Misawa

Misawa (三沢) is a city in Aomori prefecture, Japan, best known for its airport/air base.

Tourist Information Site
The local tourist association has a Japanese-only guide site.

By plane
Towada Kanko Bus runs an hourly bus service from the airport to Misawa's train station.

By train
Misawa is a stop on the private Aoimori Railway. It is served by the Tohoku Shinkansen extension to Aomori.

The fastest way to get to Misawa from Tokyo is to take the Tohoku Shinkansen Hayate service to Hachinohe (¥15350), where you can change to the Aoimori Railway for the run to Misawa (20 minutes, ¥550). With good connections the one-way trip will take about 3 hours, 45 minutes. Foreign tourists will find it cheaper to use the JR East Rail Pass or the national Japan Rail Pass, but note that the rail pass will not cover the Aoimori Railway.

By bus
An overnight bus service is offered from Tokyo to Hachinohe (9 hours, ¥9500), from which Misawa is a 20-minute ride on the Aoimori Railway.

Get around
The best way to get around is by car. If you don't have a car, taxis are available with a starting fare of about ¥600.

See
There are many places in and around Misawa that are worth seeing; for example, the Misawa Aviation & Science Museum, Miss Veedol Beach (July-Aug) and Swan Lake (Lake Ogawara). The airport itself is a popular destination for local aviation fans - spotting both civilian and military aircraft.

Do
There are a lot of small parks and such, and a small bar district, but not much to do if you don't like nature. It is close to Mt. Hakkoda (八甲田山) and the ocean, but that is about it.

In September, the joint USAF/JSDF air base opens to the public for its annual airshow.

Eat
Many local places here have English menus due to the large military population. Lots of food to eat, everything from Chinese to Japanese to Thai, all good.

All in all, Misawa is full of good restaurants, the smaller the better and avoid ones specifically geared towards the large foreign population, they're predictable.



Drink
Where you can, just don't get 'X'ed out of the Japanese bars, unless you are trying to.

There are lots of good Izakaya in Misawa, both chain and local, if you want a good place with cheap beer to start off the night and lots of good drinking food, try:


 * Paddy's: For a real pub with Guinness and other Irish brews, the Irish pub and only one far north Tohoku Irish experience, full of charm.
 * Holes in the wall, all over the place, the more Japanese you speak, the better the chance you'll enjoy them and more importantly get in.

Drinking in Misawa is more fun that many think, you can karaoke Enka one minute and get down in Nitrous the next, what you want is out there, you just have to have an open mind and find it.

Sleep
There are many hotels in the city center or spa.

Go next

 * Towada-Hachimantai National Park
 * Oirase
 * Rokunohe
 * Towada
 * Shichinohe
 * Rokkasho
 * Tohoku
 * Hachinohe
 * Gonohe