What is best month in Tohoku?

Hello,,

Has any one self drive with rented ar in the month of June in Tohoku? What will be the best month to be travel for the tour of whole Tohoku for 20 days?

Personally I would either choose the latter half of April for cherry blossom or late Oct to early Nov for autumn foliage.

Summer months have lots of colourful festive parades and fireworks but the heat especially the humidity is a set-back. Winter brings beautiful snow scenes and activities as well as illuminations but it is not desirable to undergo a self-drive road trip.

THANKS A LOT, WILLIAM!
DO YOU OR ANYONE KNOW WHETHER IT WILL BE SAFE DUE TOI THE RADIATION LEVEL TO DRIVE ESPECIALLY IN IWATE AND FUKUSHIMA AREA?

You'll be fine. You won't be anywhere near the exclusion zone and you'll know if you are dangerously close, as there are signs and road blocks.

Hi john!
Thank you!
Will it be safe to drive around the vicinity? What about the food esp vegetable n seafood? Wondering how the authority is ensuring that the contaminated food will not flow out into the market!

Appreciated

I don't know why you'd drive around the vicinity of FDNPP. It's not something most people would and I think it wouldn't be very polite or appropriate to do so. There isn't anything there of interest to a tourist.

While I do appreciate your interest in the area, and I hope it's a healthy interest, there are areas in Tohoku that are still affected by the tsunami that would definitely benefit from your visit and solidarity. I've visited the Sanriku Coast every year since 3/11/12 and been to places like Sendai, Shiogama, Matsushima, Ishinomaki, Onagawa, Minamisanriku and Kesennuma.

Towns further up north on route 45 are still being rebuilt, such as Rikuzentakata, Ofunato, Kamaishi, etc. I would definitely spend some time there, like I do, but there is much more to see in Tohoku. I'm sure you've done your fair bit of research on the area.

I used to live just north of Hachinohe when I was in the military and loved to go to Lake Towada and the Oirase gorge. Other places of interest are Hirosaki, Aomori, Morioka, etc.

I hope you have a great time in Tohoku. It's a beautiful area of Japan.

As far as the food, and I forgot to mention it previously, I can only assume it's safe. I've heard that the standards the Japanese government are pretty strict when it comes to disseminating potentially hazardous food products-perhaps more than in other countries. I'm not going to debate on whether they are being followed or not.

I can only assume they are safe. I have eaten and will continue to eat products from the region. After all, no one can really be 100% sure of anything. But you'll be depriving yourself of the delicacies of the area if you don't sample their products.

Even if you take the newly reopened Joban Expressway that passes just a few hundred meters from the destroyed nuclear plant, you will still be exposed to less radiation (around 5 micro Sieverts per hour at the closest point to the nuclear plant) than during your flight to Japan (around 10 micro Sieverts per hour).

There is really no worry travelling around the lovely region of Tohoku as long as you stay away from the restricted zone near the power plant.
http://www.japan-guide.com/list/e1208.html

We went on a 2-week road trip there in 2013 during cherry blossom time and enjoyed every moment in Tohoku. Part of our trip involved driving along the once affected eastern coast and we even spent a night in the town of Fukushima. There were areas where restoration and reconstruction works were still going on but nothing to hinder our travelling plan, welcoming faces everywhere we went.

As for food we loved seafood and had a great time enjoying a self-help seafood grill in the Hasshoku Market of Hachinohe.
http://www.849net.com/map/shichirin.html

Thanks everybody!
By vicinity, I do not mean near the FNPP area...
I plan to visit the area where john has mentioned nearly the whole of Tohoku including Akita Prefecture!
I plan to start from Osakeall the way upto Niigata... Akita..Aomori..Iwate etcetc
N back to Tokyo.
As per what Ujisan said. I am at ease now.
Appreciated!