Akiu Onsen & Akiu Great Falls in One Day
A bus from Sendai to the Rairaikyo gorge, kokeshi dolls at the craft village, the 55-metre Akiu Great Falls, and an open-air bath before the ride back.
Last updated 2026-09-03 · 1-day self-guided plan
Akiu Onsen & Great Falls
Gorge, waterfall and hot spring, an hour from Sendai
For travellers in Sendai who want a mountain day without hiking gear, and a hot spring town that has been in business for over a thousand years.
1Rairaikyo gorge walk
The Akiu bus leaves from the west exit of Sendai Station and takes about 50 minutes to the Akiu Sato Center; be on the 8:30 departure. From the centre a path drops straight into Rairaikyo, a narrow gorge where the Natori River has carved potholes and heart-shaped hollows in the rock; the loop of about a kilometre crosses a red bridge and follows the water under overhanging cliffs. Maples make it the most photographed spot in the valley in late October.
1 HourCost: Free- 2
Akiu Craft Park
A ten-minute bus ride or a 30-minute walk east brings you to the craft village, a cluster of workshops where families make kokeshi dolls, lacquerware, spinning tops and Sendai chests. Most let you watch the lathe work and several run short lessons where you paint your own kokeshi face, which makes a better souvenir than anything in the station shops. Workshops open mid-morning and close by late afternoon.
1 HourCost: ¥500–1,500 - 3
Lunch in Akiu village
Back at the Sato Center area around 12:00, the soba shops and small restaurants on the main road serve buckwheat noodles with local wild vegetables, and a farmers' market by the bus stop sells Akiu's produce; the hillside above the village grows grapes for the valley's small winery, which does tastings. Miyagi's specialty is grilled beef tongue, and one or two of the ryokan restaurants open to non-guests at lunch.
45 MinutesCost: ¥1,000–2,000 - 4
Akiu Great Falls
Take the bus about 20 minutes further up the valley to the Otaki stop. Akiu Otaki is a single 55-metre drop into a green basin, one of Japan's three famous waterfalls, and the viewing deck by the Fudo-do temple is a two-minute walk from the road. The path down to the plunge pool takes about 15 minutes each way on steps and is the better view, with spray in your face; the falls are strongest after rain.
1.5 HoursCost: Free 
5Open-air bath at Akiu Onsen
Bus back down to the onsen town around 15:30. The large ryokan along the river open their baths to day visitors in the afternoon; the outdoor tubs face the Natori valley and the water is a clear, slightly salty spring that warlords once came here to use. Bring a towel or buy one at the counter, and finish with the zunda, sweet edamame paste on mochi, before the evening bus to Sendai.
1.5 HoursCost: ¥1,000–2,500
Day 1 Estimated Cost
- Food¥2,500–4,500
- Transport¥1,500–2,500
- Bath & crafts¥1,500–4,000
Tips
The Akiu bus runs roughly hourly and the valley buses beyond it less often, so photograph the timetable at the Sato Center; the last bus back to Sendai leaves in the early evening.
The gorge path and the steps to the plunge pool are wet stone, so trainers with grip; the craft village and the onsen town are flat, but bring socks you can pull off quickly for the bath.
Beef tongue is Sendai's dish and zunda its sweet; get the tongue at lunch in Akiu if a ryokan restaurant is open, otherwise the arcade behind Sendai Station has a whole row of tongue grills for dinner.
Shoot the falls from the lower pool after 13:00 when sunlight reaches the basin, and the gorge from the red bridge; in the last two weeks of October the maples in Rairaikyo are at their best.