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Tohoku · Prefecture · JP-05

Akita

秋田県あきたけんAkita-ken

Snow country of rice, sake and Namahage on the Sea of Japan

Akita is a snowy, rural prefecture on the Sea of Japan side of northern Honshu, known for rice and sake, the Namahage of the Oga Peninsula, the Kanto lantern festival and Japan's deepest lake, Lake Tazawa. It also shares the beech forests of Shirakami-Sanchi, a natural World Heritage site, with Aomori.

Overview

Akita stretches along the Sea of Japan coast of northern Honshu between Aomori and Yamagata, backed by the Ou Mountains on the border with Iwate. Its landscape is one of broad rice plains in the valleys of the Yoneshiro and Omono rivers, forested uplands and heavy winter snow. Akita cedar from these forests has been prized since the Edo period, and the prefecture's rice and sake have a national reputation.

For most of the early modern period Akita was ruled by the Satake clan, transferred here from Hitachi in 1602. Their castle town of Kubota became the city of Akita, and branch families governed Kakunodate, whose samurai district survives. Mining of gold, silver and copper in the north and south made the domain and later the modern prefecture a centre of Japan's metal industry.

Akita is known well beyond Japan for its folk culture: the Namahage visiting spirits of Oga, the Kanto lantern festival, the snow huts of Yokote and the Akita dog. Its population is among the oldest and fastest-declining in Japan, and the prefecture has become a testing ground for rural revitalisation and offshore wind power.

Name and origins

The name Akita appears in the Nihon Shoki in the form Agita (齶田), describing the campaigns of Abe no Hirafu in 658. In 733 the court moved its northern fortress on the Sea of Japan coast to Takashimizu, and the stronghold became known as Akita Castle. The name later passed to the Akita clan, the medieval lords of the area, and in 1871 to the prefecture.

The area formed the northern part of Dewa Province. When Dewa was divided in 1869, most of present-day Akita became Ugo, while the Kazuno district in the north-east, historically part of the Nanbu domain, belonged to Rikuchu (formerly Mutsu). After the abolition of the domains in 1871 the Kubota (Akita) domain and neighbouring domains were merged into Akita Prefecture, which took in Kazuno in the same year.

Cities

CapitalAkitaAkita-shiThe Satake castle town on the Sea of Japan, city of the Kanto lanternsCitySembokuSenboku-shiSamurai houses, Japan's deepest lake and hot springs in the beech forest

Geography

The Ou Mountains form the eastern border with Iwate, carrying the volcanic plateau of Hachimantai and Akita Komagatake. Between them and the Dewa Mountains lie the inland basins of Odate, Takanosu, Kakunodate and Yokote, while the Yoneshiro and Omono rivers cross to the coastal plains of Noshiro and Akita. In the south, the 2,236-metre volcano Mount Chokai rises on the border with Yamagata, and in the north the beech forests of the Shirakami Mountains straddle the border with Aomori.

The coast is mostly straight, broken by the Oga Peninsula, a former island joined to the mainland by sandbars. Behind it lay Hachirogata, once Japan's second-largest lake, most of which was drained after the Second World War to create the rice-farming village of Ogata. On the Iwate border lies Lake Tazawa, at 423.4 metres the deepest lake in Japan, and in the far north-east Akita shares Lake Towada with Aomori.

Climate

Akita has a Sea of Japan climate: cool summers with occasional hot spells brought by föhn winds, and grey, snowy winters with some of the fewest hours of winter sunshine in Japan. Snow is moderate on the coast but very heavy inland, especially around Yokote and in the mountains, where depths of several metres are common. The long winters shaped local customs such as the kamakura snow huts and a food culture rich in pickles and preserved fish.

Landscape

  • Lake Tazawa

    田沢湖Tazawa-ko

    A nearly circular caldera lake 423.4 metres deep, the deepest in Japan, with the golden statue of the legendary Tatsuko on its shore.

  • Shirakami-Sanchi

    白神山地Shirakami-sanchi

    One of the largest remaining virgin beech forests in East Asia, on the Akita–Aomori border; a natural World Heritage site since 1993.

  • Mount Chokai

    鳥海山Chōkai-san

    A 2,236-metre stratovolcano on the Yamagata border, rising almost directly from the sea and known as 'Dewa Fuji'.

  • Oga Peninsula

    男鹿半島Oga-hantō

    A hilly peninsula with sea cliffs, maar crater lakes and the viewpoint of Mount Kanpu, home of the Namahage tradition.

