What Can You Do at Lake Towada by Season? Cruises, Food and Festivals

Published 2026-10-04 · Sources checked 2026-10-04 · Treasure Hunting Co., Ltd.

This guide is for visitors deciding when to go to Lake Towada and what to do there. It uses the English pages of the Lake Towada National Park Association and the official Aomori travel guide. All pages were read on 2026-10-04. Operating seasons are those the association publishes; check each operator before you go.

The short answer

Most lake activities run from the end of April to mid-November, while winter has snowshoe walks and a February festival. The association calls the area a famous spot for fresh greenery and autumn leaves.

On the water (end of April to mid-November)

• Cruising: the sightseeing boat tour from Yasumiya around the Ogura-Nakayama peninsula runs about 50 minutes, with views of cliffs up to 220 meters.
• Canoe tours with a local guide house, boat tours in fast inflatable boats, motor boat cruises, small pleasure boat cruises (including lunch, morning mist and sunset cruises) and rowing or pedal boat rental. The association lists the season for rental boats as 1 April to mid-November.

On foot

• Walking along the Oirase stream: end of April to mid-November, run by a sightseeing volunteer group.
• Snowshoeing in the "silver forest": the association gives end of December to early April for the guided tours.
• Camping: the Utarube campsite is open from 1 July to 31 October.

Festivals

The Lake Towada Winter Festival is held through February (and sometimes into early March), with fireworks, light shows, a snow dome and snow statues on the snowy lakeshore. The Lake Towada Festival in mid-July announces the coming of summer, with lake excursions, a flea market and fireworks.

Autumn colour

The association says the colour that starts on the Hakkoda mountains in late September descends to the Oirase Gorge over about a month. The official Aomori guide calls the gorge one of the most popular spots in Japan for viewing autumn leaves and notes that a walking path with bus stops makes it easy to see. The same guide lists the Jogakura Bridge, a 360-meter arch bridge in the same national park, among Aomori's autumn highlights.

What to eat

The association's food page highlights:

• Himemasu (lake red salmon), a freshwater fish eaten as sashimi, carpaccio, sushi, grilled with salt, fried or as tempura.
• Freshly boiled smelt that can be eaten whole.
• Kiritanpo, grilled pounded rice on cedar sticks, served in a hot pot with local chicken.
• Inaniwa udon, flat dried noodles from southern Akita.
• Senbei soup (a cracker soup from southern Aomori) and Towada barayaki, beef and onions fried in a sweet-spicy soy sauce.
• Seasonal mountain vegetables in spring and mushrooms in autumn, which some inns cook fresh.

The page also lists acacia honey, grape wine from Kosaka town and traditional crafts such as sakiori weaving and akebia vine baskets as souvenirs.

A nature calendar

The association's pages also give a few natural events that help you choose a month:

• Mid-May: the association calls this the best time to photograph the rhododendrons blooming on the rocks at Samidare Stream in the gorge, and its food page says the rape blossom fields it describes turn yellow from mid-May.
• June: white acacia flowers bloom together along the Towada Lake Jukai Line in Kosaka town, and in mid-June beekeepers collect honey around the gorge.
• Late September: the colour begins on the Hakkoda mountains, and the char in the Oirase begin their courtship, which is often visible from the stream.
• Winter: waterfowl gather on the lake near Gozengahama, and the page on the Utarube area recommends following animal footprints in the snow. The water level in the gorge is lower because the sluice at Nenokuchi is almost closed at night and in winter.

Choose the month first

Seasons differ by activity. Boats and canoes run from the end of April to mid-November, camping from 1 July to 31 October, and snowshoeing from the end of December to early April. Decide when you will visit, then pick the activity that is running.

What we could not verify, and therefore left out

• Boat fares, schedules and reservation rules.
• Exact dates of the festivals this year.
• Whether every inn or restaurant on the association's list is open in your season.

Related guides

• How do you get to Lake Towada and the Oirase Gorge by bus and car?
• What is Lake Towada and the Oirase Gorge, and where should you walk?

Sources

All URLs retrieved 2026-10-04.

1. Experience Lake Towada (Lake Towada National Park Association) — (activities and seasons)
2. Annual event (Lake Towada National Park Association) — (festivals)
3. Food and products (Lake Towada National Park Association) — (food)
4. The Charm of Lake Towada and Oirase Gorge (Lake Towada National Park Association) — (autumn colour)
5. Oirase Gorge to Nenokuchi walking map (Lake Towada National Park Association) — (autumn colour)
6. A Trip Discovering Aomori's Autumn Leaves (Amazing AOMORI) — (autumn)