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Where the Stars Come Down to Earth Every August, something magical happens to my city. The shopping arcades of Sendai disappear beneath an ocean of color — thousands of enormous bamboo decorations swaying overhead, their paper streamers ...

Morioka, the capital of Iwate Prefecture, punches well above its weight when it comes to food. Home to not one but three famous noodle dishes — wanko soba, jajamen, and Morioka reimen — and the beloved Fukuda Pan with its legendary kompe...

Hidden in the coastal city of Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture, the Kamo Aquarium (加茂水族館) holds a remarkable world record: it displays more species of jellyfish than any other aquarium on the planet. Once on the brink of closure, this ...

This article may contain affiliate links. If you book or buy through them, this site may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. Imagine standing at the edge of a forest pond so impossibly blue it looks like someone has poured li...

Every August, the streets of Akita City transform into something from a dream. Thousands of performers — from experienced elders to nine-year-old children — hoist bamboo poles loaded with up to 46 paper lanterns into the night sky, balan...

As the leaves turn gold on the mountains and the first frost arrives in Akita Prefecture, families across the region begin preparing one dish above all others: kiritanpo nabe (きりたんぽ鍋). It’s a hot pot unlike anything most West...

Imagine sitting down to a perfectly marbled steak that melts on your tongue before you’ve even finished chewing — a flavor so rich and complex it seems to rewrite your understanding of what beef can be. That’s the promise of ...

Picture this: the first Sunday of September, the banks of the Mamigasaki River in Yamagata City, and a crowd of 30,000 people gathered around a single pot so large it requires a construction crane to stir. In that pot: six tons of satoim...

There is a small port city on the Pacific coast of Miyagi Prefecture that has accomplished something remarkable: it has built an entire civic identity around a single ingredient that most people in the Western world consider either a lux...

Omagari Fireworks Festival Akita Japan guide: dates, access, seating, accommodation tips & what makes this 100-team competition the most spectacular fireworks event in all of Japan.