Getting Around Hachinohe
Hachinohe is a sprawling city, and its sights are spread out rather than clustered around a single centre. That shapes how you move: a compact old town it is not, so plan on combining trains, buses and taxis rather than relying on your feet alone. The good news is that the city's main transport hub is also its bullet-train station, so arrivals and onward connections happen in one place.
Rail
Hachinohe Station is the anchor of the local network. The Tōhoku Shinkansen calls here, and the same station serves the conventional lines that fan out into the city and the surrounding area, so you can step off a long-distance train and transfer directly to a local one.
Three rail operations matter to a visitor:
- JR East – Hachinohe Line: a local line running from Hachinohe out along the coast, calling at places such as Naganawashiro, Hon-Hachinohe, Konakano, Mutsu-Minato, Shirogane, Same, Mutsu-Shirahama, Tanesashi-Kaigan, Ōkuki and Kanehama. This is the line to remember if you want the coastal scenery and the Tanesashi Coast, which is a nationally designated Place of Scenic Beauty.
- Aoimori Railway Line: serves Hachinohe along with Kita-Takaiwa and Mutsu-Ichikawa, connecting the city with points along the route.
- Hachinohe Rinkai Railway: freight only, so not an option for visitors.
There is no metro or tram network in Hachinohe; the rail lines above, plus buses, do the work that a subway or tram would in a larger city.
Buses
Buses are one of the easiest and cheapest ways to get around this spread-out city. Two operators cover Hachinohe City and the wider Hachinohe area: Hachinohe City Operated Bus and Nanbu (Nambu) Bus. Between them they run the ordinary city routes as well as special sightseeing route buses aimed at visitors, and route maps are published for the city network.
One practical caveat: using the buses requires some Japanese reading ability, so it helps to have your destination written down or to ask for help before you board.
If you need assistance working out which bus to take or where it stops, two places are set up for exactly that:
- The Hachinohe Tourism Information Center, on the second floor of Hachinohe Station.
- The front desk of the Hachinohe Portal Museum "hacchi".
Long-distance buses also serve the city: Towada Kanko Bus and Kokusai Kogyo operate an overnight service linking Hachinohe with Tokyo Station and Ikebukuro.
Taxis
There are always plenty of taxis parked outside the train station, which makes them a straightforward fallback when a bus route doesn't fit your plans or when you're carrying luggage. Given how spread out the city is, a taxi is often the sensible choice for a specific destination that isn't near a station or bus stop.
Walking
Walking is pleasant for individual sights once you're there, but it is not a realistic way to cover the city as a whole. Hachinohe is a bit spread out, and walking to many destinations could be time consuming. Treat your feet as a way to link up nearby stops, and use rail, bus or taxi for the longer hops.
Getting In from the Airport
The nearest commercial airport to Hachinohe is Misawa Airport, located north of the city. Note that JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base, which sits closer to the city, is a military aerodrome of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and is not a commercial airport — so Misawa is the one you'll be flying into or out of.
For the journey from Tokyo by rail, the Tōhoku Shinkansen runs hourly service from Tokyo Station to Hachinohe. These are all-reserved trains known as Hayate, stopping only at major stations such as Ueno, Omiya, Sendai and Morioka before reaching Hachinohe and continuing on to Aomori. Be aware that Hayate trains are coupled to Akita-bound Komachi trains, which split at Morioka (sometimes Sendai), so check that you're in the right train and carriage when boarding. Local, rapid and limited express trains also connect Hachinohe with Aomori and other points in Tōhoku.
On tickets and passes: for foreign tourists making the trip from Tokyo, a JR East Rail Pass or the national Japan Rail Pass is the better deal than buying point-to-point. If you're living in Japan, watch for the Hachinohe-Higaeri (Hachinohe day-trip) package offered by JR, which can be booked at JTB or View Plaza counters at most major JR stations. Winter-season discounts and add-on options have also been offered on this route in the past, so it's worth asking when you book.