Tohoku 12 Days Route Check

Hi everyone,

I'm going on my 2nd Japan trip this coming early October. Total days in Japan is actually 15 days but I left 3 days towards the end for Tokyo.
I'm doubting the route I planned a lot so I'm here seeking advices, tips or other relevant information.

The only thing I can't change on this route is Nyuto Onsen as I've booked my accommodation. I can still change the rest though.
After comparing the total fares, I decided to go with 14 Days JR Pass. So main mode will be Shinkansen between cities, followed by local JR trains & buses. Pass will be used since Day 1.
Planning to stay at a hotel near the stations mostly, except for Nyuto Onsen and Lake Towada.
I will be travelling with 1 luggage, 1 backpack & 1 sling camera bag. Planning to use takuhaibin but I'll try to save some cost by storing my luggage in lockers/ hotel (if they allow it) when i can.

Here are my planned routes:
Day 1 : Narita Airport to Sendai
Day 2 : Sendai – Shiogama Market - Matsushima Bay – Sendai
Day 3 : Sendai – Yamadera – Ichinoseki (Store & pickup luggage at Sendai)
Day 4 : Ichinoseki - Geibikei Gorge - Hiraizumi - Ichinoseki
Day 5 : Ichinoseki - Kakunodate (Via Morioka) (Drop off Luggage)
Day 6 : Kakunodate - Nyuto onsen
Day 7 : Nyuto Onsen – Morioka
Day 8 : Morioka - Lake Towada (Via Hachinohe) (Luggage to Aomori)
Day 9 : Lake Towada
Day 10 : Lake Towada - Aomori City (Receive Luggage)
Day 11 : Aomori City - Hirosaki
Day 12 : Hirosaki - Tokyo (Via Aomori)

Let me know what you guys think and thanks beforehand.

Day 2, 3 :Sendai
You can buy sendai marugoto pass=2720 yen
For2 day,valid JR, bus unlimited ride for 2days

For Geibikei/Hiraizumi: the temples in Hiraizumi close at 5pm. Check that you have enough time after your boat tour. Mōtsū-ji can be visited very quickly if needed, but Chūson-ji is big, with numerous shrines spread out on a little hill.

Another option could be to visit Geibikei on day 5, before going to Morioka. We did that from Hiraizumi, and it should be even easier from Ichinoseki. By the way, Morioka is a nice place for a lunch break between Ichinoseki and Kakunodate. October is too early for the autumn foliage, sadly.

Hey Salman, thanks for the tip on Sendai Marugato Pass.

Hi Mellye, this is so helpful. I didn't take into account how long the boat ride/temple visit would take. Since the boat ride last maybe 2 hours (their site says 90minutes), I would try to catch the earliest boat ride at 8.30 and probably just visit Chūson-ji for the remaining of the day.

Unless Kakunodate takes less than half a day to explore then I'll probably shift Geibikei Gorge to Day 5 morning.

And yeah, early October is too early for the foliage. I'm so bumped about that, so I'm just hoping to at least see some green leaves change color. At least on the higher altitude areas T_T.

Glad to be of help :)

Our boat tour was exactly 90 minutes long.
The timing of the return bus was pretty good, and it was not crowded at all.

Your plan of boarding the first boat at 8:30 am would be perfect. You would arrive at Hiraizumi at 10:50, and that's plenty of time to sightsee (note: no buses on Tuesdays). I'd recommend starting with Mōtsū-ji if you want to see both temples, but you wouldn't be missing much if you don't.

As for Kakunodate, we visited it as a half day trip from Tazawako, after a morning spent in Dakigaeri valley.

It took us only 2~2.5 hours to see all of the samurai district, including the visit of 2 houses. If you are passionate about photography, you might need more time :)
We then stayed until 5pm to see the illuminations, and the afternoon felt a bit long. We killed time by going to the castle's ruins and walking along the riverbank. It is famed for its cherry trees, but it was honestly a bit depressing early November.

Whatever you do to your planning, keep Yamadera. We loved it and it should be beautiful even without the autumn foliage. It would be safer to store your luggage at Yamadera station, especially if you have a short connection in Sendai. We had a 20 minutes delay on that line, which caused us a bit of stress because we had to catch a bus afterwards.

Finally, as you probably already know: the Tohoku shinkansen only has reserved seats. If you book them online, you have to collect the tickets the day before you travel, at the latest.

These are so helpful. I should probably have researched more on Tohoku Shinkansen, I didn't know the tickets need to be collected a day early.

Definitely keeping Yamadera too. I'm pretty much set on Day 1 -3.

Thank you so much, Mellye!