Below is an itinerary I am considering for a week touring around Touhoku with a 4-day flex pass.

Aug 30
Tour Toukyou a.m. Use JR East Pass to Dewa area (Tsuruoka)

Aug 31
Hike Dewa. Haven't got my Lonely Planet handy. What else is there time to do in the morning, if anything?

Sept 1
Hike Dewa. What else is there time to do in the evening, if anything?

Sept 2
JR East . Train to Morioka. Walk around our sister city. Wanko soba lunch. Train to Shimokita.

Sept 3
Osoresan. Is there time to do anything else that day? Hiking?

Sept 4
JR East. Train to Hiraizumi. Genbikei.


Sept 5
Train to Matsushima. 1250Y. Stay in Oku-m’shima

Sept 6
Rent bikes. Boat ride. Train back to Toukyou. <4hrs. JR East.

katakanadian wrote (View Post): › Sept 3 Osoresan. Is there time to do anything else that day? Hiking?

I would say yes : since you will be sleeping in Shimokita, you will have time to do something else. It depends however on how long you will spend in Osoresan and the Bôdaiji. Once you are inside the temple precinct (500 yen), you can use the small onsen for free. There are very few buses though, so plan your trip carefully. Here is the detail as of today :

Around 40 to 45 minutes for the bus trip (750 yen one way) :

(from 5/01 to 9/30)
=> from Shimokita Station
* 9h00
* 11h00
* 14h05
* 16h45

=> from Osoresan
* 10h10
* 12h30
* 15h50
* 17h30

On the way, the bus driver might stop at a local spring for everybody to get fresh water : have an empty bottle ready.

Thanks! Very useful info.

I also wondered about renting a car but the rental company I came up with (Mazda) is located closer to the ferry terminal at Oohata. Do you know what sort of bus schedule there is to get there? Or better yet, is it possible to pick up and drop off the car at/near Shimokita eki?

No bother going to the ferry terminal : there is a Toyota Rental just near Shimokita station.



HERE is the Toyota exact page - in Japanese though. HERE is a more general page in English with instructions.

If you can speak Japanese, THIS small company might be interesting : they will bring your car for free at Shimokita Station and the rental fare is only 3 150 yen a day.

From Shimokita you could consider taking a trip to Towada Lake.

Josh
http://smartjapantravel.wordpress.com