History / Culture / Tour Spots in Iwate Area
Area
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Iwate
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Iwate
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- Kujira To Umi no Science Museum
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4.52 Reviews - Leisure / Hobbies
- Iwate Shimohei-gun Yamadamachi Funakoshi Dai7-chiwari 50-1
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山田町の過去の商業捕鯨時代の捕鯨の展示があります。 また、それ鯨以外にも三陸の漁の展示があり楽しめます。 南部もぐりの展示では、実際に重い装備を持つことができます。 地味かもしれませんが、見どころはたっぷりです。
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- Folktale and Storytelling Center
- Travel / Tourism
- Iwate Pref. Tonoshi Chuoudori 2-11
- This is museum where guests can experience Tono’s world of folklore passed down through the generations through audio and visual exhibits. The facility offers something for both adults and children to enjoy, with a theater, video library, and experience corner. In the Tono-za, a theater that was once used as a sake brewer’s storehouse, visitors can appreciate folk tales told by a professional storyteller and other folk entertainment.
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- Hayachine Shrine
- Travel / Tourism
- Iwate Pref. Hanamakishi Ohasamamachiuchikawame 1-1
- A 50-minute drive from the Hanamaki Interchange on the Tohoku Expressway. This Shinto shrine is believed to have been established on top of Mt. Hayachine as a small hokora wayside shrine in 807 by Fujiwara no Narifusa, a descendant of politician and Fujiwara clan founder Fujiwara no Kamatari. The current main shrine building, a prefecturally-designated Tangible Cultural Property, was erected in 1612 and is an example of the architectural techniques used at the time, including a framework built around central pillars, and the carving and ornamentation around the eaves. The Hayachine kagura, a style of Shinto music and dance passed down via a shrine ritual, has been designated a National Important Intangible Folk-Cultural Property as well as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, and each year on January 3 a stirring performance is offered to the gods here.
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- Kanairo Do
- Travel / Tourism
- Iwate Nishiiwai-gun Hiraizumicho Hiraizumi Koromonoseki 202
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- Kamaishi Daikannon Statue
- Travel / Tourism
- Iwate Pref. Kamaishishi Odairachou 3-9-1
- The Kannon (goddess of mercy) statue holding a fish is 48.5 kilometers in height and stands as if watching over the boats coming and going from Kamaishi Bay. Building of the statue was initiated by Meihozan Sekiosenji Temple praying for peace of the spirit worlds. From the 12th floor inside the statue, 120 meters above sea level, you can see the panorama of Mada-misaki Cape, Ozaki Peninsula and the Pacific Ocean.
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- Kodo Nomura Araebisu Memorial Hall
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5.01 Reviews - Travel / Tourism
- Iwate Shiwa-gun Shiwacho Hikobe Kuretsubo 193-1
- Located about a 15-minute drive from the Tohoku Expressway’s Shiwa Interchange, this memorial hall comprehensively exhibits the life of Kodo Nomura, known as the author of Zenigata Heiji Torimono-Hikae. In the exhibition room, you can enjoy Kodo's favorite items and materials related to the Nomura Gakugei Foundation, as well as Kodo's works that have been visualized with the latest video and audio equipment. Kodo is also known as the classical music critic Araebisu, and it also holds live concerts and concerts of his SP record collections.
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あの「銭型平次」の作者であり、クラッシク音楽を日本に普及した人物としても有名です。私が大学生の頃、東京の「高田馬場」に「あらえびす」というクラッシク喫茶があって、よく通っていました。女主人（店のオーナー）は、野村胡堂氏の親族の方です。ですから、野村胡堂氏のクラッシクレコードのコレクションを聴くことができる贅沢なひと時でした。 余談をひとつ。電機メーカーの「ＳＯＮＹ」が創業したてのころ、社長の「井深...
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- Daiji Shimizu Oyasumidokoro
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5.01 Reviews - Travel / Tourism
- Iwate Morioka-shi Natayacho 3-15
- "At this facility located in Nataya-cho, Morioka City, visitors can experience a traditional Japanese townhome. Operated as part of activities to preserve the Morioka-style townhomes which still stand in the area, visitors can view such characteristic features as the home's design allowing for natural ventilation, and living room called a ""joi"" decorated with a kamidana home shrine."
