Three days in Akita: city sights or a lake day?
For both the park and samurai houses, spend one night each in Akita and Kakunodate. If the lake is your priority, spend two nights in Kakunodate and visit the houses and Lake Tazawa on separate days. At the lake, plan to return on the same loop bus after the walking stops.
Choose an itinerary for 3 days, 2 nights
Three days, two nights: from Akita city to Kakunodate
To visit both Akita's park and Kakunodate's houses, spend one night in each area. For the hotel-move day, reserve a Shinkansen that stops at Kakunodate and check the actual JR fare.
Three days, two nights: from Akita city to Kakunodate →3 days, 2 nightsThree days, two nights: a Lake Tazawa day trip from Kakunodate
Stay two nights in Kakunodate and visit the samurai houses and Lake Tazawa on separate days. At the lake, use the loop bus's walking stops and return on the same bus. The listed cost covers house admission and the lake bus only; calculate round-trip JR fares separately.
Three days, two nights: a Lake Tazawa day trip from Kakunodate →Three days, two nights: from Akita city to Kakunodate
To visit both Akita's park and Kakunodate's houses, spend one night in each area. For the hotel-move day, reserve a Shinkansen that stops at Kakunodate and check the actual JR fare.
Day 1 · Senshu Park
Walk in Senshu Park on the first day, then move to Kakunodate the next day for Aoyagi Samurai House.
- Akita Station and hotel area → Senshu Park walk
From Akita Station, Senshu Park Pocket Park is about five minutes on foot and the Ninomaru site about 15 minutes. Allow additional time for the route from your hotel and the walk inside the park. Walk along the moat in daylight, then climb to Ninomaru if slopes are manageable. Allow 60–90 minutes. To visit Kubota Castle's Osumiyagura interior too, check its opening days and hours and adjust your walking time.
- Senshu Park → Check-in, dinner, and overnight stay
After your walk, return to your hotel, check in, and have dinner near the station. If you arrive late, shorten the walk and rest at your hotel.
If you arrive late, take a short walk by the moat, then have dinner.
Day 2 · Move to Kakunodate and visit Aoyagi
Travel from Akita to Kakunodate and visit Aoyagi Samurai House.
- Check out of your Akita hotel → Kakunodate Station
From Akita Station, take the Akita Shinkansen toward Morioka and get off at Kakunodate. Reserve a seat on a train that stops there. You pass through Omagari without changing trains.
- Outside Kakunodate Station's ticket gates → Aoyagi entrance
Follow the station road and turn right at the T-junction in front of Kakunodate Post Office to enter the samurai-house streets. Look for Aoyagi's sign and entrance at 角館町表町下丁3. Station walking estimates differ: about 15 minutes from the tourism association and about 20 from the city. Allow time for navigation and breaks.
Official walking routeTourism association facility guideCity hall
- Lunch and Aoyagi visit → Hotel check-in and dinner
After lunch, explore Aoyagi's exhibits and garden, then take a break in the samurai-house streets. Allow about 90 minutes for the house visit. Normal April–November hours are 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., and individual adult admission is ¥500. Afterward, return to your hotel, check in, and have dinner.
Tourism association facility guideCity hallCurrent facility information
This is a hotel-move day. If you arrive in Kakunodate late, shorten the house visit and prioritize check-in and dinner.
Day 3 · Kawarada and return to Akita Station
Visit Kawarada Samurai House, then return from Kakunodate to Akita.
- Hotel and station road → Visit Kawarada
Walk via the road by the post office to Kawarada, at 角館町東勝楽丁9, about 15 minutes from the station. See the house and garden in the morning. April–November hours are 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., with last reception at 4:30 p.m.; individual adult admission is ¥500. Ask at the entrance whether the guided visits listed from 10:00 a.m. are running that day.
Official Kawarada informationCity hallOfficial walking route
- After visiting Kawarada → Lunch and walk to Kakunodate Station
Have lunch after your visit, then walk back toward Kakunodate Station. If a restaurant has a long wait, choose another so you do not miss your train.
- Kakunodate Station → Akita Station
Take the Akita Shinkansen toward Akita. Choose a train that stops at Kakunodate and reserve seats using your date's timetable. Arrange onward transportation from Akita Station to the airport or another city separately.
For a morning departure, move this house visit to the previous day. Allow time to walk back to Kakunodate Station afterward.
Included: One adult's round-trip ordinary-car reserved-seat e-tickets between Akita and Kakunodate: ¥2,870 each way, ¥5,740 total; individual admission to Aoyagi and Kawarada houses, ¥500 each.
Additional costs: Two hotel nights, meals, station access, and transportation before arriving in Akita and after returning are excluded. This is not the actual selling price for your date or the paper-ticket price. Check date- and product-specific differences and IC-card linking requirements.
These are admission costs and a regular-season e-ticket estimate for one adult. You need an Eki-net account and reservation, with a transit IC card linked for each traveler.
