Himegamiyama Ipponsugi Enchi Campsite

Manji Kasai

Architect from Morioka City. Studied architecture under Kingo Tatsuno, said to be the founder of architecture in Japan, at the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, Tokyo Imperial University. Major representative buildings include Tokyo Station, the former Kokugikan (currently the Nihon University Auditorium), and the Morioka Bank Head Office (currently the Iwate Bank Nakanohashi Branch).

Takuboku Bokyo Hill

To commemorate the souls of the Takuboku couple, a statue of Takuboku Bokyo was erected on the top of the rocky mountain, Takuboku Bokyo Hill, overlooking the local mountains and rivers. The statue faces his hometown, Mt. Himekami, and is engraved with one of Takuboku's favorite poems, ``In autumn, I listen to the insects that fill the three fields at the foot of Mt. Iwate.'' Nearby, a ``couple poem monument'' of a poet and his wife was erected, one of a kind in Japan, and Takuboku's ``When I see the mountains of my hometown far to the north through the train window, I straighten my neck,'' and his wife Setsuko's ``Hikari.'' Two poems are engraved on it: ``From the faint sound of crickets in the evening, the arrival of autumn, and the embrace of my heart.'' The two of them, both young and only in their 20s, fell ill due to poverty and passed away one after another, and now they are gazing at the mountains and rivers of their hometown in the form of songs.

Iwate Prefectural Public Hall

It was built in 1927 (Showa 2) to commemorate the marriage of Emperor Showa. At that time, the modern structure with its exterior decorated with brick attracted attention in Tohoku, and even in today's government district, which is lined with modern buildings, it still catches the eye.