History / Culture / Tour Spots in Hanamaki / Tono Area

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Hanamaki / Tono

Category

Travel / Tourism

History / Culture / Tour

Miyazawa Kenji Memorial Museum

4.0

187 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Iwate Pref. Hanamakishi Yasawa 1-1-36

The Miyazawa Kenji Memorial Museum is located in the city of Hanamaki in Iwate Prefecture. It contains video images, as well as materials related to the poet and author of children's stories, Miyazawa Kenji, organized into exhibits in five fields. There are presentations about the creative process that led to Miyazawa's works, commentaries, and the results of research about him. Special events are held inside the museum, including limited-time exhibits of the manuscripts of his children's stories.

I recommend to book Donguri to Yamaneko bus service to take you many spots in the area in classic style little bus costing about USD52 for whole day tour(half day also available) In the morning...
Tono Municipal Museum

4.5

35 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Iwate Pref. Tonoshi Higashidatechou 3-9

Established in 1980, this museum is the first of its kind in Japan. It is a museum introducing the folklore and folk culture of the Tono peoples' lifestyle, environment, history, and culture. The life of the Tono people in the Tono basin valley is displayed in an easy to understand manner through documents and photographs. One can enjoy viewing the Tono Story, the picture works based on local folklore and topics, and the animated film ''Shigeru Mizuki's Tono Story.''

This is of surprisingly high standard for a municipal museum. The 500 yen admission fee includes the loan of an audio visual device which provides a commentary in English. The displays are well...
Denshoen

4.0

8 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Iwate Pref. Tonoshi Tsuchibuchichoutsuchibuchi 6-5-1

Located in Tono, land of Japanese folklore, Denshoen is a facility which exists to share the lifestyle of farmers in the area once lived to future generations. Visitors can learn about old folk tales, experience traditional events, and try making folk crafts. The facility also engages in silkworm raising. Each year a festival to pray to the household god Oshira-sama is held at Denshoen. In addition, the facility regularly has a storyteller share old Tono folktales (fee and reservation required). You can enjoy local Tono cuisine in Denshoen’s cafeteria, and there’s also a memorial museum dedicated to Tono storyteller Kizen Sasaki, as well as the Oshira-do Hall.

古民家や水車小屋・雪隠・井戸などの昔の建物や、土着神オシラサマを祀るオシラ堂を見ることができます。また遠野物語の語り部である佐々木喜善に関する展示もしています。レストランもあり、郷土食のひっつみ(すいとん)やけいらん(もち粉の皮で餡を包んで茹で汁をはったデザート)を食べることができます。総じてなかなか満足度が高い施設でした。
Tono Castle Shitamachi Museum

3.5

17 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Iwate Tono-shi Chuodori 4-6

This museum introduces the castle town of Tono. In the Edo period, the area flourished as a castle town under the lordship of Tono Nanbu, of Mutsu Province. The museum, which was designed in the image of the castle's white earth walls, has exhibits of various artifacts from Tono Nanbu. There are also a wide variety of items including armor, hanging scrolls, swords, boxes containing letters, and shell collections. There are also historical materials on display that date from ancient times to the modern age.

遠野城下町資料館入館料は510円で、とおの物語の館との共通です。遠野城下町資料館は小さな資料館で、展示品も少なく、遠野城下町資料館単独だったら無料にしてもよいと思う展示内容でした。
Yorozu Tetsugoro Memorial Museum

4.0

11 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Iwate Hanamaki-shi Towacho Tsuchizawa 5-135

"About two minutes by car from Towa Interchange on the Kamaishi Expressway. An art museum that honors Yorozu Tetsugoro, a painter from Tsuchizawa, Towa-cho, Hanamaki City and one of the pioneers of modern Japanese art. Under the theme of ""Yorozu and Tsuchizawa,"" the museum displays collected work that includes oil paintings, ink paintings, sketches, and other items such as notebooks, letters, photographs, and his personal articles. The Haccho Dozo on the west side of the museum is the earthen storehouse from his family home that was transferred to the site and rebuilt. The gallery holds exhibitions with a focus on contemporary art. The adjacent cafe is open to everyone, not just museum visitors."

大正から昭和初期にかけて日本洋画における前衛を切り開いた萬鉄五郎の記念館。その作品の収蔵数も充実しており、萬の一生を通して作品を観覧することが出来ました。見学していてふと思った事、萬の絵の情緒は土地の風土が影響していたのではと感じた点、宮沢賢治とは分野が違えど、同じ地域で育った人、二人共、自然と地域の人との関係性が、情操の成長に作用していたのではとふと考えていた自分に気づきました...
Bishamon-do Temple

4.5

7 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Iwate Pref. Hanamakishi Touwachoukitanarushima 5-1

A mixed Shinto shrine and Buddhist temple located a short drive from the Towa Interchange on the Kamaishi Expressway in Hanamaki City, Iwate Prefecture. The temple's statue of Vaisravana is believed to have been created in the mid-Heian period to protect the northern side of the area; standing 4.73-meter-tall, the statue is made of a single piece of Japanese zelkova and is the largest of its kind in Japan. This statue has also been designated a National Important Cultural Property. The Bishamondo hall has similarly been designated an Important Cultural Property and the hipped roof building is an excellent example of Muromachi period architecture. During golden week each year, the temple holds the Bishamon Festival.