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岩手県盛岡市鉈屋町の住宅地にある湧き水。 盛岡の古い街なみが残されるこのエリアには2つの素敵な大慈清水・青龍水という湧き水が出る場所があります。 共に江戸時代から生活用水として親しまれてきた井戸で、今でも共同井戸として維持管理されています。 どちらにも屋根があり、まるで温泉地の露天風呂のような雰囲気ですが、しっかりと清潔が保たれていて、一番井戸は飲み水，二番井戸は米磨ぎ水，三番井戸は洗い物，四番...
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- Hekishoji Temple Museum
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4.01 Reviews - Leisure / Hobbies
- Iwate Waga-gun Nishiwagamachi Sawauchi Ota 3-32
- This museum is located on the grounds of Hekishoji Temple in Ota Sawauch, Nishiwaga Town, Waga County. It houses a collection of over 10,000 items related to local folkways, including National Important Cultural Properties, the tools used by “matagi,” traditional local wintertime hunters, and items used in everyday life. Visitors can encounter the unique culture that grew up in the harsh natural environment of Japan’s “snow country.”
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山に入り熊を撃つという猟師を岩手と秋田のこの辺りではマタギというようですが、その文化を伝える展示内容が充実しています。
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- Jokenji Temple
- Travel / Tourism
- Iwate Pref. Tonoshi Tsuchibuchichoutsuchibuchi 7-50
- This is a temple of the Soto school (of Zen Buddhism) that was established in 1490. 3.5-meter statues of the two guardian Deva kings flank the main temple gate. It is also known as the kappa komainu (kappa guardian dog) temple based on a legend that kappa (a mythical water-dwelling creature) that lived in the river to the south of the temple once helped extinguish a fire at the temple and became komainu (a guardian lion-dog).
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- Onikoshi Sozen Shrine
- Travel / Tourism
- Iwate Prefecture Takizawa City Ukai Outside Kubo
- This shrine is located approximately a 20-minute drive from the Morioka Interchange. It became devotes to the god of horses because it was a place of living together with horses under the same roof and raising horses for war, cavalry and later for agriculture after the Edo period (1603-1868). On the second Saturday of every June, a festival called Chagu Chagu Umakko is held where around 100 decorated horses parade from the shrine to Hachimangu Shrine in Morioka City. The sound of the bells of the Chagu Chagu was chosen as one of the 100 Soundscapes of Japan.
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- Sekizo Juroku Rakan (Sixteen Stone Arhats)
- Travel / Tourism
- Iwate Pref. Moriokashi Chabatake 2-1
- These stone Buddhist images are on the grounds of a Rakan Children's Park in 2 Chome, Chabatake, Morioka City. A total of 21 statues including the five wisdom Buddhas were erected in the late Edo period to honor those who passed away through the famines that occurred at that time. The temple that was there was destroyed by fire in the Meiji period. The statues are designated a Morioka Tangible Cultural Property.
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- Stone and Kenji Museum
- Leisure / Hobbies
- Iwate Ichinoseki-shi Higashiyamacho Matsukawa Takinosawa 149-1
- A museum located a three-minute walk from Rikuchu-Matsukawa Station on the Ofunato Line in Ichinoseki City, Iwate Prefecture. The museum was established for future generations to share with and make it possible to come in contact with the ideas and lifestyles of engineer Kenji Miyazawa and Tohoku Rubble Factory owner Tozo Suzuki. The museum has lapis lazuli, amethyst, and ammonite fossils on display and a library of books collected by Suzuki. Visitors can also take a tour of the former Tohoku Rubble Factory, which was erected in 1924 and registered a National Tangible Cultural Property in 1996 (note: at the present time, tours are not possible due to renovations; tours are scheduled to reopen in the spring of 2020.)
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- The Cattle Museum
- Leisure / Hobbies
- Iwate Oshu-shi Maesawa Minamijinba 103-1
- A museum located a seven-minute taxi ride from Maesawa Station on the Tohoku Main Line in Oshu City, Iwate Prefecture. The museum contains a variety of exhibits on cattle such as cattle skeletons and how milk is produced, the relationship between humans and cattle from ancient times to the present, the history of Maesawa beef, and the cattle industry. The museum holds events such as symposiums and picture book readings, as well as classes like butter making and recreating Meiji period ice cream. The museum store sells original merchandise like T-shirts featuring a cow stomach design, and leather cell phone straps.