  • Hachirogata

    八郎潟Hachirōgata

    A former lagoon lake, largely reclaimed from 1957 to create a planned village of large rice fields at Ogata.

  • Omono River

    雄物川Omono-gawa

    The main river of southern and central Akita, flowing through the Yokote basin to the sea at Akita city.

  • Yoneshiro River

    米代川Yoneshiro-gawa

    The river of northern Akita, linking Kazuno and Odate with the timber port of Noshiro.

  • Hachimantai and Akita Komagatake

    八幡平Hachimantai

    Volcanic highlands on the Iwate border with hot springs, marshes and alpine flowers, part of Towada-Hachimantai National Park.

Nature in this prefecture

LakesLake TazawaTazawa-koThe deepest lake in Japan, framed by the Ou Mountains249 mLakesLake TowadaTowada-koA double caldera lake high in the northern Ou Mountains400 mMountainsMount ChōkaiChōkai-sanDewa Fuji: a sacred volcano rising straight from the Sea of Japan.2236 mNational ParksTowada-Hachimantai National ParkTowada-Hachimantai Kokuritsu KōenCaldera lake, mountain stream and hot springs of the northern mountains2038 m

World Heritage in this prefecture

Inscribed 1993Shirakami-SanchiThe last great beech wilderness of East AsiaNaturalInscribed 2021Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern JapanTen thousand years of settled life without farmingCultural

History

Northern Akita holds some of Japan's most important Jomon sites, among them the stone circles of Oyu in Kazuno and the Isedotai site in Kitaakita, both part of a World Heritage property since 2021. In the seventh and eighth centuries the Yamato court extended its reach along the coast, building Akita Castle as its northernmost stronghold on the Sea of Japan side. The region then passed through the hands of local powers such as the Kiyohara, whose conflicts led to the Later Three Years' War near Yokote, and later the Ando (Akita) clan.

In 1602 Tokugawa Ieyasu moved the Satake from Hitachi to Akita as punishment for their ambiguous stance at Sekigahara. The Satake built Kubota Castle, developed the cedar forests and mines, and ruled until 1871. In the Boshin War of 1868 the domain left the northern alliance and sided with the imperial forces, and it was invaded by its neighbours as a result. In the modern era mines at Kosaka, Osarizawa and Innai flourished, the Akita oil fields were exploited, and after 1957 the drainage of Hachirogata became one of Japan's largest land reclamation projects.

  1. c. 2000–1500 BCE

    Construction of the Oyu stone circles and the Isedotai site in northern Akita.

  2. 658

    Abe no Hirafu's expedition along the coast; the name Agita is recorded.

  3. 733

    The Dewa fortress is moved to Takashimizu, later known as Akita Castle.

  4. 878

    The Gangyo Uprising of the local Emishi against Akita Castle.

  5. 1083–1087

    Later Three Years' War among the Kiyohara, centred on the Kanazawa stockade near Yokote.

  6. 1602

    The Satake clan is transferred from Hitachi to Akita and founds Kubota Castle in 1604.

  7. 1620

    Kakunodate is laid out as a castle town with a separate samurai quarter.

  8. 1871

    Akita Prefecture is created after the abolition of the domains.

  9. 1957–1977

    Reclamation of Hachirogata and settlement of the village of Ogata.

  10. 1993

    Shirakami-Sanchi is inscribed as one of Japan's first natural World Heritage sites.

Culture

Akita's culture grew out of long winters and rice farming. Winter rituals such as the Namahage of Oga and the kamakura snow huts of Yokote, summer bon dances and the Kanto lantern festival of Akita city are among the best-known folk customs in Japan. The prefecture has a strong tradition of sake brewing, the Akita dialect is famously hard for outsiders, and the Akita dog, bred originally in the Odate area, is a national natural monument. Crafts make use of the local cedar and cherry bark.

Festivals

  • Akita Kanto Festival

    秋田竿燈まつりAkita Kantō Matsuri

    From 3 to 6 August performers balance bamboo poles up to about 12 metres high hung with dozens of lanterns on their palms, foreheads, shoulders and hips.

  • Namahage of Oga

    男鹿のナマハゲOga no Namahage

    On New Year's Eve (31 December) young men in demon masks and straw capes visit homes to admonish idle children and bless the household; part of UNESCO's Raiho-shin listing (2018).

  • Namahage Sedo Festival

    なまはげ柴灯まつりNamahage Sedo Matsuri

    A February festival at Shinzan Shrine in Oga combining the Namahage with a Shinto bonfire ritual.