ここの毘沙門堂だけを見るのではなく、この地域一帯の歴史建造物を見ることで、東北の歴史に触れることができます。ちなみに、乳児・幼児の健やかな成長を祈って行われる「泣き相撲」で有名な場所でもあります。
Shinshoji Temple

3.5

7 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Iwate Hanamaki-shi Ishigami Cho 389

A Buddhist temple about a five-minute drive from Hanamaki-Minami Interchange on the Tohoku Expressway. It is said that the temple was built by Nanbu Masamitsu in 1394. It was also Miyazawa Kenji's family temple, and his grave is there along with tombs of the Miyazawa clan. Through this connection with him, it's considered a powerful place for students wishing to improve academically and pray for passing examinations. It's also a well-known cherry blossom spot with numerous weeping cherry trees around the precincts.

日蓮宗の身延山の別院です。5月初め枝垂れ桜の景観は見事に毎年ご覧になれます。毎月1日は一日参りが開催されております。
Miyazawa Kenji Dowa Mura (Village of Fairy Tales)

Travel / Tourism

Iwate Pref. Hanamakishi Takamatsu 26-19

An experience-oriented museum dedicated to the fairy tales of Kenji Miyazawa located in Takamatsu, Hanamaki City, Iwate Prefecture. Surrounded by hills and fields, you’ll feel like you’ve wandered into the world of Miyazawa’s fairy tales in the museum’s charming, magical atmosphere. The Kenji’s School area is divided into five zones themed after the Miyazawa’s works. Other museum facilities include Milky Way Station, the Sky Plaza, Kenji’s Classroom, the Fairy Path, the Owl Path, and the Yamano Soen forest. Visitors are encouraged to slowly stroll the facility’s grounds and enjoy the fairy tale world and various sculptures scattered here and there. The nearest station is Shin-Hanamaki Station.
Runbinii Art Museum

4.0

3 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Iwate Hanamaki-shi Hoshigaoka 1-21-29

A museum located about five minutes by taxi from JR Hanamaki Station. The main focus of the exhibitions is the artwork of people with disabilities. The free Borderless Gallery, a cafe, and a bakery are on the first floor, and the second floor consists of an atelier used by Mayura, a local creative group featuring artists with disabilities. The atelier is open to the public in the morning except on weekends and other times the museum is closed. The shop on the first floor sells original merchandise.

前回は道路に雪が残っていて、雨が降っていたが、JR花巻駅まで20分前後、道を変えて徒歩で往復した。今回は車だったし、気になって寄ってみたが、福祉関係の情報量が減っているように思えた。気のせいだろうか。道路の向かいは高校で、その北側は花巻球場で賑やかだった。高校は、今回初めて花巻東と気づいた。
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.
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.
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).
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.
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."
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.
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.
Ganryu-jinja Shrine

Travel / Tourism

Iwate Tono-shi Otomocho 33-4

A shrine dedicated to Buddhist deity Fudoson. Fudoiwa–an enormous rock formation towering like a small mountain behind the shrine–is the principle object of worship. It has a long history and has been designated Tono Heritage Site No. 31. You reach the shrine by crossing a beautiful bridge with vermilion railings over a river flowing in front of the shrine. Every year in August, local volunteers put on the Otomo Matsuri and Ganryu-jinja Shrine Festival with a parade of participants in colorful costumes.
Fukusenji Temple

Travel / Tourism

Iwate Tono-shi Matsuzakicho Komagi 7-57

A Shingon Buddhist temple that was founded in 1912. Its eleven-faced wooden image of the Bodhisattva Kannon is 17 meters in high, making it the largest wooden Buddhist statue in Japan. The grounds of the temple are large enough to visit by car. There are multiple must-sees at the entrance, including a Ryugumon Gate, a Niomon Gate with statues of Nio guardians, an Inari Shrine, a Jizo Hall, a two-storied pagoda, a Bishamon Hall, and a five-storied Pagoda. Famous for cherry blossoms and colorful autumn leaves, the place attracts many visitors to enjoy the beautiful seasonal scenery.
Sasurai Jizo

Travel / Tourism

Iwate Tono-shi Matsuzakicho Shiraiwa

"A statue of the Bodhisattva Jizo on the precincts of Shirahata-jinja Shrine. It has no neck and looks a little worn down. At the time Nanbu Clan ruled the region, young people would often carry it around to compare their strength. As it never ended up in the same place, it came to be called “Sasarai Jizo,” named after its ""wandering around.” As it frequently was man-handled this way, the Jizo was likened to an amorous young woman, and reportedly the pious earned the ire of the Jizo. Today it's fixed in place so no one can move it from its pedestal."
Tono Machinaka Doki Dokikan

Travel / Tourism

Iwate Tono-shi Shinmachi 5-3

An earthenware exhibition and community center in an antique renovated Tono storehouse. At the front is ancient earthenware excavated in Tono that's been restored and put on display. The back of the space is a community salon with a sofa where you can take a break while looking at the pottery. There are also rooms for hands-on workshops, community events, and earthenware making programs. A pottery storehouse and a research facility are also on-site, where researchers analyze and organize Tono pottery.

Iwate Hanamaki / Tono

Travel / Tourism History / Culture / Tour

Reference/Local/Exhibition/Literature Museum Shrine Castle / Ruins of Castle Historical Monument Temple Church Ruin / Grave / Ancient Tomb Memorial Hall Cultural Property Event Hall / Public Hall Art Museum Museum / Science Museum Other Historic Site/Building

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.