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Towada-Hachimantai NP, Iwate / Akita
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At nearby Kagami-numa, spring snowmelt forms the “Dragon Eye.” A Taiwanese visitor’s 2016 social-media post gave the spectacle that name and helped it spread; the pond is about a 20-minute walk from Mikaeri Pass.
The Hachimantai Aspite Line through Mikaeri Pass opened as a toll road on August 15, 1970; toll collection ended in 1992. This high-mountain crossing began as a paid route before becoming toll-free.
When the 27-km Aspite Line reopens in mid-April, snowbanks several metres high still flank it, forming Hachimantai’s famous “snow corridor.” At Mikaeri Pass, winter has not quite let go.
At the pass’s summit rest house, Genta Curry Udon pairs slow-simmered Iwate beef-tendon curry with Akita’s Inaniwa udon—a tasty little border-crossing, with local ingredients from both sides.
From the lookout along Mikaeri Pass’s ridge, clear skies can reveal Iwate, Hayachine and Akita-Komagatake, with distant Mt. Chokai toward the Sea of Japan—a remarkable sweep across northern Tōhoku.
The walking loop from Mikaeri Pass reaches Hachimannuma, the largest pond on Hachimantai. It formed as water filled a crater group about 6,000 years ago; its outline still hints at its volcanic origin.
South of Hachimannuma, the wetland boardwalk is called Kisuge-dori, or “Daylily Avenue.” In late July and early August, yellow Nikko-kisuge flowers bloom across the wetland, making the name especially apt.