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- Kiyomizu-dera Temple
- Travel / Tourism
- Iwate Hanamaki-shi Ota 21-5-1
- A Tendai Buddhist temple located a 24-minute drive from Hanamaki Station on the Tohoku Main Line in Hanamaki City, Iwate Prefecture. The temple was founded to pray for Sakanoue no Tamuramaro in 807 and is considered one of Japan's three Kiyomizu temples. The temple is also the first temple on the Oshu 33 Kannon Pilgrimage and the Togoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage. The temple's principal object of worship is an eleven-faced statue of Kannon kept in the Kannondo hall. Other highlights include the Deva gate, which enshrines the statue of Kannon which is on the Togoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage; the Jigansuido hall, which is said to miraculously heal eye diseases; and a Japanese cedar split into four trunks which is said to bless worshippers with children.
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- Goshono Jomon Park
- Travel / Tourism
- Iwate Pref. Ninohegunichinohemachi Iwadate Goshono 2
- A historic site and park located a five-minute drive south on National Route 4 traveling from the Ichinohe Interchange on the Tohoku Jukan Expressway Hachinohe Route. The park is maintained on the site of a mid-Jomon period settlement. The East Village contains over 200 pit dwellings, while graves have been found in the square in the Central Village. There are the remains of a building made from giant logs lashed together on the outskirts of the graveyard which is thought to have been connected to the graves. The Goshono Jomon Museum inside the park contains a building destroyed by a fire 4,000 years ago, an exhibit on the process involved in recreating a pit dwelling, and exhibits containing tools and other objects.
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- Kitakami City Oni no Yakata
- Leisure / Hobbies
- Iwate Kitakami-shi Wagacho Iwasaki 16-131
- "A museum located a 20-minute drive from JR Kitakami Station. The museum was opened in 1994 to present information on oni, mythical Japanese creatures alternately translated as ""ogres"" and ""demons."" The museum introduces all kinds of oni, from scary ones to cute and cuddly ones. Exhibits include a large number of oni masks, including a giant mask three-meter-tall and weighing 80 kilograms. The museum also introduces masks depicting oni-like creates from around the world with a focus on Thailand, Nepal, and other Asian countries."
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- Komatsu Shiki Memorial Hall
- Travel / Tourism
- Iwate Pref. Ninoheshi Ishikiridokoro Arase 49
- Ganteya's memorial hall is located next to the self-help workshop "Shiki no Sato" and exhibits tools, articles, and various materials related to the founder, Shiki Komatsu. At the museum, visitors can learn about the history and taste of the local sweets that Shiki Komatsu learned to make in his apprenticeship in Aomori.
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- Osako Folk Culture Preservation Center (Hayachine Take Kagura Denshokan Museum)
- Travel / Tourism
- Iwate Pref. Hanamakishi Ohasamamachiuchikawame 1-2
- "The Hayachimine Kagura Hall, nicknamed the ""Hayachimine Kagura Hall of Folklore,"" is a cultural facility that exhibits traditional performing arts, masks, old documents, and other materials from the town of Osako in Hanamaki City. The kagura stage in the museum is also used for practice by the Take-kagura performers."
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- Gohyaku Rakan
- Travel / Tourism
- Iwate Tono-shi Ayaoricho Nissato
- 500 statues of rakan Buddhist disciples made from natural rock. They were carved over a several year period about 200 years ago by the priest Gizan of Daijiji Temple as memorials to people who died from a famine that hit Tohoku. Large and small pieces of granite were placed around the forest, and he proceeded to carve the images from them. Moss has covered the statues over the years, leaving them integrated with the natural landscape. To get there you can climb a trail starting beside Atago Shrine, or you can drive up.
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- Hodohora Konsei-sama
- Travel / Tourism
- Iwate Tono-shi Tonocho 2-chiwari 91
- A sub-shrine on the grounds of Hodohora Inari-jinja Shrine that honors a Shinto fertility god. Since it is located in the hills behind Tono High School, you need to climb a trail through the woods for about 15 minutes to reach it. Tradition says it was built by the Asonuma clan. It has nine phallic symbols carved of stone and another nine carved of wood. They are said to symbolize fertility and family prosperity. It's believed that a visit here will bless the worshiper with children and make her immune from women's diseases.
Iwate Areas
A northern Tohoku prefecture promising peace and quiet, Iwate is sparsely populated, replacing people with snow-capped mountains, history-rich sites, and fields of crops that are to thank for the region’s delicious local cuisine. Meander along the three-city Golden Route, where you’ll visit the grand Buddhist temples of Hiraizumi and the Tono folk villages before tasting the three famed noodle dishes of Morioka.
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