Six Prefectures in Six Days

Over 1,500 km (about 920 miles) in 6 days, almost all while living out of my car. What on Earth made me want to do this? During my time in Japan, I have heard about people road-tripping around Japan and rather than staying at a hotel, they slept overnight in their cars. With COVID still flying around, I decided now was a better time than any to try it myself.

I made it a goal to visit every prefecture in Tohoku, so I went from Akita to Iwate, down to Miyagi, over to Fukushima, stopped in at Niigata (despite not being in Tohoku, but it was on the way), then up to Yamagata, back through Akita and made a short stop into Aomori to complete the circuit. Mapping my course using Roadside Stations as rest stops/sleeping areas helped a ton, as I could rest from long driving stretches and also be able to soak in the scenery as well as shop for local specialties.

After being in Akita for four full years, it was a refreshing peek into other prefectures in Tohoku. Plus the scenery and the overall vibe of each place I visited ranged from a little different from the places I've been to in Akita, to being a stark contrast to what I was used to.

Day 1

Driving from the north of Akita, through Akita City down through Yokote and Higashinaruse and into Iwate. I didn't spend too much time here as I've been in Morioka before and I had opted to go straight to the coast. Along the way, I stopped through Oshu, which is the birthplace of famed LA Angels player Ohtani Shohei. The pride was very obvious. I was able to check out a fountain (that was inactive at the time) which has a very nice resting area at Tokusuien Park as well, and I ended the evening at the Matsubara Roadside Station in Rikuzentakata City. It has a very nice and newly built 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami memorial there as well.

Day 2

I started the morning driving along the coast and taking the long way to get to Sendai. I snapped a couple of shots on the Iwate border of Rikuzentakata, thinking about how during the tsunami, the area was completely underwater. I drove through Ishinomaki and stopped over at Matsushima, though I opted to find the areas that were less crowded, as many families and students were milling about in the tourist areas. I was able to find a narrow land bridge that people can walk onto and enjoy the scenery. The next stop was Sendai. Of course, I had to do some shopping at Snoopy Town in the S-PAL mall, connected to Sendai Station, as well as check out the Ikea there. Sendai was a much bigger and busier city than I gave it credit for–it really felt like a proper metropolitan city. Of course I had to have some of the famous Sendai beef tongue. After that, I made my way towards Fukushima. I intended to sleep at the Soma roadside station (which had some interesting relics from the 2011 Tohoku disaster), but due to an unsavory lingering toilet smell, I drove to the next roadside station, Minamisoma. It was maller, but I felt much more comfortable.

Day 3

Fukushima proved to be more interesting than I thought. I stopped by the Namie roadsi Turns out Fukushima prefecture has a partnership with The Pokemon Company, with Cha named "Lucky"). So there's a couple "Lucky Park" areas, a couple located at the roadside stati Park" within. Otherwise Fukushima was a very green prefecture, and this is coming from so 2011 Tohoku Tsunami.

Another place I found was a roadside station dedicated to Noguchi Hideyo, the scienti actual akabeko for sale was a bit of a challenge), a bridge that, while driving over it, your tires w the day by checking out a beach in Shidahama, with some famous ramen in Kitakata.

de station and discovered some very interesting and cute features, including a Chansey Park. nsey as their mascot (as "Fukushima" means "lucky island", and "Chansey" in Japanese is ons including Namie and Aizu Yanaizu. I visited another park in Koriyama City with a "Lucky meone that lives in rural Akita. I saw several signs denoting areas that were affected by the

st that appears on the 1000 yen bill. There's also a lot of akabeko goods (though finding an ill create road noise to the tune of John Denver's "Country Road,Take Me Home." I finished

Day 4

Though I've been finding creative ways to stay clean and not smelly, I felt like I needed a proper bath in Niigata. Along the way, I noticed the roadside stations were different from the ones in Tohoku, some were absolutely fantastic, like the Furusato roadside station in Niigata City (which had a large shopping area), to ones that were simply marketplaces for farmers and even small ones that only had pamphlets and a toilet. Being that Niigata is famous for its Koshihikari rice, I definitely noticed the many sprawling fields of rice. Driving through Niigata City, over the Bandai Bridge, I made it straight to the shore and drove north.The shoreline is fantastically scenic for a cruise. Driving closer towards the Yamagata border, there are several beaches and areas to stop and admire the rock formations. One of which was "dinosaur rock," in which, from a distance, resembles a resting dinosaur.

Day 5

I spent most of the day enjoying the drive through Yamagata, stopping by a couple places to shop for Yamagata cherries and pears (which were unfortunately not in season yet). I made a final stop right before the Akita border to admire the shoreline one more time before hitting the Nikaho Akita border.

Day 6

This was a completely unplanned trip, but I decided to make the Tohoku tour complete and made a stop in Aomori prefecture at the Ikaragaseki roadside station.

This completed my 6-day allnorthern Japan/Tohoku road trip tour. It was daunting at first, thinking about driving and sleeping in my car all by myself. However, not only did I avoid falling asleep while driving by making frequent stops at Roadside Stations, but the gas wasn't nearly as expensive as I had originally thought! Plus, there were many others sleeping at the Roadside Stations so I didn't feel like I was the only one doing it (I still recommend

using window covers though). It was relaxing and amazing seeing all the different sights and all the breathtaking scenery. Even driving through the different rice fields and forests, I still felt it was different somehow.

I recommend doing a similar type of drive if you have the chance. Take your time to drive through another prefecture and take in your surroundings and the people living in it. It's also a great way to see other places outside of Akita, and there's plenty of ways to stay safe, especially if COVID is of concern to you.

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All photos courtesy of June Kim