Akita City Travel Guides

Akita City has several tourist attractions, including Senju Park, Akita City Red Brick Museum, Akita City Folk Performance Traditions Museum (Neburi Nagashi Kan), Akita University Mining Museum, and the New Akita Museum of Art.

Chiaki Park is the site of Kubota Castle, the residence of the Satake clan. From the observation deck of the Osumi Tower, visitors can enjoy a panoramic view of Akita City, cherry blossoms and azaleas in spring, and lotus flowers in the moat in early summer. The park is also home to Iyataka Shrine, which was built in honor of the Akita-born scholar of Japanese studies, Atsutane Hirata.

The Akita Municipal Red Brick Museum is also a must-see tourist attraction. Built in 1912 as the head office of Akita Bank, it is designated as an important cultural property with its Renaissance-style brick exterior and Baroque-style interior.

The Akita City Folk Performing Arts Traditions Museum (nicknamed "Neburi Nagashi Museum"), located a five-minute walk across Kanto Boulevard, is a branch of the Akarenga Local History Museum. It is an exhibition hall that conveys local folk events and performing arts, including the Akita Kanto Festival, one of the three major festivals in the Tohoku region.

In the atrium exhibition hall on the first floor, a huge Kanto lantern actually used in the festival is on display, and in the exhibition room on the second floor, life-size dolls and panels introduce folk performing arts such as Akita Manzai and Kurokawa Bangaku.

The Akita University Mining Museum is one of the few mining museums in Japan, and is affiliated with Akita University's School of International Resources, which was Japan's only mining school. The museum is worth a visit for its world-class exhibits of rocks, mineral specimens jewelry, mining equipment, and other materials related to the mining industry.

A must-see sightseeing event is the aforementioned Akita Kanto Festival. This event, which is related to the Tanabata (Star Festival) event (Neburi Nagashi), is held over four days from August 3 to 6 every year on Kanto Boulevard in the center of Akita City. The lanterns, numbering more than 10,000 in total, are a spectacular sight.

Local delicacies such as Inaniwa udon, Kiritanpo, Iburi Guko, and Bubba Hera ice cream are available not only in Akita City but also in the whole Akita Prefecture. For souvenirs, how about Akita's famous confectionery, molokko, or sake, as Akita is known as a rice-producing region?

Akita City is located on the coast of the Sea of Japan in the northwestern part of the Tohoku region, and is the capital and core city of Akita Prefecture. In terms of transportation, Akita City is served by National Route 7, National Route 13, the Sea of Japan Tohoku Expressway, and the Akita Expressway, and is crossed by the Akita Shinkansen, Hetsu Main Line, Ou Main Line, and Oga Line.

Akita Airport and Akita Port, an important port, are also located in Akita City. Access from Tokyo is about 4 hours by Akita Shinkansen and about 1 hour by air.