Planned road closures for Winter 2024 – 2025 can be seen: here (thick red means closed; note that the 394 is closed from 6pm until 7:30am everyday so drive during the day :)).
This is part 2 of 2 of a blog post about a trip to Aomori prefecture in the winter. See part one here: link. Winter in Aomori means lots an lots of snow, during the three days there we visited the Hirosaki Snow Lantern Festival (previous post), Mount Hakkoda, Lake Towada and Mount Hakkoda again! Find out more below…
The weather was luckily completely clear on the next day, without any snowfall – yet. Or at least around Hirosaki city.
As soon as we slowly closed in on the foot of Mount Hakkoda, snow was starting to pile up again. The streets were bordered by huge walls of snow.
However, the snow made for an absolutely beautiful landscape.
When driving lots of snow gets kicked up behind and around the car, but once we stopped it was completely serene.
While driving towards Mount Hakkoda we still hadn’t seen it yet at all. We didn’t really think about that it might be completely engulfed in clouds.
The parking lot was packed to the brim with winter-ready cars, we were a stark outlier here.
As the snow was supposed to be really deep and fluffy, we opted to rent snow shoes close to the gondola for 3000jpy/day.
There was a huge queue for the gondola. Most people were skiers or snowboarders waiting to down Mount Hakkoda on back country routes. Unfortunately, I was there without my board…
After arriving at the top it became immediately clear that it is really, really cold and that the view was: white.
Mount Hakkoda is famous for its snow monsters in winter. Due to the close proximity to the sea, very humid air engulfs the mountain’s trees and a thick cover freezes around them.
The visibility kept changing from really bad to bad and back again constantly but we never got to see blue skies.
We did have a lot of fun however :)
The gondola station in it self was completely frozen over and became its own “snow monster”.
We went back to our car, hoping it will still start…
It did and we started our drive to Lake Towada where we were going to stay for the night. At last, the weather cleared up a little bit.
We picked a cheap but very friendly Ryokan out to stay at, with a very warm and forthcoming owner.
Close to Lake Towada itself, a snow festival was going on which we visited for the fireworks. The food there was kind of meh but they had a giant igluu which they transformed into a bar!
As we enjoy taking pictures, we of course had to get up in time for sunrise even though the weather forecast was cloudy. In the morning the inside of the windows of our room was covered in a thin sheet of ice from the frozen condense water. Insulation in not recent homes in Japan is kinda shoddy…
As anticipated, the sunrise was not visible at all, but at least we had an early start into the day!
As we started driving we noticed that the weather cleared up quickly.
Since we didn’t really have big plans for the day yet, we decided to drive towards Mount Hakkoda again.
Coming close to Mount Hakkoda, the peak was actually visible! Quickly, we decided to take the gondola to the top again.
This time, we actually got to see something, a lot more shades of white :)
The wind was strong so the clouds moved fast creating spots of sunshine in the landscape.
The snow was as deep as before though and we didn’t rent snow shoes this time around. We realised the day before, that you can rent waterproof rubber boots at the gondola station on the mountain.
As the weekend came to an end, we headed back down Mount Hakkoda and towards Aomori-shi to get on our flight/train back home…
At Aomori-shi, the area around the station was lit up in a funny way by using characters, of course :p
If you have any questions or a planning a trip to Aomori yourself, let me know in the comments :)
For other hikes in the Tohoku region, see here: http://nimar-blume.de/blog/tag/tohoku/
Christine Loh says:
Hi I saw your blog as we intend to visit both Mt hakkado and lake Towada for the winter festival. May I know whether it is more convenient to stay in Mt Hokkado or lake Towada area. We are going there for 2 nights.
Is the winter festival in Lake Towada worth going since it is small?
Thank you for your tips
December 26, 2019 — 00:34
nb says:
Hi Christine,
I think it’s better to stay around Lake Towada because there is more going on/more places to stay around there. Also, it’s nice to be able to go to the winter festival late in the evening as it will still be busy.
For me personally just the winter festival at Lake Towada wouldn’t warrant going there as the festival itself is not that big and I’m not really into the food stall food etc, but the atmosphere there was very nice and had a kind of “family” feel.
December 26, 2019 — 04:36
jada says:
Hi
How was the driving conditions, there appears to be a lot of snow but your rental looks like a compact car. Did it ever feel unsafe? We are considering doing the same thing in a few months but are concerned about the driving conditions. We’ve only ever driven on slightly snowy roads before.
October 17, 2023 — 17:16
nb says:
Hi Jada,
yes it was a compact car without studded tires even. In general, it was safe. You cannot go fast and have to be especially careful when e.g. parking that you don’t park in a “snow hole” from which you don’t get out easily. The roads are generally in a good state without ice, rather with a bit of snow on them. It’s also possible to rent a car with studded tires, which can help with icy roads.
