Shimokita Peninsula
From World travel guide
The Shimokita Peninsula (下北半島 Shimokita-hantō) is the remote northeastern cape of the Japanese island of Honshu, stretching out towards Hokkaido.
Contents |
Cities
- Mutsu — the drab concrete-laden capital
- Oma — port for Hokkaido
- Ohata — fishing village on the way to Yagen Valley
Other destinations
- Mount Osore — in Japanese folklore, the entrance to Hell
- Yagen Valley — scenic and almost uninhabited
Understand
Shaped like an axe pointing west, the peninsula has a thin "axe handle" connecting the mountainous "axe blade" to mainland. The coasts maintain a thin scattering of population but the interior is as remote a region as you can find in Japan. The largest population center is the drab town of Mutsu.
Get in
No matter how you look at it, Shimokita is a long way from anywhere.
By ferry
Ferries from Hakodate on Hokkaido ply the waters to Oma at the northwestern tip of the peninsula.
By train
The JR Ominato Line from Noheji (on the Tohoku main line) travels up the axe handle to Mutsu. The private Shimokita Kotsu Railway stopped running in 2001.
By bus
Direct buses run from Tokyo to Mutsu, taking over 10 hours in the process.
Get around
Getting around without your own set of wheels is not easy, especially off-season. Intermittent buses do connect the main towns, but you will often find hitchhiking a faster option.
If you do travel by bus, be sure to pick up an Aomori Card (available to passport-showing foreigners only) in either Aomori or Mutsu's tourist office for 50% discounts on travel.
Talk
Shimokitans have their own dialect of Japanese, known as Shimokita-ben (下北弁), which keeps linguists and other visitors scratching their heads at times. Some typical Shimokitan words and phrases include:
| English | Standard Japanese | Shimokita dialect |
|---|---|---|
| I | watashi | wai, wara |
| my place's, mine | watashi no tokoro no | waihono, wahono |
| please | -shite kudasai | -samai |
| ..., isn't it? | -ne | -nishi |
Standard Japanese is, however, widely spoken.
See & Do
- Yagen Valley is one of the most beautiful mountain valleys in all Japan, featuring free hot springs and campgrounds.
- Mount Osore is the mythical Japanese entrance to hell, a desolate wasteland of sulphuric springs.
Eat & Drink
The local speciality is squid, particular squid ink ramen noodles.
Contact
Mutsu's tourism office is very helpful to the few foreigners who make it to this neck of the woods, although English ability and material is limited.
