Kyoko and I take our second road trip with my newly minted drivers license. How many times would we get lost this time?

The best (and worst) thing about living in Northern Japan is that everything is so far away from each other. Even by bullet train it’s gonna take you 2 to 4 hours to get to the furthermost reaches of Akita or Aomori Prefectures. We decided to head south though to Zao. We were in this general vicinity back in January when we visited Zao Onsen ski resort for a few days, but we didn’t get to see Okama, perhaps Zao’s most famous sightseeing attraction.

So what is Okama, exactly? Well, that depends on how and when you say it I suppose. On end of the spectrum, Okama means “pot” or “volcanic crater”. At the other end, however, you’ll find that it can also mean “(one’s) buttocks”, “homosexual” or “transvestite”. Feel free to link the ideas of a volcanic crater and homosexuality, if that so pleases you. Not that there’s anything wrong with it.

Anyways, we headed south down the Tohoku Expressway, then cut over to the Yamagata Expressway, bearing west. Driving towards Yamagata City was pretty nice as we zigzagged our way through the lush, tree-covered mountains. It reminded me of home, except there were no clearcuts scarring the mountainsides.

We exited the expressway and snaked our way through the narrow mountain roads. This is where all signage ceased to exist. No direction markers, no speed limits, we couldn’t even tell what highway we were on for about an hour. Finally the mountain spat us out, and luckily we were still on the right track. We continued to climb, through the fog and rain, until we were above it, at least temporarily. The fog continued to attack us throughout the day.

Okama was nice; the surrounding area is very spacious, which made it odd when a very noisy family decided to stand right beside us and scream at each other while we tried to enjoy the view. If a family is yelling at each other, and nobody is there to hear them, do they make a sound?

On our return home, and after a couple wrong turns, we stopped by Akiu Falls. Akiu Falls is apparently one of the 3 greatest waterfalls in Japan. I hope we went to the wrong waterfall, because I don’t see what the big deal was. :(

Regardless, if you’re planning on traveling through Miyagi or Yamagata Prefectures and you have some extra time, head on up to the crater lake. Going during winter may be a little treacherous though!