JR East e-ticket price tableConditions of useTourism association facility guideOfficial Kawarada information
Three days, two nights: a Lake Tazawa day trip from Kakunodate
Stay two nights in Kakunodate and visit the samurai houses and Lake Tazawa on separate days. At the lake, use the loop bus's walking stops and return on the same bus. The listed cost covers house admission and the lake bus only; calculate round-trip JR fares separately.
Day 1 · Aoyagi Samurai House
Spend two nights in Kakunodate and give the houses and lake separate days. Visit Aoyagi first; shorten the visit if you arrive late.
- Kakunodate Station → Aoyagi Samurai House entrance
Walk to Aoyagi at 角館町表町下丁3. The tourism association estimates about 15 minutes from the station and the city about 20, so allow extra time for your route.
- Aoyagi → House exhibits and street walk
In the afternoon, explore Aoyagi's garden and sword and weapon exhibits. Allow about 90 minutes for the visit, then walk and rest along the samurai-house streets. April–November closing is at 5:00 p.m.; for a winter trip, check your date's hours rather than using October's schedule. After sightseeing, retrace your route to your station-area hotel and rest.
If you arrive late, shorten the visit or move it to the next day. Winter closing times may be earlier; check the facility information.
Day 2 · Lake Tazawa loop
Visit Lake Tazawa today. Use the loop bus's walking stops, then return to the station on the same bus. Large suitcases cannot be brought on the lake bus, so leave them at your hotel where you are staying both nights.
- Kakunodate Station → Tazawako Station and station-front bus stop
Take the Akita Shinkansen toward Morioka from Kakunodate to Tazawako. At the station front, transfer to a Lake Tazawa loop bus with walking stops. Plan round-trip trains after checking when that bus returns to the station.
- Lake walking stops → Reboard the same bus
At Katajiri, see the Tatsuko statue and lake views; at Gozanoishi Shrine, visit the shrine. The walking stops last 20 and 10 minutes, respectively. Include the walks to the sights and back within those stops, and reboard the same loop bus.
Operator's lake-loop timetableOfficial directions to the Tatsuko statueCity's official directions
- Tazawako Station → Return to Kakunodate Station and your hotel
When the bus returns to the station front, enter Tazawako Station and take an Akita-bound Shinkansen to Kakunodate. The operator says not every loop bus connects with a Shinkansen, so reserve a train that leaves enough time after the bus arrives. Have lunch after returning to the station, rather than during a short walking stop. Rest at your hotel and have dinner; do not add a hot spring or sightseeing boat to this day.
Official JR timetablesOperator's lake-loop timetableService status
If you let the bus leave to stay longer, recheck the next bus's fare and your return train.
Day 3 · Kawarada and departure from Kakunodate Station
Visit Kawarada on your last morning, then depart from Kakunodate. A morning train leaves little time for viewing, so adjust the earlier visit order if necessary.
- Your booked Kakunodate hotel → Kawarada Samurai House entrance
Walk from your booked hotel's address to Kawarada at 角館町東勝楽丁9. The city's roughly 15-minute walking estimate starts at Kakunodate Station, not your hotel.
- Kawarada → House and garden visit
Kawarada is open 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. in April–November, with last admission at 4:30 p.m.; individual adult admission is ¥500. Allow about an hour to explore the house and garden in the morning. It closes December 28–January 4, so check that it is open on your date first.
- Kakunodate Station → Your reserved departure
After the visit, head to Kakunodate Station. Check your date's JR timetable for a train that stops at your destination, reserve seats, then board. Look up connecting transportation to Akita Station or the airport separately.
Check Kawarada's year-end closure dates and allow time to walk to the station after your visit.
Included: Individual adult admission to Aoyagi and Kawarada houses, ¥500 each, plus one Lake Tazawa loop-bus trip from Tazawako Station at ¥1,160. This itinerary returns on the same bus after the walking stops.
Additional costs: Round-trip JR fares between Kakunodate and Tazawako, transportation before and after the trip, two hotel nights, meals, luggage storage, sightseeing boats, and extra facilities are excluded. If you stay by the lake and take a later bus, check ticket conditions and additional fares separately.
These amounts are for one adult. Check both the included items and additional costs.
Tourism association facility guideOfficial Kawarada informationFare tableOperator's lake-loop timetable
Frequently asked questions
Are the Tatsuko statue and sightseeing-boat pier at the same bus stop?
Use Katajiri (潟尻) for the Tatsuko statue and the east-side Tazawako Lakeside stop (田沢湖畔) for the boat pier. They are different stops. The statue itinerary uses the 20-minute walking stop at Katajiri and returns on the same bus. If you let that bus leave and take a later one, you need to reconsider the return train and additional fare.
Official directions to the Tatsuko statueOperator's lake-loop timetable
Sources and check dates
- Akita city park guide ·
- Tourism association facility guide ·
- City hall ·
- Official directions to the Tatsuko statue ·
- Fare table ·
- Official directions ·
- FAQ ·
- Current facility information ·
- City's official directions ·
- Operator's lake-loop timetable ·
- Service status ·
- Official JR timetables ·
- Official walking route ·
- Official Kawarada information ·
- JR East e-ticket price table ·
- Conditions of use ·
- Ugo Kotsu conditions of carriage, Articles 16 and 21 ·