Tohoku in Strolling tours / Walking tours

• Age 0～Age 99
• 2～3 hours
• 10:30 / 14:15

Take a tour with your guide through the quaint street lined with Japanese old houses! Masuda Town has prospered as a merchant town since the Edo period. Because this town has been the transportation hub, a variety of agricultural products gathered here. Merchants amassed wealth in their fields and created mansion towns. Inside these mansions, "Kura'' or a storehouse was built by wealthy merchants to store documents and household furniture. This storehouse is still inhabited and rare even in Japan. Feel the elegance in the detailed decorations such as white plaster, polished black plaster and lacquered interior. The townscape is home to many historic buildings of this area. Masuda town was designated as a National Preservation Districts for Groups of Traditional Buildings in 2013. Find the storehouses of each mansion with its unique structure and decoration. In this guided tour, you will be able to visit two to three mansions with storehouse while receiving an explanation. English speaking guide accompanies you.

• For Rainy Days
• For Family

• Age 0～Age 100
• Within 1 hour
• 09:00 / 09:30 / 10:00 / 10:30 / 11:00 / 11:30 / 12:00 / 12:30 / 13:00 / 13:30 / 14:00 / 14:30 / 15:00 / 15:30

<About Korakukan> Korakukan was built in 1910 as a welfare facility for employees of Kosaka Mine in Akita Prefecture. It is characterized by its blend of Japanese and Western styles, which was rare at the time. What is noteworthy is that it is still an active playhouse. From late April to early November, popular plays and revue shows are performed once to three times a day. During the winter months, when there are no performances, the museum is open as a tour facility.

• Recommendation for Foreigner
• For Rainy Days
• For Groups
• For Family

• Age 10～Age 99
• Within 1 hour
• 10:00 / 11:00 / 13:00 / 14:00 / 15:00

★A special experience wearing armor in one of only five restored wooden castle towers in the country★Enjoy the experience of wearing armor at the Shiroishi Castle tower in Shiroishi City, Miyagi Prefecture. "Ashigaru-san" will dress you in armor modeled after famous warlords (Katakura Kojuro Kagetsuna, Sanada Yukimura). Although the armor is simpler than full-scale armor, you can fully enjoy the atmosphere by wearing a helmet, torso, gauntlets, etc. ~Experience flow~ ① Gathering and experience explanation (5 minutes) The flow of the experience will be explained carefully. ② Dressing in armor (15 minutes) "Ashigaru-san" will dress you with all his heart. ③ Teaching how to draw a sword, posture, and manners (20 minutes) Teaching how to handle a sword while wearing armor. ④ Commemorative photo (10 minutes) You can take a commemorative photo with your own camera. ⑤ Undress and disband the armor Finally, you will undress the armor and the experience will end.

• For Rainy Days
• In Door Activity
• For Groups

• Age 10～Age 80
• 3～4 hours
• 09:00 / 13:00

Experience Buddhism at Ryusenji Temple. Learn about Buddhist teachings while worshiping rare Buddhist statues. You can unify your mind by copying sutras. (You can also meditate instead of copying sutras) You can make a bracelet with your own prayer beads. Take it home as a souvenir. ~Experience flow~9:00 Experience Buddhism Information about the history and traditions of Ryusenji Temple9:15 Visit to the Buddha statue Visit cultural assets and rare Buddha statues10:15 Sutra copying experience Copy the Heart Sutra using a brush and ink. Take a break after finishing (approximately 15 minutes)11:00 Making a prayer beads bracelet Make your own bracelet from prayer beads. Each bead has a prayer meaning, and you can choose your own. ~12:00 Question response We will answer any questions you may have or would like to ask.

• For Rainy Days
• In Door Activity
• For Groups

• Age 17～Age 99
• 1～2 hours
• 10:00 / 13:00

Since you have come all the way to an unfamiliar town, why not take a leisurely walk with a guide? Let's learn about the history of life hidden in the ordinary townscape as we walk together. We will guide you through the streets of Yokote, which have developed around Yokote Station. During the walk, we will give you information on restaurants such as Yokote Yakisoba and other specialty shops, so please make use of it. After about an hour of walking around the town, it's teatime. Take a break at a cafe and reflect on your walk around the town. We will give you information on Yokote's specialties, so please use it to purchase souvenirs. ~Experience flow (morning session)~10:00 Meet at Yokote Station or Cafeteria Hirajo. Cafeteria Hirajo is a 5-minute walk from the east exit of JR Yokote Station. 10:05 Departure From Yokote Station, you will have an hour-long walk around the city while listening to the guide's stories and visiting various historical sites. 11:00 Arrive at Cafeteria Hirajo. The finish line of the Yokote walk is Cafeteria Hirajo. Refresh your tired body with a hot drink. Lunch is also available.

