Tohoku Summer Escape: Best Restaurants & Food Tours in Northern Japan

Blessed with forested mountains that transform into snowy mounds in winter and a rocky coastline with cooler climes, the Tohoku region sits further up north and is, for the most part, sheltered from the scorching summer heat experienced in southern regions like Kanto. 

So, while summer in Japan can be particularly ruthless and humid, with temperatures peaking around 35 degrees celsius in August, Tohoku's cooler breezes make it an ideal destination to beat the heat.

Tohoku encompasses six prefectures that spread out over northeast Honshu, Japan’s main island: Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi and Yamagata. 

Beyond its weather, Tohoku offers its own allure with exceptional local cuisines, such as Aomori's tuna, Iwate's soba noodles and savory seafood dishes. So, even though “summer” may conjure up images of pristine white beaches in Okinawa and summer matsuri festivals, you’re not missing out by being in Tohoku. 

Don’t know where to start? Check out our favorite food tours and restaurants in Tohoku. 

Thankfully, Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata Prefectures are easily accessible by the shinkansen bullet train or domestic flights. Each prefecture in Tohoku also has airports with direct flights from major cities like Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. 

For travelers looking to explore multiple regions of Tohoku by land, the JR East Tohoku Area Pass offers unlimited travel on JR trains, including shinkansen, limited express trains and buses in both Kanto and Tohoku regions over five consecutive days.

If you’re planning to go further north, the JR East-South Hokkaido Rail Pass extends coverage to include additional JR lines in Hokkaido, including Sapporo.

The buzzword is “produce-driven” nowadays, but Chef Sugawara from Sendai’s highly vaunted French restaurant takes it seriously. Graal focuses on forward-thinking haute cuisine that’s sustainability charged by local ingredients from Tohoku. And while the store’s food has always been of French ilk and Gallic technique, plates are constructed through a Japanese lens — think foie gras paired with sweet shrimp and shellfish infused with the zest of yuzu. 

Along with new-wave dishes, Graal doesn’t settle for less with its drinks: strong selections of sake and wine are helmed by sommelier Sato. The intimate dining space, with its 20 counter-only seats surrounding a mirrored kitchen, is impressive with golden-hued lights and a soaring tree centerpiece.

Reserve a table for French cuisine at Graal. 

The husband-and-wife team behind Mikawa Tempura in Akita knows that attention to detail makes all the difference in tempura. Case in point: they've perfected a light batter formula that turns crispy once it hits the oil, which is also a combination of rapeseed and sesame oil. The husband, who trained at some highly-reputed tempura shops in Tokyo, handles the cooking, while his wife attends the front-of-house service.

Their menu is omakase chef’s choice only, allowing diners to choose the price point that best suits their budget. Battered vegetables and fish bloom into light, airy tempura that doesn’t feel greasy in the slightest. 

The service exemplifies local hospitality: friendly and welcoming, with gestures and smiles effectively bridging any language barriers when recommending condiments or explaining dishes.

Taste tantalizing tempura at Mikawa Tempura.

One of Aomori’s most famous ramen shops Kamenoya, hinges on a secret menu called the “ten-chuka”: Chinese-style ramen in a beautiful clear broth infused with robust flavors of fish and meat. Atop the noodles, there’s the scallop tempura, with one side crispy and the other delicately soaked in the delicious broth. 

This historic soba shop in Aomori has been serving its Chinese-style ramen and soba for over 120 years, maintaining the same traditional methods that first made their noodles famous. It's possibly Aomori's finest blend of ramen and soba, but you'll only truly appreciate it by paying them a visit.

Experience Kamenoya’s famous Chinese-style ramen.

Nestled in Fukushima's serene countryside just outside Iizaka Onsen Town, Onyado Kawasemi is a swish 12-room onsen hotel occupying 2.5 acres of land. The ryokan has a formidable spread of kaiseki (Japanese multicourse) cuisine to match its stunning fit-out. 

