Zao Highlands: The Okama Crater & a Fox Village — 2 Days

A hillside reserve where more than a hundred foxes of several species roam free in a wooded enclosure that you walk through on their level — they doze in the sun, trot past your feet and curl up in the cold, and from a designated spot you can hold one. It began as a way to protect and study the animals, and it remains an unusually direct encounter with a creature that is half-wild and deeply woven into Japanese folklore. Children and photographers both love it; come with sturdy shoes and a little patience.

Open ~09:00-17:00 (to 16:00 in winter; last entry 30 min before), closed Wednesdays (open on holidays); adult ~¥1,500 (approx., 2026). In the Shiroishi foothills, best reached by car. Don't crouch or dangle bags; follow the staff rules around the foxes. About an hour.

A museum in Togatta devoted to the kokeshi — the simple, limbless wooden doll with a painted face and trunk that was first turned by woodworkers in these onsen towns as a souvenir and a child's toy. Several thousand dolls are displayed, sorted by the distinct regional styles that each onsen valley developed, and resident artisans demonstrate the turning and painting; you can try painting your own. It explains why this unassuming object is one of Tohoku's defining folk crafts, and Togatta is one of its birthplaces.

Open ~09:00-17:00 (to 16:30 in winter); modest admission (approx., 2026). In Togatta Onsen. Painting workshops run on site — ask at the desk. About 50 minutes.

A small auberge of just thirteen rooms above Togatta Onsen, built for food and quiet, where the rate is all-inclusive — meals and drinks together — and the kitchen is the heart of the house. There is its own free-flowing hot spring, open-air baths looking into the trees, and rooms designed around stillness rather than spectacle. After a day in the mountains it is the antidote to a big resort: a handful of guests, a long dinner, and the dark of the foothills. Book early; thirteen rooms go fast.

All-inclusive rate from roughly ¥55,000 per person (2026) — confirm directly; high demand for its size. Above Togatta Onsen at the foot of Zao; ask about transfers. Check in mid-afternoon so dinner is unhurried. Drinks are included, so don't plan to drive after.

A viewpoint and rest stop on the Zao Echo Line, named for the alpine komakusa flowers that cling to the volcanic gravel here in early summer, looking out over a deep ravine to a thin waterfall on the far wall. It is the natural place to pause on the climb to the crater — to feel the air thin and cool, see the treeline drop away, and walk the short railed path to the overlook. A quick, scenic stop that sets up the bigger view above.

Open at all hours when the Echo Line is open (roughly late April to early November), free; the road is closed in winter. About two-thirds of the way up the Echo Line toward Okama. A few minutes' walk to the overlook; bring a layer, it is cooler up here. About half an hour.

The sight that anchors the whole trip: a near-perfect circle of water filling a volcanic crater between three peaks, about 360 metres across, its colour shifting from deep emerald to milky turquoise as the light and the sky change — which is why it is also called the Five-Colour Pond. From the viewpoints at the top of the road and along the Katta-dake ridge you look straight down into the cauldron, with the bare volcanic peaks all around. It is a genuinely jaw-dropping piece of landscape, and the reason people drive up Zao.

Reached only when the Echo Line and the Highline toll road are open (~late April-early November); a toll applies for the closest parking. Zao is an active volcano (alert level 1 in 2026); follow any posted guidance. Cloud often rolls in by midday, so come early. Allow about an hour for the viewpoints; it is exposed and cool.

The rest house at the Katta-toge parking, right at the top of the road by the Okama viewpoint, where you warm up after the windy rim with a simple mountain lunch — a bowl of soba or curry, a Zao soft serve, a hot drink — and browse the local snacks and kokeshi at the shop. It is functional rather than fine, but at over 1,700 metres, with the crater a few steps away, a hot bowl and a window over the peaks is exactly what you want before the drive down.

Open in season with the Echo Line (~late April-early November), daytime hours; a soba or curry runs roughly ¥800-1,200 (approx., 2026). At the Katta-toge top-of-road parking by the Okama. Closed and inaccessible in winter. About an hour.