  • Yokote Kamakura

    横手のかまくらYokote no kamakura

    On 15 and 16 February children in Yokote welcome visitors into snow huts with altars to the water deity.

  • Omagari Fireworks

    大曲の花火Ōmagari no hanabi

    The National Fireworks Competition in Daisen, held on the last Saturday of August, where Japan's leading pyrotechnicians compete.

  • Nishimonai Bon Odori

    西馬音内盆踊りNishimonai Bon Odori

    From 16 to 18 August dancers in patchwork kimono and deep straw hats or black hoods perform an elegant bon dance in Ugo town.

  • Kakunodate Festival

    角館祭りのやま行事Kakunodate Matsuri no Yama Gyōji

    From 7 to 9 September festival floats collide in negotiated 'yama-buttsuke' clashes in the streets of Kakunodate.

Traditional crafts

  • Kabazaiku (cherry-bark work)

    樺細工kabazaiku

    Tea caddies and boxes covered with polished mountain-cherry bark, introduced to Kakunodate by samurai craftsmen in the eighteenth century.

  • Kawatsura lacquerware

    川連漆器Kawatsura shikki

    Durable everyday lacquerware from Yuzawa, made since the Kamakura period.

  • Odate bentwood boxes

    大館曲げわっぱŌdate magewappa

    Lunch boxes and containers of steamed, bent Akita cedar stitched with cherry bark.

  • Akita cedar tubs and barrels

    秋田杉桶樽Akita-sugi oketaru

    Hooped cedar tubs and barrels used for sake, rice and bathing.

Traditions

  • Namahage

    なまはげnamahage

    Masked visiting deities of the Oga Peninsula, now the emblem of the whole prefecture.

  • Akita dog

    秋田犬Akita-inu

    A large Japanese dog breed from the Odate area, designated a natural monument in 1931; Hachiko of Shibuya was an Akita.

  • Akita dialect

    秋田弁Akita-ben

    A northern Tohoku dialect with compressed vowels and distinctive vocabulary, celebrated in local songs such as Akita Ondo.

  • Matagi hunters

    マタギmatagi

    Traditional mountain hunters of the Ani and Senboku uplands with their own rituals and vocabulary for the hunt.

  • Sake brewing

    秋田の酒Akita no sake

    Akita has one of the highest numbers of breweries in Tohoku, supported by abundant soft water and local rice.

Cuisine

Akita's food reflects its rice fields, forests and the cold sea. Rice appears in kiritanpo and in sake, the winter sea supplies hatahata (sailfin sandfish) and fish sauce, and long winters produced a culture of smoked and fermented pickles. Local chicken and mountain vegetables complete a hearty regional cuisine.

  • Kiritanpo

    きりたんぽkiritanpo

    Pounded rice moulded around cedar skewers and grilled, simmered in a hotpot with Hinai chicken broth, burdock and seri; associated with Kazuno and Odate.

  • Inaniwa udon

    稲庭うどんInaniwa udon

    Thin, smooth hand-stretched udon from the Inaniwa area of Yuzawa, made since the seventeenth century.

  • Shottsuru

    しょっつるshottsuru

    A fish sauce traditionally fermented from hatahata, used in the hotpot shottsuru-nabe.

  • Hatahata

    鰰hatahata

    Sailfin sandfish that come inshore to spawn in winter, grilled, pickled as hatahata-zushi or used in hotpots.

  • Iburi-gakko

    いぶりがっこiburi-gakko

    Daikon smoked over wood fires in the rafters and then pickled in rice bran.

  • Yokote yakisoba

    横手やきそばYokote yakisoba

    Thick fried noodles with minced pork, a fried egg on top and fukujinzuke pickles on the side.

  • Hinai-jidori

    比内地鶏Hinai-jidori

    A firm, flavourful free-range chicken from the Odate area, the basis of kiritanpo broth and oyako-don.

Hot springs

  • Nyuto Onsen area

    乳頭温泉郷Nyūtō onsenkyō

    Seven small hot-spring inns in beech forest at the foot of Mount Nyuto, among them the thatched Tsurunoyu with its milky outdoor bath.

  • Tamagawa Onsen

    玉川温泉Tamagawa Onsen

    A strongly acidic spring in Hachimantai with a very high flow from a single source, known for rock-bed bathing on hot ground.

