Oct 17, 2014 - 2 min read

Exploring Morioka

A bit of history about Morioka

By Malcome Larcens

Community writer

Iwate park in spring, it is full of cherry trees and in full bloom the park is incredibly beautiful.

Iwate park, the former site of Iwate castle

The rock splitting cherry tree, dates back over 400 years, now a national treasure

Little temple near Sakanacho a nice shopping district with a lot of independent shops.

An old house with 3 different exterior siding, the left part is the original siding.

At the end of this road is Hachimangu Shrine, Morioka's biggest.

The oldest fire station in Morioka, a wooden structure.

An older building called Kokaido near the city hall.

Morioka station, a good place to start exploring, all is within walking distance.

Another funky izakaya, the tanuki figure is to attract people to such places.

Morioka is the capital city of Iwate Prefecture, it has quite a rich history and a few old buildings still remain. It is at the confluence of 3 rivers, Kitakami, Shizukiishi and Nakatsu rivers, a strategic location in old times. It is also located just a few kilometers away from Mt. Iwate, the largest mountain in the prefecture, a volcano. If you go to the top you can see the crater, which had some activity in the mid 1990's. In the Edo period Iwate was part Nambu region or clan, it included Iwate, Akita and Aomori, it was called the Southern capital, the center of power was in Mutsu in Aomori Prefecture. The next clan was centered in Sendai and was called the Date clan. Today, Morioka is a sister city to Victoria in British Columbia. Iwate is renowned for its cast iron products, kettles, bells and all sorts of figurines, it's a good place to buy them at a good price. As for food, it is known for wanko soba, a mouth full of buckwheat noodles in a bowl that people take pride in eating as many as possible, as well as reimen noodles, a potato noodle inspired from Korean noodles, and Nambu senbei. Nambu senbei are actually made of wheat flour and are sweet unlike rice senbei. Enjoy your stay here!