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Gono Line

— Resort Shirakami along the Sea of Japan coast

natureOff the trail — and worth it

A railway that keeps close to the Sea of Japan between Akita and Aomori, best ridden on the Resort Shirakami. The train slows for the views, and some services let passengers off at Senjojiki for a short walk on the shore.

FromAomori Station
~2 hrResort Shirakami, all seats reserved
Get off atSenjojiki Station (JR Gono Line)
On foot
Gono Line

Directions ↗

The sweet spot

This is a well-known sightseeing train, so it is not a quiet secret. What decides the trip is the calendar and the weather rather than the hour. The train runs only on set days, and the coast section is exposed enough that strong wind, high waves and heavy rain can cancel it.

Where it is

34 more notes in Aomori · open the map →

What to look for

Tsugaru shamisen on boardlive folk music played in the carriage on event days, through the Tsugaru stretch
Senjojikithe flat rock shelf just across the road from the platform, walked during the stop
Juniko Stationthe stop for the Juniko lakes and the cobalt pond Aoike in the beech forest
Iwadate–Omagoshi coastthe border stretch between Aomori and Akita, where the train slows beside the sea

How to actually get there

Aomori Station → Resort Shirakami No. 2 (morning) or No. 4 (early afternoon), with a seat reserved in advance.
Ride via Hirosaki and Goshogawara onto the Gono Line.
Senjojiki Station (about 2 hours from Aomori) → step off for the stop and cross the road to the rock shelf.
Ride on past Juniko and Iwadate to Higashi-Noshiro and Akita, a little over five hours from Aomori in all.

Resort Shirakami from Aomori: Aomori Station → Senjojiki Station on the Resort Shirakami No. 2, which leaves in the morning, or the No. 4, which leaves early in the afternoon: about 2 hours. The train runs via Hirosaki and Goshogawara before reaching the coast. Every seat is reserved, so book before the day.
Back from Senjojiki: Northbound, the No. 3 (to Hirosaki) and the No. 5 (to Aomori) also make the Senjojiki stop on the days they run. Local trains on this coast are few and leave gaps of several hours in the day, so if you get off rather than ride through, fix your next train before you leave the platform.

Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

The Gono Line runs 147.2 km between Higashi-Noshiro in Akita and Kawabe in Aomori, with 43 stations along the way. For long stretches it keeps close to the Sea of Japan, with the Shirakami mountains on the inland side. The Resort Shirakami is a rapid service that uses the line to link Akita with Aomori and Hirosaki. It runs as three four-car train sets named Buna, Aoike and Kumagera, and every seat is reserved. On the scenic stretches the train slows down. Some services also stop at Senjojiki long enough for passengers to get off and walk.

How to enjoy it

Take the morning No. 2 from Aomori for a full day of coast, or the No. 4 if you would rather reach the sea in the late afternoon. At Senjojiki the stop lasts about 15 minutes, enough to cross the road, walk out onto the shelf and come back. The shamisen performance runs only on set days, so check the date before you book if you want to hear it.

Background & history

The line was built from both ends, one arm reaching out from Noshiro and the other from Goshogawara. The two met in 1936, and the joined line took its name from those two towns. Its 90th anniversary was marked with a ceremony outside Wespa Tsubakiyama Station in July 2026. The Resort Shirakami first ran in April 1997. Senjojiki, its walking stop, is a rock shelf said to have risen from the sea in an earthquake in 1792. Local lore says a feudal lord once spread a thousand tatami mats across it for a banquet, which is what the name means.

Before you go

Cash: You need the ordinary fare plus a reserved-seat ticket. Both can be bought at JR ticket offices and ticket machines, or booked on JR East's Eki-net site. Senjojiki is unstaffed, so sort out your tickets before you board.
Good to know: The Resort Shirakami runs on set days only. In the 2026 calendar the Aomori trains run on most days from April to November and on fewer dates, mainly weekends and holidays, in winter. The Senjojiki stop is not made on every train, so check that yours shows it. Strong wind, high waves and heavy rain can stop the coast section, so look at JR East's Tohoku service information on the morning you travel.
Another way: From the Akita end, ride north instead. The No. 3 leaves Akita in the late morning and the No. 5 in the early afternoon, and both make the Senjojiki stop; the No. 3 runs to Hirosaki rather than Aomori.
After you get off: Senjojiki is an unstaffed halt with a platform and no station building. The rock shelf lies just across National Route 101 from the platform.