Page 295 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Japan

The vermilion Shinkyo Bridge spanning the Daiya River, Nikko

NORTHERN HONSHU

The backcountry reputation of Northern Honshu
belies its rich history. Long ago, it was home to
indigenous people, who may have been from the
Ainu ethnic group. In the 12th century, Hiraizumi
was the capital of the Northern Fujiwara clan,
rival ing Kyoto in splendor, and during feudal times,
Morioka, Tsuruoka, Hirosaki, and Aizu-Wakamatsu
were thriving castle towns. Foremost, though, was
Sendai, ruled by the north’s most powerful clan.
Despite these signifcant settlements, when haiku

poet Matsuo Basho set out in 1689 on his fve-
month trek to northern Japan, he likened it to
going to the back of beyond. Three centuries later,
shinkansen lines and expressways provide easy
access, and the north is as much a part of the
information age as the rest of Japan.
On March 11, 2011, a 9-magnitude earth quake
and subse quent tsunami hit this northern part
of the country. Much of the area was damaged
with some coastal areas completely destroyed.
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was also
badly damaged by the tsunami, and the long-
term effects of this disaster are still unclear.
In 2018, a robotic probe showed that the radio-
activity levels inside the plant remain too high
for humans to work inside the buildings.
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