Their menu adapts seasonally, emphasizing ingredients at their peak and employing pared-back cooking methods that allow each dish to shine without heavy sauces. Highlights include sweet bream, shark fin and hairy crab delicacies. 

Beyond dining, Onyado Kawasemi offers open-air baths and themed rooms that immerse guests in the lush natural surroundings. In other words, the ideal home-away-from-home for escaping Japan's summer heat in the Tohoku area.

Relax in style at Onyado Kawasemi with kaiseki cuisine.

Tanagura is a small inland town in Fukushima Prefecture with a big secret: one of the region’s top sushi restaurants — Koban Sushi — is here. Helmed by sushi master Wachi Shingo, who returned to his birthplace to open a restaurant, the restaurant name is borrowed from another renowned sushi store where he used to apprentice. 

Wachi uses white vinegar for his sushi rice, and his meticulous knife skills transform nigiri into delicate flower buds. Some unconventional dishes are among the lineup, such as Hokkaido oysters slow-cooked in oil and abalone softly steamed for four hours. 

Even the side dishes and snacks receive equal attention: grilled tiger puffer fish milt over charcoal, hairy crab meat crafted into delightful chawanmushi, and a beautifully charred skewer of swordfish and leek showcase Wachi's culinary creativity.

Reserve your table at Koban Sushi in Fukushima.

Michelin-starred Rintaro might deliver an assured range of traditional kappo-style dishes to its gourmet-loving clientele, but their seafood fare is the name of the game. Fresh fish are caught from the Sanriku Coast and whipped out into teishoku set meals for lunch, which might also feature high-grade Sendai beef. 

The space is chic and contemporary, with a constant hum of jazz and classical music. The evening sees the store evolving into a semi-lounge, so it's always a good idea to have a drink on hand, chosen from its excellent range of champagne and whisky.

Reserve your table for Michelin-starred seafood at Rintaro.

Shojin ryori, rooted in the culinary traditions of Buddhist monks, is a form of vegetarian cuisine that evolved from the practices of Yamabushi monks during extended periods of isolation in the mountains. This traditional cooking style eschews meat and fish, focusing instead on seasonal vegetables and mountain plants as the foundation of its dishes. 

Travelers visiting Daishinbo, a stunning 350-year-old temple, can experience shojin ryori during their stay at its shukubo (temple lodging). Each vegetarian meal is handmade using locally sourced ingredients, reflecting both the simplicity and its health benefits. 

Reserve your table for unforgettable temple cuisine at Daishinbo.

At Mt. Yudono, one of the three sacred Dewa Sanzan sacred mountains, there stands a traditional Buddhist temple and lodging, Yudonosan Sanrojo, where the cuisine deviates from the strictly vegetarian form of shojin ryori consumed by other Zen Buddhist monks. 

The meals of the Mt. Yudono’s monks include fish alongside mountain vegetables. This addition of fish is believed to aid in facilitating the symbolic "rebirth" that monks undergo during their pilgrimage through the Dewasanzan mountains, helping them reconnect with their physical bodies after completing their spiritual journey.

Reserve your table for elevated shojin ryori at Yudonosan Sanrojo.

This farm stay experience in Akita Prefecture will have you experience rural life at a cozy farm inn in Odate with a farmer’s mother, doing some light farm work and making a classic local dish: Kiritampo hot pot with high-quality Hinai Jidori chicken. 

Under the host's guidance, participants learn traditional Japanese cooking techniques, starting with crafting tampo, a pounded rice dish toasted on skewers over an open fire. Following the hearty hot pot feast, unwind with a dip in a local onsen hot spring, culminating in a relaxing evening.

The next morning begins with radio taiso exercises led by Ishigaki-san, followed by a wholesome breakfast featuring the region's finest ingredients, such as Hinai Jidori chicken eggs and Akita apples. 

Book a food tour in Odate with Kiritampo and Hindai Jodori hot pot!

