Aomori → Hirosaki → Ajigasawa → Fukaura → Akita → Tsuruoka → Murakami → Niigata

After leaving Aomori we quickly found ourselves immersed in forests and farmland. Life in Tohoku felt slow-paced and traditional with a strong connection to nature.

Our limited Japanese was of no use in understanding the locals whose accent was thick to our Western ears, but we were met everywhere with warmth and kindness. Here we had few cultural references to navigate by and we stood out a mile.

Tohoku reminded us how much can be experienced and shared without being understood.