Aomori · Lake TowadaNo.816★★★Open in map →

Lake Towada

natureThe classic — done right

A lake in a collapsed volcano on the border of Aomori and Akita, with two wooded peninsulas closing off its deepest basin. Everything a day visitor needs sits in one small village at the end of the bus line.

FromAomori Station
~2 hr 45 minJR bus terminus, seasonal
Get off atLake Towada / Yasumiya (JR Bus Tohoku)
On foot
Lake Towada

Directions ↗

Where it is

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What to look for — in walking order

Yasumiya pierthe boat landing beside the bus terminus, with sailings to Nenokuchi in the warmer half of the year
Towada Visitor Centerthe national park's information base in the village, a few minutes from the water
The cedar approachthe path from the great torii to the shrine, walled in by old cedars
Towada Shrinea shrine in the woods of the Nakayama peninsula, its founding traced by legend to the year 807
Gozengahama and the Otome no Zothe open shore at the far end of the walk, with Takamura's two bronze figures facing each other

How to actually get there

Aomori Station east exit, stand 11 → Lake Towada, Yasumiya (JR Bus Tohoku, Mizuumi service, about 2 hr 45 min).
Yasumiya terminus → the pier and the visitor centre, both on the lakefront.
Lakefront → Towada Shrine by the cedar approach, then west to Gozengahama and the bronze figures.
Back along the shore to the terminus, or onto the boat for Nenokuchi and the gorge.

JR bus from Aomori Station: From Aomori Station east exit, stand 11, the JR Bus Tohoku Mizuumi service crosses the Hakkoda range and runs down the Oirase corridor to the Lake Towada terminus at Yasumiya, about two hours forty-five minutes. Shin-Aomori Station is a boarding-only stop on the same run. There are several departures a day in season.
Last buses out of Yasumiya: For Aomori the departures are 9:00, 13:45 and 15:00, arriving 11:44, 16:29 and 17:44. For Hachinohe they leave at 10:00 and 16:00. Nothing runs after that. The village is a couple of hours from either city, so a missed bus is a night here rather than an inconvenience.

Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

The lake is a caldera within a caldera. Two peninsulas, Nakayama and Ogura, reach in from the south and enclose the inner basin, where the water goes down three hundred and twenty-seven metres — third deepest in Japan. The shoreline runs about forty-six kilometres, and the prefectural boundary crosses the water, with the larger share on the Aomori side. For all that size there is one hub. Yasumiya has the pier, the bus terminus, the visitor centre, the shrine and the bronze figures, and they sit within a short walk of one another.

How to enjoy it

Boats between Yasumiya and Nenokuchi run from April into November, which is roughly the run of the bus line as well. Coming from Aomori for the day you arrive at 10:55 and the last through bus home leaves at 15:00 — about four hours, which covers the shrine walk comfortably, or a crossing, but not both. Staying the night is what turns the lake from a stop into a place.

Background & history

The basin was made by volcanic collapse beginning roughly two hundred thousand years ago, and the second, inner caldera is what gives the lake its outline. On 1 February 1936 it became part of Towada-Hachimantai National Park. The bronze figures on the shore at Gozengahama came much later. Unveiled on 21 October 1953, they are the work of the poet and sculptor Takamura Kotaro, commissioned to honour three men credited with bringing the lake to national notice.

Before you go

Cash: The through fare is 3,480 yen from Aomori or Shin-Aomori and 3,050 yen from Hachinohe; the short hop down to Nenokuchi is 720 yen if you ride instead of sail. Fares are paid as you get off and transport IC cards work on board. Boat tickets are bought separately at the pier.
Good to know: The bus line is seasonal — in 2026 the Mizuumi service began on 1 April and the Oirase service on 11 April — and the boats run from April into November. Outside that window the lake is a drive rather than a bus ride, and the Hakkoda road above it is deep snow country.
Another way: From Hachinohe Station west exit the Oirase service reaches Yasumiya in about two hours twenty; services 21 and 23 need booking if you board there. The other way in is on foot and by water — walk down the Oirase gorge to Nenokuchi, then take the boat across to the village.
After you get off: The Lake Towada stop is the end of the line, on the lakefront in Yasumiya. The pier is right beside it. The shrine and the bronze figures are ten to fifteen minutes north along the shore path.