After landing in Akita airport, we decided to spend time exploring in the former samurai town of Kakunodate on our way to Tsuru no Yu Ryokan in Nyuto Onsen, so our journey wouldn’t be as rushed, especially because one can never tell during winter in the more remote areas of Japan, if there won’t be delays due to heavy snowfall/bad weather.

The area is very popular in springtime, as hundreds of cherry blossom trees bloom, and make Kakunodate one of Tohoku region’s most loved Cherry Blossom viewing spots especially with the presence of samurai houses which depict a truly timeless view. Autumn is also a popular time to visit. The riverbank and much of the town is lined with Cherry Blossom trees, which still look beautiful with their bare branches cloaked in winter snow. The town is affectionately known as “Little Kyoto”.

Today, Kakunodate is now part of the city called Semboku, comprised of former districts, Kakunodate, Tazawako and the village of Nishiki. The city is renowned for it’s two distinct areas, the merchant district and the samurai district, where many of the architecture still remains intact and is perhaps the best example of samurai buildings in all of Japan. Kakunodate also once held a castle, however nothing remains except the original site, which is now a park.

Kakunodate is quite easy to do for a day trip from other cities in Akita/Aomori or even straight from Akita airport, but if you have the time to stay a night (especially in cherry blossom season) and enjoy a more leisurely pace, make Hotel Folkloro Kakunodate your base. Right by the station, its simple, modern and clean and super convenient to jump on that shinkansen/train the next day onwards to the next adventure.  The town is quite small, so it’s easy to explore everything in a day walking to the sights.

There are other options available in the area, a couple of ryokans/renovated samurai houses which would have been a fun experience, but since we were embarking on another Tohoku journey of winter onsens, we decided to just do simple, affordable and clean for Kakunodate

Winter is also picturesque, however as it’s not as a popular time and with the current world circumstances, we did find a lot of restaurants were randomly closed (don’t trust google maps times! and also more remote Japan, they tend to just not update anything or even have a website). A restaurant we were planning to have dinner at to eat more of the local cuisine was unexpectedly closed, however luckily our hotel’s restaurant was open and was a delicious, satisfying meal.

Dinner was a satisfying meal of their local kiritanpo (pounded rice) in nabe and the local inaiwa udon with vegetable tempura, alongside their famed iburigakko (smoked radish). The flavour is soooo good! We went and bought some from a local farmer’s store “Sakaiya” to bring back to Tokyo.

Spring is definitely Kakunodate’s most popular time to visit due to the cherry blossoms, and we found with winter (and perhaps because of the pandemic), a lot of business hours were irregular to what they normally would be, so some of our choices were a bit limited for food. However, we were able to try Inaho (a local ryotei restaurant) for lunch which apparently normally requires a reservation when you’re there during peak tourism season.

You can find Inaho on the right hand corner, as you walk up from Kakunodate station for about 7mins. Upstairs on the 2nd floor, the restaurant has tatami seated area, and tables and chairs. With all our heavy winter shoes and jackets, we couldn’t be bothered to take them off for the tatami, though it looked very welcoming. Hubby had the duo set of an oyako-don (chicken & egg over rice) and a smaller mountain veggies udon set. Regarding food, I can have quite simple tastes with certain meals (ie. I don’t need many ingredients), I really enjoy udon, especially the flat thin Inaiwa kind and with simple mountain vegetables, it’s just perfect for those winter frosty days. Sprinkle a bit of shichimi (7 spice) and it gives you that added kick.

I have to admit when we travel to an area that probably could have easily been done in a day, with no real agenda of what to see… we tend to snack a lot! Below are some little gems we discovered! Definitely pop by the little patissiere/cake shop just before you hit the riverbank/after leaving the town square because they have the most delicious little cheese bake tart (if you’ve had them in Japan, you know how good these are) that’s lined with a thin crisp layer of chocolate between the cheesecake & the pastry! SOOO GOOD!

Hubby said we had to try the famous kiritanpo covered in miso paste. It’s a good little hot snack on a cold winter’s day but for me, it was too much miso sweetness. However hubby liked it. Then lastly, the little farmer’s store Saikaiya, also serves parfaits in their tiny restaurant and homemade taiyaki! Normally I avoid taiyaki because I do not like azuki (the red bean paste it’s normally filled with) however they do their own little ringo cream (apple) taiyaki which was pretty nice!

Overall, Kakunodate is a lovely little town, perfect if you’re interested in samurai history and architecture. Totally doable in a day trip if you don’t have the time, but I feel if you wish to go see the town for cherry blossoms, perhaps give yourself a night there (or go on weekdays) to avoid the crowds, because from the glorious amounts of sleeping cherry blossom trees I saw in the town and along the riverbank, I can imagine how beautiful it looks in Spring and how crowded it can get. In fact perhaps I should do a Tohoku cherry blossom adventure one day.