AKITA

Akita is a mountainous northern prefecture on Honshu, Japan's main island. It's home to hot springs, notably those surrounding Lake Tazawa. Kakunodate town has a historic district of wooden samurai mansions, some of which are museums. Bordering the sea is the capital city Akita, famous for Kanto Matsuri, a summer festival in which participants balance long bamboo poles topped with lanterns. Akita is noted for its local breed of dog, the Akita, the most famous one being Hachiko the loyal dog who waited for his dead master at Shibuya Station in Tokyo

We visited two Samurai houses from the 17th century in the town of Kakunodate. The Kakunodate samurai district, which once housed about 80 families, is one of the best examples of samurai architecture and housing in the country. Its wide streets and large courtyards are shaded by dozens of weeping cherry trees which bloom in early May. During this time, the wide streets are busy with tourists.

Of the samurai houses that remain intact, six are open to the public and offer visitors the chance to see how middle class and wealthy samurai families might have lived. Of the six open houses, the Aoyagi and Ishiguro houses are particularly noteworthy for their size and quality.

After a traditional Japanese lunch, we visited Lake Tazawa, the deepest crater lake in Japan at 423 metres. At the western end of the lake there is a famous golden statue of a woman named Tatsuko that has become a local symbol. According to legend, Tatsuko was a beautiful girl who prayed to retain her beauty forever but was instead cursed and turned into a dragon and eventually sunk to the bottom of Lake Tazawa.

Unfortunately we were cursed with torrential rain at the samurai houses and persistent heavy rain at the lake!