  • Goshogake Onsen

    後生掛温泉Goshōgake Onsen

    A traditional hot-spring cure lodge on the Hachimantai plateau beside fumaroles and mud pots.

  • Oyasukyo Onsen

    小安峡温泉Oyasukyō Onsen

    A spa in a gorge in Yuzawa where hot water and steam burst from the rock walls at Daifunto.

  • Oga Onsen

    男鹿温泉Oga Onsen

    A hot-spring village at the tip of the Oga Peninsula, with Namahage performances for visitors.

Economy

Akita is one of Japan's leading rice-producing prefectures and home of the Akita Komachi variety. Agriculture, sake brewing and forestry built around Akita cedar remain important, alongside a manufacturing base in electronic components, with the TDK group long present in the southern coastal area. The former mining industry survives in metal smelting and the recycling of metals from electronic waste in Kosaka and Odate. The windy, shallow coast has made Akita a pioneer of commercial offshore wind power in Japan.

Key industries

  • Rice (Akita Komachi) and agriculture
  • Sake brewing
  • Forestry and Akita cedar
  • Electronic components
  • Non-ferrous metal smelting and recycling
  • Offshore wind and geothermal energy
  • Tourism: hot springs and festivals

Notable people

  • Hirata Atsutane (1776–1843)

    平田篤胤

    Scholar of kokugaku (National Learning) born in Kubota, whose Shinto teachings influenced the Meiji Restoration.

  • Ando Shoeki (1703–1762)

    安藤昌益

    Physician and radical thinker from the Odate area who criticised the feudal order and advocated an agrarian society of equals.

  • Odano Naotake (1749–1780)

    小田野直武

    Kakunodate samurai and painter, leading artist of the Akita ranga school of Western-style painting and illustrator of the anatomy book Kaitai Shinsho.

  • Satake Shozan (1748–1785)

    佐竹曙山

    Lord of the Kubota domain and a painter of the Akita ranga school, who wrote early Japanese texts on Western perspective.

  • Kobayashi Takiji (1903–1933)

    小林多喜二

    Proletarian writer born near Odate, author of Kanikosen (The Crab Cannery Ship), who died in police custody.

Getting there

  • The Akita Shinkansen runs from Tokyo via Morioka, Lake Tazawa, Kakunodate and Omagari to Akita, taking roughly three and a half to four hours.
  • Akita Airport, south-east of the city, has domestic flights to Tokyo Haneda and other major cities; Odate-Noshiro Airport serves the north.
  • The Ou Main Line links Akita with Aomori and Yamagata, the Uetsu Main Line follows the coast south towards Niigata, and the scenic Gono Line runs along the Shirakami coast to Aomori.
  • The Akita Nairiku Line crosses the interior from Kakunodate to Takanosu through matagi country.
  • Ferries link Akita Port with Niigata, Tsuruga and Tomakomai in Hokkaido.

Neighbouring prefectures

Former provinces

  • 出羽Dewa
  • 羽後Ugo
  • 陸中Rikuchū

Prefectural symbols

Flower
フキノトウfukinotō
Tree
秋田スギAkita-sugi
Bird
ヤマドリyamadori

Frequently asked questions

What is Akita known for?

Rice and sake, the Namahage of Oga, the Kanto lantern festival, Lake Tazawa, the samurai district of Kakunodate, kiritanpo and the Akita dog.

What are the Namahage?

Masked visiting deities of the Oga Peninsula who go from house to house on New Year's Eve, scolding lazy children and blessing the household. The custom is recognised by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage.

How do you get to Akita from Tokyo?

By Akita Shinkansen, which takes roughly three and a half to four hours, or by a flight of about an hour from Haneda.

Where is the deepest lake in Japan?

Lake Tazawa in Semboku, Akita, is 423.4 metres deep, the deepest lake in Japan.

When is the best time to visit Akita?

Late April for the weeping cherries of Kakunodate, early August for the Kanto Festival, October for autumn colour, and February for the snow festivals of Yokote.

Related

Sources

  1. 1.令和2年国勢調査 (opens in a new tab) — Statistics Bureau of Japan
  2. 2.全国都道府県市区町村別面積調 (opens in a new tab) — Geospatial Information Authority of Japan
  3. 3.美の国あきたネット（秋田県公式サイト） (opens in a new tab) — 秋田県
  4. 4.Shirakami-Sanchi (opens in a new tab) — UNESCO World Heritage Centre
  5. 5.Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan (opens in a new tab) — UNESCO World Heritage Centre

Editorial team · Published: