3 Best Sights in Tohoku, Japan

The surreal Geibikei Gorge is a slightly decrepit, definitely kitschy tourist attraction. You board a gondola at the local river, and your gondolier will sing in classic Japanese style as he maneuvers farther into the echoey gorge. Your destination is an upriver sandbar, where you disembark for a stroll, and for a nominal fee you can throw kiln-fired clay divots (undama) into a crack in a cliff across the river (each divot has a character on it, and if you chuck it in the hole, that fate is in store for you). Bring bread to feed the river fish—they aggressively follow the boat and jump for joy at handouts. Those fish are also available roasted and fried where you disembark. The trip takes 90 minutes, and boats depart approximately once an hour from 8:30 to 3 most days.

The clear waters and forested slopes of Tazawa-ko, Japan's deepest lake, create a breathtaking, mystical quality. According to legend, the great beauty from Akita, Tatsuko Hime, sleeps in the water's deep, disguised as a dragon. The lake never freezes over in winter because Tatsuko Hime and her dragon husband churn the water with their passionate lovemaking. The less romantic, scientific reason is that Tazawa-ko has been measured to a depth of 1,397 feet, which prevents it from freezing. Though clear enough to allow you to see a startling 300 feet or more down into it, the mineral-blue water is too acidic to support anything but a few hardy fish (you can buy food to feed them near the statue of Tatsuko Hime).

A scenic 20-km-long (12-mile-long) two-lane road is perfect for biking. Bicycles can be rented at the bus station near JR Tazawako Station, but you can also take a bus (timed with the arrivals of trains) to the lake and rent bicycles there for a relaxing ride around lake. In winter the Tazawa area is a popular downhill-skiing destination, and the deep blue of the lake is dazzling from the lifts and trails.

Thanks to its famous fall colors, Lake Towada welcomes a rumbling fleet of packed tour buses when the leaves begin to change. The lake fills a volcanic crater to a depth of 1,096 feet, making it the third deepest in Japan. The crater is held aloft like a giant goblet above the surrounding topography, giving it a dramatic illusory aspect. Boat tours let you float by the lovely landscape.