Amazing AOMORI

Photo credits: Towada Oirase Tourism Organization

The Oirase Gorge, which extends for about fourteen kilometers from Lake Towada to Yakeyama, is located within Towada-Hachimantai National Park and has been designated as a specially protected area. Although it is famous as a spot for viewing fresh greenery and autumn leaves, in winter—when the gorge becomes thickly blanketed with snow, icicles grow all over the cliffs, and even the waterfalls are frozen completely solid due to the extreme cold—a world like that of an ink wash painting is revealed. The beauty of this scenery has been drawing widespread attention in recent years.

Frozen Oirase Gorge Tours are bus tours to enjoy the natural beauty of the wintry Oirase Gorge, conducted through a public-private partnership with the goals of attracting tourists in winter and turning them into future repeat visitors. The tours allow participants to experience the beauty of this natural work of art, which presents different appeals in the daytime and at night. Daytime tours travel along the silvery gorge and visit beautifully blue-tinged clusters of icicles and icefalls while a nature guide explains the gorge’s origins and natural features. Participants can enjoy breathtakingly stunning winter scenery. On night tours, the tour bus is led by a vehicle outfitted with special lighting equipment, which illuminates five spots along the gorge. The mysterious and extraordinary sight of icicles and icefalls lit up amid the blackness of night creates the illusion of time standing still.