Tohoku: the Northeast of Honshu, Snow and Six Prefectures
Tohoku is the northeastern part of the island of Honshu: six prefectures from Aomori to Fukushima, snowy winters, and Sendai as the region's largest city. In Japanese the name is written 東北 — literally 'east-north': the order of the compass directions here is the reverse of the usual English 'northeast,' and this is not a mistake but a rule of the Japanese language for a whole set of directions.
Let's look at the unusual order of the compass directions in the name 東北 — and see that it is not a coincidence but a rule that works in other Japanese words too. We'll learn the old name of the land, Michinoku, and find in Akita a festival whose name sounds like 'Kanto,' though it has nothing to do with the east of the country. And at the end — briefly and without unnecessary detail about the earthquake of March 11, 2011.
Six Prefectures Between Kanto and Hokkaido
Tohoku occupies the northeastern third of the island of Honshu: it includes the prefectures of Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, and Fukushima. The region's largest city is Sendai, and winters here are snowy and long, noticeably harsher than in Kanto to the south.
| Prefecture | Writing | Capital | Known for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aomori | 青森県 | Aomori | Nebuta Festival |
| Iwate | 岩手県 | Morioka | Sanriku Coast |
| Miyagi | 宮城県 | Sendai | Largest city in the region |
| Akita | 秋田県 | Akita | Kanto Festival (竿燈) |
| Yamagata | 山形県 | Yamagata | Cherries and mountain temples |
| Fukushima | 福島県 | Fukushima | Lake Inawashiro |
Neighbors to the South and North
To the south, Tohoku borders the densely populated Kanto Plain; to the north, Hokkaido, which joined Japan later than the rest of the country and received the special status of a circuit rather than a prefecture. Tohoku lies between them — six ordinary prefectures without a plain of that size, remaining for centuries a remote outskirts of the country.
東北: A Land Where East Comes Before North
東北 is read とうほく (Tōhoku) and is made up of 東, 'east,' and 北, 'north' — together 'east-north.' In English the same direction is called 'northeast,' putting north first. The word 東北 itself has an ordinary compass equivalent in Japanese, 北東, where north comes first, as in English; but for the region it is 東北 that stuck, with east in first place.
北 — значение: north — онъёми: ホク — кунъёми: きた — 5 штрих(ов). 北 is read ホク (hoku) in the on'yomi and きた (kita) in the kun'yomi, meaning 'north.' In the region's name it comes second: first 'east,' then 'north.'
北 in Ordinary Words and the Old Name of the Land
北 also appears in everyday speech: 北風 (kitakaze) — 'north wind,' 北口 (kitaguchi) — 'north exit,' as one of the exits is labeled at stations. Tohoku itself has an old name, 陸奥: in Heian-era poetry it was read みちのく (Michinoku), and later the same characters took on the reading むつ (Mutsu) — from which the name of the city of Mutsu in Aomori also derives.
| Japanese | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| 東北 | Tōhoku · Tōhoku | Tohoku — the name of the region itself |
| 北 | kita · kita | North — the second part of the region's name |
| 仙台 | Sendai · Sendai | Sendai — the largest city in the region |
| 陸奥 | Mutsu · Mutsu | Mutsu — the old name of the lands of Tohoku |
| 雪 | yuki · yuki | Snow — a frequent guest of the Tohoku winter |
Write 北 along the guides — the sign of north, which in the name Tohoku comes after the sign of east.
Festivals, a Namesake of Kanto, and the Day of March 11
In summer, Tohoku hosts some of the country's most vibrant festivals: Nebuta in Aomori with giant glowing figures on wheels, and Tanabata in Sendai with thousands of paper decorations along the streets. The region is also famous for rice and sake, and the speech here is noticeably different from Tokyo's — the Tohoku dialect, Tohoku-ben.
A Festival That Sounds Like 'Kanto' but Is Not
In Akita every August there is the 秋田竿燈まつり — to the ear 'kanto-matsuri,' a homophone of the Kanto region. But the characters here are completely different: 竿, 'pole,' and 燈, 'lantern' — participants raise long poles hung with paper lanterns, and this festival has nothing to do with the east of the country, only with the sound.
March 11, 2011
On March 11, 2011, off the eastern coast of Tohoku, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake occurred — the strongest ever recorded in Japan — causing a devastating tsunami. According to Japan's National Police Agency, the number of dead and missing exceeded 18,000 people. The Sanriku coast was especially hard hit, and recovery stretched over years.
FAQ
- Where is Tohoku located?
- Tohoku occupies the northeastern third of the island of Honshu — between the densely populated Kanto to the south and the island of Hokkaido to the north. The region stretches along both the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, and winters here are snowy and noticeably longer than further south in the country.
- Which prefectures are part of Tohoku?
- Six: Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, and Fukushima. The region's largest city is Sendai, the administrative center of Miyagi; the other prefectures have capitals that are noticeably smaller both in population and in fame outside Japan.
- Why is it 'east-north' in Japanese and not 'northeast'?
- In region names, Japanese often puts east or west before north and south — hence 東北 (east-north) instead of the usual English 'northeast.' The same direction also has an ordinary compass term, 北東, where north comes first, but for this particular land it is 東北 that stuck.
- How is 'Tohoku' written in kanji?
- 東北, read とうほく. 東 means 'east,' 北 means 'north,' and the order of the characters is exactly that: east before north. The land also has an old name, 陸奥: in poetry it was read みちのく (Michinoku), and later the reading むつ (Mutsu) became established.
- What is Tohoku known for?
- Snowy winters, rice and sake, vibrant summer festivals like Nebuta in Aomori and Tanabata in Sendai, and also the earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011 — the largest natural disaster in the region's modern history.
Sources
Updated: 2026-09-22