Kusashido

Ishiwarizakura

In front of the Morioka District Court, Edohigan cherry blossoms are growing out of a huge granite rock with a circumference of 21 meters. This cherry tree, which has a root circumference of 4.3 meters and a height of 10 meters and is said to be over 360 years old, blooms beautifully from mid-April every year. The cherry blossoms are beautiful during the day when the spring sun shines through them, but the cherry blossoms at night are also very atmospheric. It was designated as a national natural monument in 1923. [Best time to see cherry blossoms] Mid-April to late April

Takuboku father and son monument

A ``Father and Son Monument'' was erected with Takuboku Ishikawa's ``Nakatsugawa, the night when the river deer sing in the moon, a dreamer who chases the cool breeze'' and his father Ichiyoshi's ``Nakatsugawa, where we meet each other in the north, in the evening light as we cross the rapids''. It is being

Hotokuji Temple

This temple, which was founded in 1658 and has the largest temple in the ward, is where Takuboku Ishikawa spent his childhood. There is a monument with a poem in the temple grounds that looks directly towards Mt. Iwate, which reads, ``An old bird came to sing at the top of the Hiba tree on the side of my hometown temple.'' When the building was rebuilt in 2000, the room used by Takuboku was restored.