lots of food stalls was set up. Once evening came, we decided we wanted to see the Tanabata events at the Date Mausoleum and the castle ruins illuminations. We had some confusion with the Loople bus that went to the festival stops, but a very kind lady pointed us in the right direction and we were on our way. 

Seeing the mausoleum all lit up at night was really cool, and you almost forgot that these were actual mausoleums (or at least reconstructions of them). There was live music happening at this venue, but other than that and the occasional Tanabata decorations, it didn’t feel super Tananbata-y. 

Next, after waiting probably 30ish minutes for the bus, we were on our way to the castle ruins. We were a bit worried about missing the last bus back to the station, so it was a pretty quick stop. The illuminations were more of a light show than traditional illuminations like I was expecting. There were also live performers here, and the castle ruins also have a great night view over Sendai. We were back in line for the bus before the performance ended, which we were glad for, as the line went further than we could see before the bus arrived. 

After we got back to the station, we grabbed some burgers and went back to the hotel. (The ANA Holiday Inn 20k for a triple room with three single beds.)

Seeing Tanabata in Sendai was really nice, and I am glad to have done it, but I can't lie and say that it wasn't a little underwhelming after the previous festivals. If I did this trip again I think I would try to start with Tananabata, but everything else worked out so well that I am still really happy with the itinerary.

August 9-11th-Miyagi

My friends flew back home in the afternoon on the 9th. Since it was a Friday, I planned to stay until Sunday morning. We spent the morning at the same arcade street, and sure enough all of the decorations were already taken down and things were business as usual. After saying goodbye to my friends at the station, I spent the rest of the day shopping, trying some gyutan (cow tongue (if you eat meat, it's delicious, trust me)) and unwinding at the hotel.

The 10th I went to Matsushima Bay. It was this morning that I saw the news about Typhoon No. 5, which was scheduled to come right to Sendai on the 12th. I was a little worried about going to the bay, as it was forecasted to rain all day, and also about whether this would impact my flight the next morning. In the end everything worked out. I went to Matsushima anyway and other than a little drizzle in the morning, the sun came out and it was another hot day. I enjoyed seeing the temples, the sightseeing cruise, and eating oysters, even though they are technically out of season. Definitely a must see if you’re in the Sendai area.

I ate dinner at the station and went back to the hotel early to get all my bags packed. Despite the incoming typhoon, it was still clear when I got to Sendai airport for my 9:30 flight.

Final Thoughts

-Hotels are notoriously difficult to book for these events. Sendai, being the biggest city, was the easiest place to book for, as well as Morioka as we were there after their major festival. The rest of the cities just don’t have the same number of tourists throughout the rest of the year to necessitate having the number of hotels that there is a demand for during these festivals. 

For Nagaoka and Aomori, despite our best efforts it was impossible to find hotels in the city, or even in downtown Niigata and Hirosaki, for three people, without having to sell our kidneys. If it’s important to you to be in the city for any of these festivals then start looking very early. I started watching Aomori hotels in December, and Hachinohe was still the closest I could find. The rest of them I booked in late January-early February. 

My other advice is if you can’t find anything, don’t give up looking so early. Akita was the last hotel we booked because there was nothing open, and I had almost given up on finding something, but was still checking Agoda everyday when the rooms at the Dormy Inn popped up one day. It was expensive to be in the city, but we were lucky and it was really worth it. 

-We were fine with the events we had tickets for, and the ones we didn’t. As long as you can get to Kanto and Nebuta a bit early, I don’t think you’ll have trouble finding places to watch from. Nagaoka did have a fence at the far north side of the river where it looked like a free area people could watch from, but it did look crowded.

-Another tip for Nagaoka, if you’re taking the trains out of Nagaoka station afterwards, be sure to get tickets on the A side of the river, as the bridges are closed during performance. We were fairly certain if we ended up on the B side, there was no chance we would catch the trains we needed to get back to Niigata on time.

-We covered 1286 km in our car and racked up about 15k in toll road fees. We also learned that Japan's toll roads are 30% cheaper at night. We were planning our best route to Sendai the night before, and it was showing us night time tolls, so we were a bit surprised when we turned on the GPS in the morning and there was a significant price raise. However, we also would have benefitted from this when we drove to Hachinohe after Nebuta.

Thank you for reading if you made it this far, and if you're planning a trip to any of these festivals, I hope this is helpful!