[proper noun] the northeast region of Japan, specifically the northernmost six prefectures in Honshu (clockwise from the northermost): 青森県 (Aomori-ken), 岩手県 (Iwate-ken), 宮城県 (Miyagi-ken), 福島県 (Fukushima-ken), 山形県 (Yamagata-ken), 秋田県 (Akita-ken).
(This term, とうほく, is the hiragana spelling of the above term.)