The capital of Miyagi Prefecture, Sendai, is a city in the Tohoku region with its own heart and drinking culture. For those overwhelmed by choices, consider joining the bar-hopping tour through the charming back alleys of Bunka and Iroha Yokocho. These popular Showa-era drinking hubs are adorned with countless small izakaya.

Embark on a 2.5-hour journey visiting 2 or 3 izakaya venues, where you can immerse yourself in the lively and exuberant nightlife of Sendai, experiencing it like a true local.

Book a bar-hopping tour through Sendai’s back alleys!

Otokoyama Sake Brewery, based in the fishing port of Kesennuma, has been quietly exploring the new frontier of Japanese sake: aging rice wine underwater. Starting in 2006, the brewers at Otokoyama have been tinkering with the conditions of their underwater fermentation project, adjusting the depth, aging time and packaging method, and letting nature take care of the rest. 

Today, visitors have the opportunity to participate in the sake retrieval and storage expedition at the Otokoyama Main Store. The experience begins with a journey to a local oyster farm, where guests board an oyster fisherman’s boat. They’ll witness the retrieval of baskets filled with sake bottles, aged 15 meters below the water's surface. 

Back on land, guests can compare the uniquely fermented sake with freshly brewed varieties while savoring a meal of Kesennuma's finest delicacies.

Book a sake storage voyage in Kesennuma!

This foraging experience is a deep dive into hyper-local Japanese culture, where guests embark on a light hike around a serene lake and through the forests of Mt. Gassan — one of the three sacred mountains of Dewa. 

You’ll learn how to identify and gather edible wild mushrooms, herbs and mountain vegetables native to the area. Back at the lodge, enjoy a hands-on cooking class with a local instructor, preparing a mountain-to-table meal in Japan's picturesque countryside.

Book a vegetable foraging experience and cooking lesson at Mt. Gassan. 

Centuries-old cedar trees shade the five-story pagoda, ancient shrines and the long-beaten trail that spans the hike to the summit of Mt. Haguro in this food tour. The mountain is one of the three sacred mountains of Dewa Sanzan that have played host to an ancient pilgrimage known as the “journey of rebirth” for over 1,400 years. 

Your guide for this hiking tour is a local yamabushi (mountain ascetic) who will offer insights into ascetic rituals and point out major landmarks along the way. Passing through the Zuishinmon Gate at the base of Mt. Haguro, you enter the sacred grounds of Dewa Sanzan, traversing dense forests. During summer and fall, the journey includes a rest stop at a teahouse with views overlooking the Shonai plains.

The tour also includes a meal at a shojin ryori restaurant established in 1689 as a sacred structure, now serving visitors with traditional Buddhist vegetarian cuisine.

Book a hiking and food tour to Mt. Haguro!

While you’re escaping Japan’s summer in Tohoku, make sure to visit the area’s largest city of Sendai — take our best things to do in Sendai blog with you.

Tohoku offers a cooler climate compared to southern Japan, making it an ideal escape from the scorching summer heat. Its forested mountains, snowy landscapes and rocky coastlines provide a serene backdrop for exploring nature and enjoying outdoor activities.

Tohoku offers must-try foods like fresh sea urchin, grilled Sendai gyutan (beef tongue), Morioka reimen (cold noodles), kiritanpo (grilled rice sticks), ichinoseki mochi (rice cake specialty), inaniwa udon from Akita and inaniwa udon (thick taro-potato stew) from Yamagata. 

Experience Tohoku's local cuisine through immersive food tours such as foraging adventures in Mt. Gassan, sake storage voyages in Kesennuma and traditional cooking lessons with farm stays in Odate. 

Northern Japan, particularly the Tohoku region, provides distinctive summer experiences including traditional festivals, scenic hikes up sacred mountains like Mt. Haguro and cultural insights into ancient pilgrimage routes.

You can travel to Tohoko easily using the JR East Tohoku Area Pass, which offers unlimited travel on shinkansen and local trains across the region's six prefectures.