Akita Prefectural Museum

Home of the Prefectural Museum and a 300-year-old rich farmer's house, which is rare and can be visited for free. Worth a visit if you like old Japanese houses.

Of obvious interest to Catholics, but also simply beautiful for anyone keen for a bit of quiet reflection in a country with so many crowded and noisy temples, this is one of the most recent approved sites of Marian apparition. In the 1980s a statue inside the building wept on national TV. The site also has beautiful and expansive gardens and a church with Japanese-style architecture. The nuns have an English-language website with photos and directions which is worth a look.

The Kantō festival (竿灯) is held in September every year and is about 400 years old. If you aren't around for the festival, this museum gives a taste of what it's like. A fine renovated 150 year old kimono shop adjacent to the museum is included with the price of admission. The guide in the kimono shop may be able to speak some English.

Senshū Park is a beautiful place to take a walk, especially during the spring season when the cherry blossoms are blooming or in winter when the snow covers the trees and the ponds ice over. The park hosts a replica of a watchtower of Kubota Castle, the original having been constructed in 733 AD. For a small admission fee, the lower floors of the castle contain a small museum, and the upper floor provides a panoramic view of the city.

This museum, built in 1967, focuses on the works of Tsuguji (Leonard) Foujita.

This museum, built in 1912, hosts various exhibitions of arts, crafts, and historical materials. This was originally the headquarters of Akita Bank. Aka means red in Japanese and renga means brick, so the name means therefore "red brick building". If you visit the nearby Kanto museum, you can buy a joint ticket for that and the akarengakan.