Hope this helps a bit, otherwise feel free to ask more :)
nimar
October 17, 2023 — 17:53
Fee Lin says:
Hi,
My husband and I are visiting Aomori on 5/2/2024. We are plaining to drive to areas like Hakkoda &Sakayu onsen. However, we dont have any experince driving in February.
Was it challenging to dirve in Aomori during winter? May I knwo when were you there? Did you make car rental reservation in advance? Thank You
December 14, 2023 — 11:31
nb says:
Hi Fee,
thanks for the comment!
Driving was okay (don’t push your limits!), the roads are usually fairly well prepared. I was there in mid Feburary 2019 and we did reserve the car in advance. In general I’d recommend reserving in advance to be on the save side and also pay a bit less.
January 14, 2024 — 04:52
Fee Lin says:
thank you so much for the reply. appreciate it a lot
January 30, 2024 — 22:16
Jason Loo says:
Hello. Can I check with you. For January Aomori. Is the roads safe to drive or will be full of snow? I am from Singapore and am not very certain about the road condition there . Thanks for advice!
I am driving everyday in Singapore and is quite experienced. But not as well in Amori winter conditions. Haha!
October 22, 2024 — 16:43
nb says:
Hi Jason, it’s going to be similar to the pictures. Most roads will be cleared of thick, fluffy snow but will always be covered in a compacted snow layer. You can drive there carefully and if you rent a car from one of the bigger rental companies, it will be equipped with the appropriate tires.
Make sure to drive carefully though (ie no speeding, break earlier than you’d usually do, etc) and do a couple of break tests on a clear road to get a feel for how the car reacts on the snow. I think you’ll be fine though :)
October 22, 2024 — 17:08
Jason Loo says:
Thanks for the swift reply! I am thinking to rent my car from nippon rent a car where I will be alighting at the shichinohe-towada station where I am taking the shinkansen train from Tokyo. There is 1 nippon rent a car outlet near there. May I know is there considered the bigger rental companies in Aomori?
Thanks for the few pointers! I guess I will be renting a car then based on your recommendation as the places we are going require at least an hour drive from the place we are staying. We are staying at Oirase Keiyu. We felt that no car is quite troublesome to get around Aomori.
October 22, 2024 — 17:17
nb says:
Nippon Rent a Car is definitely one of the major ones – should be fine! Others include: Times Car Rental, Toyota Car Rental, Orix Car Rental, Nissan Car Rental, etc.
No car is possible, but you really have to be mindful of bus schedules etc then because they only run a couple of times per day. Having a car is way more convenient and usually also not that expensive. Have an amazing trip !!!
October 22, 2024 — 17:51
Est Lim says:
Hi. which route did you take from Hakkoda ropeway to Lake Towada?
We are driving there at end January and checking up that route 103 is closed during winter.
November 21, 2024 — 00:29
nb says:
Hi Est,
I’m not entirely sure, but IIRC we drove the 103 and I recall the 102 being closed. The 102 goes along the shore of the lake for a tad longer, but the 103 passes by some beautiful waterfalls, so I’d take that anyways :)
I just specifically checked for this year, on 15th of November 2024 the road closeures were announced. Here is the map: https://www.pref.aomori.lg.jp/soshiki/kendo/doro/files/11.15toukiheisa.pdf. The thick black lines are roads which will be closed. You can see, that from lake Towada, you can take the 103 towards Hakkoda, but you must then take the eastern road around Mt Hakkoda (Route 394, then 40), because the western section (part of the 103) will be closed. The closure in question is the number “4”, which you can also see in the table on page 1 (25th of November until 1st of April 2025). Once you’re at the intersection (Road 103 / 394) you’ll only be able to take the “correct route anyways”. Please note that that route is also closed from 6pm to 7:30am every day, there will be a gate – so drive during the day :).
hope that helps :) let me know if you have further questions!
best, nimar
November 21, 2024 — 00:50
nb says:
@Est, actually, this is a better map I think, making it more clear: https://www.koutsu-aomori.com/image/r06yukimitimapura.pdf
November 21, 2024 — 00:59
Est says:
Thank you so much for the detailed instructions!
Will study the map based on ur advice!
Your blog has been an inspiration to me to realise my upcoming jan-feb winter drive at tohoku. :)))
November 21, 2024 — 01:05
nb says:
Happy to hear :) Wish you fantastic travels, it’s an often overlooked part in Japan but truly stunning.
November 21, 2024 — 01:10