• For Rainy Days

• Age 6～Age 99
• 1 Day or more
• 18:00

This is a two-day, one-night program to gain invisible spiritual richness and a healthy body at Jion, the foremost prayer temple in Tohoku. Hayama, once counted as one of the three mountains of Dewa with three temples and 48 monks, and Jionji, the foremost prayer temple in Tohoku, a nationally designated historic site with a history of about 1,300 years, is a two-day, one-night program to gain invisible spiritual richness and a healthy body by experiencing spiritual culture with your body and mind. The program for experiencing spiritual culture includes a conversation with the head priest of Jionji, a viewing of the prayer dance and Jionji Bugaku, a nationally designated important intangible folk cultural property, and trekking in Hayama, which was once a Shugendo path. The meals served during the program are modern health foods based on the recipes of shojin ryori (traditional Japanese vegetarian cuisine) that have been handed down at Jionji since ancient times. When you finish this special program, which is not usually offered at the historic Jionji Temple in Hayama, which stands in the midst of majestic nature, you will feel spiritual richness and health that you cannot get anywhere else. (Day 1) 11:00 Meet at Yamagata Station 11:00 12:00 Travel from Yamagata to Fukuyoshi Ryokan by minibus 12:00 12:20 Arrive at Fukuyoshi, check-in, explanation of the facilities 12:20 12:40 Change into training clothes 12:40 12:50 Explanation of shojin ryori (traditional Buddhist cuisine) 12:50 13:40 Shojin ryori (traditional Buddhist cuisine) lunch 13:40 14:00 Travel from Fukuyoshi to Jionji Temple by minibus 14:00 Arrive at Jionji Temple (meet at the first parking lot) 14:05 14:15 Explanation of Jionji Temple from the head priest at the temple gate (focusing on the unique feature of Jionji Temple as a temple of prayer) 14:15 15:00 Tour and stroll around the Jionji Temple grounds (with guide) 15:00 16:00 Jogyo-Zanmai (training experience) at Amida-do Hall 16:00 17:00 "Bugaku experience at Jion-ji Temple Office *Participants will be instructed on the touching part of the dance, including the experience of wearing armor" 17:10 17:30 Travel from Jion-ji Temple to Fukuyoshi by special minibus 17:30 Arrive at Fukuyoshi, change into secular clothes (plain clothes), take a break 18:00 20:10 "Bar hopping tour ① Akahoppe (90 minutes) ② Sagae Snack (40 minutes) 20:30 Arrive at Fukuyoshi, take a bath, go to sleep (Day 2) 5:30 Wake up (Please come to the dining venue dressed in training clothes and ready to go) 6:00 6:50 Vegetarian breakfast at Fukuyoshi 6:55 Depart from Fukuyoshi 6:55 7:15 Travel from Fukuyoshi to Jionji Temple by special minibus 7:15 8:00 Experience copying sutras at Kazo-in Temple 8:00 8:20 Explanation of today's Shugendo path and prayer 8:20 8:30 Travel from Jionji Temple to the trailhead by special minibus 8:30 11:30 Trekking on the Shugendo path with a mountain ascetic

• Age 10～Age 50
• 3～4 hours
• 10:00

"Enjoy the scenery of the UNESCO World Heritage Shirakami-Sanchi" Walk the mountains of Noshiro in full pilgrimage attire with Noen Haruharu, a guide from Ryusenji Temple! You can hear about history and faith from your guide, and about trees and flowers from Noen Haruharu. Experience Buddhism by walking through the mountain scenery of the four seasons. Pick seasonal wild vegetables, cook them yourself, and eat them. Enjoy seasonal wild vegetables with rice balls, pickles, and miso soup. At the end, there is a 15-minute Buddhist talk in English. ~Experience flow~ 9:00 Mountain hiking Content changes depending on the season Pick wild vegetables Take a break at the peak and drink Noen Haruharu's herbal tea Heart Sutra reading in the hall (reading sutras together) 12:00 Return to Ryusenji Temple Cook wild vegetables yourself Don't worry, we will prepare extra if there is not much to pick. Lunch is rice balls with wild vegetables, miso soup, and smoked daikon radish while looking at the Shirakami Mountains. You can listen to a 15-minute talk on Buddhism in English from the head priest. Until 13:00 Q&A We will answer any questions you may have.

• For Rainy Days
• In Door Activity
• For Groups