Itinerary of Iwate in summer | Japanese Countryside Travel Notes

Introduction

Iwate is an area where history and culture are condensed. It has an important history in the formation of the Japanese nation and is also the place where the first full-scale battle took place in Japan. There are many stories about Emishi’s Aterui, Ohshu Fujiwara’s neutral independent state, Yoshitsune and Benkei, and Basho in the Edo period has also been visited places where these stories were unfolded. The short stories handed down to the common people was summarized as a Tono Story by Kunio Yanagita in the Meiji era. It’s a good idea to travel the countryside with various stories.

(Unfortunately Tono Festival 2020 is canceled due to corona virus.)

Detail

1st day (Ancient History)

09:00* arrival at Ichinoseki station by Tohoku-Shinkansen(JR High speed railway) or a renter car

*)Local railway ‘Ohfunato line’ is connected to Geibikei station at 09:07.

10:00 Geibikei Canyon, Boat excursion* that invites us to ‘Another World isolated’ like one of National Parks in the U.S. (stay time: 90min.) Fun at the end !

*)start at 8:30,9:30,and every hour after 10 o’clock

12:00 Chusonji-temple, World Heritage, where the highlights are connected by a too long slope, and finally arrive at the Golden Hall* after getting tired (stay time: 2.5h)

*)You can also see the restoration of the gold leaf now.

15:00 Motsuji-temple, World Heritage, and Yoshitsune self-harm land* overlooking the Kitakami River where basho wrote famous haiku. (stay time: 2h)

*)10 min. walk from Chusonji Temple entrance, 20 min. walk to Motsuji Temple

18:10 Geto Hote Spring is even unexplored area even in the countryside*

*)Rough road for the last 5 km. The hotel offers pick-up service at Kitakami station(13:30!) for no confidence in driving.

2nd day (Tono History)

09:00 departure*

*)pick-back service to Kitakami station at the same time. By the way, there is a very famous row of cherry trees near Kitakami Station. Visit next time in April.

10:30 visit stages of Tono Story before/after festival*

*)The Tono Basin is quite large. Cycling is the best for good legs. Trade-offs with festival programs. I used the time before and after the festival and saved lunch time watching the parade while eating bento (lunch box) bought in advance.

12:00 horseback archery* followed by certification horse riding (here is characteristic!) in Tono-go Hachimangu shrine at Tono Festival

*)The three places where the curtain is set are where the arrows are shot. Secure your place with the curtain as a landmark.

13:00 parade composed by various folk entertainment on the horseback archery track* at Tono Festival**

*)It is easy to view the parade on a higher side of track where viewing was prohibited at horseback archery because it was in the direction of shooting an arrow.
**)Tono Festival is held for 2 days but need to check the venue in advance because parade on 1st day is implemented here and there in town.