Autumn in Akita

Fall is my favorite season in northern Japan. Actually, it's probably my favorite moment in time if I'm being completely honest. Every year, I'm surrounded by vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows, and for a short second, it seems as though everything just comes to a...halt.

This year, for the final autumn, I traveled to the Akita prefecture with my partner in crime, Sara. We have researched Akita destinations frequently for our job, and decided it would be the perfect ladies weekend before Mark returned from deployment.

Dakigaeri Gorge in Semboku, Akita

After driving for approximately four hours, during which we got yelled at to slow down by the Japanese police, we arrived in Akita. We located a Lawsons near our hotel and fueled up on spicy chicken nuggets and chu his, our old standbys, and wandered around looking for a hospitable bar. The first one we found, Popcorn, looked promising when we stepped inside and saw a group of expats. Unfortunately, they left about ten minutes after we arrived to catch a bus.

Tatsuko statue at Lake Tazawa

We left Popcorn, trying to find another American friendly bar. On our way to a promising locale, we collided with a boisterous Japanese group on their way to dinner. They invited us to hang out with them, so we accepted and ended up having dinner and drinks with a group of about ten people. Only one of them spoke a little English, but thanks to Google Translate, we had a great time and were actually able to keep a steady conversation going for about three hours.

Trail at Dakigaeri Gorge

The following morning, we got our fill of CoCo's, and headed for the Dakigaeri Gorge, the main reason we wanted to go to Akita. The gorge was absolutely beautiful, though we were about a week too early for the leaves. The trail was very easy to navigate and enjoyable. After walking for a little bit, we came upon the waterfall, which was one of the main attractions.

Japan is so beautiful.

After the gorge, we went to Lake Tazawa, which is another popular destination.

Lake Tazawa

There wasn't a lot to do at Tazawa, and it was still pretty early in the day, so we tried to go to an onsen. Before going to Akita, I found this beautiful, outdoor onsen, Nyuto, which was pretty close to Tazawa. Unfortunately, it closes ridiculously early and was a ghost town by the time we got there. The dirt road to Nyuto was narrow, and a little treacherous, so I didn't get any pictures from the drive, but the autumn colors were gorgeous.

The Halloween special at McDonald's.

Crestfallen, we decided to drown our sorrows at McDonald's. They had a special squid ink burger with a black bun to celebrate Halloween, and since it was only available in Japan, we had to try it. The squid ink was surprisingly not very fishy, and the burger was also topped with crispy onions, making it the thing dreams are made of. Pretty sure I had that Halloween burger no less than three times during October.

Night two and a new round of friends!

With full stomachs, we hit the town again and actually went to the bar we were trying to go to the first night. We met some fun people willing to try and have a conversation with us, and found out they were Kanto performers! Sara and I went to the Kanto Lantern Festival last summer, and at the festival, the performers balance poles up to 40 feet long on their heads and backs. Before heading home, our new friends took us to a restaurant which had some of the best food I've had in Japan. Of course I could never find said restaurant again, and even if I did, I wouldn't be able to read the menu.

Oga Quasi National Park

For our final day in Akita, we drove to Oga, which is on the western coast of Akita. Oga is the home of the Namahage, a demonlike creature that is basically used to make children behave well. The Namahage festival takes place in January, so we tried to find the museum to learn more about it.

Tasukete!

We ended up getting really lost and not finding the museum, but we did find a really cool park with a great view of the ocean, and it had Namahage statues in the parking lot, so we called it good.

Also found this creepy little gem. Pretty sure this was for ice cream.

More scary Namahage! These moved and made noise.

On the way out of town, we tried to hit up the onsen one more time, and learned that it closes daily at 3 p.m., so we never got to feel the glory of an outdoor mixed gender public bath. But there's always next time...