Tohoku
Between the Pacific coast and the Sea of Japan
Tohoku is a Japanese region located in the North-East of the main island of Honshu. Occupying 30% of its territory, it includes 6 prefectures: Fukushima, Aomori, Akita, Iwate, Miyagi and Yamagata; its biggest cities are Sendai and Aomori.
Tohoku region is surrounded by the Sea of Japan on its western coast and the Pacific Ocean on its eastern coast. Despite this coastal environment, the mountainous nature of the region welcomed agriculture, which was its main activity for a long time.
Tohoku is known to be the birthplace of Masamune Date, a famous and powerful 17th century daimyo, ally of Ieyasu Tokugawa. At the same period, poet Basho praised the beauty of the regionās landscapes.
Nowadays, Tohoku is unfortunately known as the region where one of the biggest disasters in Japanās history happened. On March 11, 2011, an earthquake off the pacific coast prompted a huge tsunami that was one of the causes of Fukushima nuclear disaster.
For a few years, Tohoku region, in an effort to attract foreign tourists, has been promoting the "Diamond Route", whose itinerary links Tokyo to Fukushima, Tochigi and Ibaraki prefectures, in response to the "Golden Route" linking Tokyo, Kyoto / Osaka and Hiroshima.