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Iwate
26 places
Holidays in Japan? Plan them with us.Over 2,000 real places, a day-by-day itinerary.FreeOpen the map →- Akamae Relay Tower (赤前の電波塔) — Miyako A radio relay tower on a hill above Miyako Bay.
- Appi Kōgen (安比高原) At 1,304 m on the 40th parallel: 21 runs over 282 hectares, and the snow is called ‘aspirin snow’.
- Chūson-ji (中尊寺) The Konjikidō of 1124, entirely covered in gold, has stood inside a glass case since 1965.
- Former Minshuku Akabu – wreck of the Hamayuri A stretch of coast in the Akahama neighbourhood of the town of Ōtsuchi (Kamaishi district, Iwate), where the minshuku (family-run inn)…
- Geibikei (猊鼻渓) The boatman pushes the boat with a single pole, between sheer walls more than 100 m high.
- Genbikei (厳美渓) You put money in a basket on the rock: your snack comes back from the other bank by cable.
- Hōon-ji (報恩寺) Of the 499 eighteenth-century rakan, two are said to portray Marco Polo and Kublai Khan.
- Iwachū Tekkikan (岩鋳鉄器館) At the foundry where iron teapots have been made since 1902, admission to the museum is free.
- Iwate Bank Red Brick Building (岩手銀行赤レンガ館) The only work in Tōhoku by Tatsuno Kingo, the architect of Tokyo Station: it dates from 1911.
- Jōdogahama (浄土ヶ浜) The rhyolite spires are 44 million years old; a monk called them ‘Pure Land’ in 1680.
- Kitayamazaki (北山崎) Two hundred metres of cliffs for eight kilometres: you go down 736 steps to the sea.
- Koiwai Farm (小岩井農場) The name is an acronym: that is how Ono, Iwasaki and Inoue founded the 3,000 hectares in 1891.
- Morioka Artisans' Village (盛岡手づくり村) Ten workshops open to the public: Nanbu ironware, ceramics and a magariya house with free admission.
- Morioka Castle (盛岡城跡公園) Begun in 1597, the castle has lost its keep: the ramparts of local granite remain.
- Morioka Station (盛岡駅) Morioka shinkansen station.
- Mōtsū-ji (毛越寺) Of the twelfth-century halls only the foundations remain: the garden around them has survived intact.
- Mount Iwate (岩手山) From the east it is a perfect cone, from the west a collapsed one: that is why it is the ‘lame Fuji’ of Nanbu.
- Orikasa Station (Sanriku Railway) An unstaffed halt on the Sanriku Railway, in the Orikasa neighbourhood of Yamada.
- Ryūsendō Cave (龍泉洞) One of Japan's three great limestone caves: 700 of its 4,088 m are open, always at 10°C.
- Sakurayama Shrine (櫻山神社) While the castle's foundations were being dug in 1597, a 6.66 m boulder came to light: it is still here, and sacred.
- Sakurayama Yokochō (櫻山横丁) Wooden izakaya look out between the torii that lead to Sakurayama Shrine.
- Shōbō-ji (正法寺) The thatched roof of the hondō is the largest in Japan: 30×21 m, with the ridge at 26 m.
- Takkoku no Iwaya (達谷窟) In 801 Tamuramaro carved out a hall on stilts here, with 108 statues of Bishamonten.
- The Miracle Pine (奇跡の一本松) The only survivor of 70,000 pines, it died in 2012: today it has a steel core inside its trunk.
- Tsunami Memorial Museum (東日本大震災津波伝承館) Opened in 2019, with free admission, it tells the story of the 2011 tsunami and of the reconstruction.
- Yamada Bay Viewpoint (山田湾展望広場) A viewing terrace on Route 45, in the Orikasa neighbourhood. From here you can see Yamada Bay and Oranda Island, which the seawalls hide…