Morioka & Shizukuishi Nagayama Highway special feature

Morioka City is currently attracting attention as it was featured in the New York Times article “52 Places to Visit in 2023”*. This time, we will introduce Morioka’s many highlights, along with the nearby recommended spot, Nagayama Kaido in Shizukuishi Town.

*Reference article https://www.city.morioka.iwate.jp/kankou/kankou/kankouinfo/1041747/index.html Please also take a look at the “Morioka Town Walk 2023 Special Feature”!

Beniko Fukazawa Wildflower Museum

A small art museum located on the banks of the Nakatsugawa River that flows through the city of Morioka. The works of Beniko Fukazawa, a painter from Morioka who continued to paint wildflowers, and her husband Shozo are on display, changing with the seasons. From the cafe on the first floor, you can spend a relaxing time while looking out at the Nakatsu River flowing in front of you. (The cafe menu is currently unavailable.) We also have picture postcards and notepads, so please take them as souvenirs.

Mitsuharasha

Kogensha published Kenji Miyazawa’s only collection of children’s stories during his lifetime, “Restaurant with Many Orders.” Currently, it is a store that sells handmade items from all over the country.
A variety of buildings are connected by a courtyard, including “Kohikan”, a coffee room with a pleasant atmosphere decorated with stained glass, “Campanella”, where foreign folk art is displayed, and “Majielkan”, a museum dedicated to Kenji Miyazawa. It looks like a small town. There is also a product store called “Morio” across from the main building.

Sekiguchiya confectionery store

Morioka dagashi began as a preserved food in cold climates.
Sekiguchi-ya Confectionery was founded in 1899, and is now in its fourth generation, which continues to cherish the taste of handmade products using all natural ingredients without using additives. Simple flavors such as miso bread, tankiri, and ishigoromo are popular, and shochuto is a colorful and cute-looking sweet.
It is a sweet made by boiling down sugar and adding shochu inside.It is very delicate and difficult to handle, so it is a valuable sweet that can only be found in a limited number of places in Morioka City.

Morioka City Central Park Viva Terrace

Morioka City Central Park is located south of Morioka Station and is home to cultural facilities such as the Iwate Prefectural Museum of Art. BeBA TERRACE (Morioka City Central Park Viva Terrace) is an area developed with the aim of providing a place for people of all generations to enjoy, connect, and learn from each other.
Within the area, there is a “Manabi Building” that houses a Western confectionery shop and a homespun workshop, a “Food and Beverage Building” that houses a udon shop and a cafe, a gallery of Nanbu ironware, and fresh produce grown by farmers near Morioka City. There are many direct sales stands selling fruits and vegetables.

Lake Gosho/Morioka Tsunagi Onsen

A hot spring that is popular as the inner parlor of Morioka. It is said that the name “Tsunagi” came from the fact that a long time ago, Minamoto no Yoshiie would tie his beloved horse here to rest. There are inns and hotels overlooking Lake Gosho, which was created by damming the Shizukuishi River, and nearby are Morioka Handmade Village, Koiwai Farm, and areas around Lake Gosho where families can enjoy nature.

Flower Studio Rara Club

One of the largest gardening specialty stores in Tohoku. On the vast grounds of 3,000 square meters, we sell seeds, seedlings, and gardening goods, and there is an English garden full of nature. In particular, Shibazakura no Oka in mid-May is spectacular, with the entire area dyed pink against the still-snow-covered Mt. Iwate in the background.
The adjacent “Farmhouse Restaurant Rara” serves local cuisine using locally sourced ingredients as much as possible. For the rice, we use our home-grown rice, “Ginga no Shizuku.”

Coffee Roasting Fukousha

5 minutes by car from Koiwai Farm. This shop sells home-roasted coffee beans, located in a quiet forest surrounded by trees. High-quality raw beans are carefully roasted using a roasting machine located in a quiet corner of the store, and the aroma of coffee wafts through the air.
From the window seats, you can enjoy beautiful views of the four seasons, and enjoy delicious coffee and sweets while relaxing.

Wild Grape Farm Cafe Nonoka

A small cafe run by a wild grape farmer, 5 minutes by car from Koiwai Farm. All menu items using home-grown wild grapes are popular. “Nonoka Parfait” is a rich cheesecake with lots of homemade wild grape ice cream and berries that bring out the natural sourness and sweetness of wild grapes!
This is a comfortable cafe where you can enjoy the magnificent view of Yama Vineyard and Mt. Iwate from the counter seats.

Pizza restaurant Yamabudo

A log house standing in the middle of nature. The inside of the store is a space where you can feel the warmth of wood.
Authentic pizza baked in a stone oven at high temperatures is crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside! Seasonal pizzas made with wild vegetables such as Bakke (Japanese butterbur) are popular, but we also recommend standard menu items such as stone-oven curry doria and hand-kneaded hamburgers. Why not stop by on your drive?

Information on recommended accommodations in Morioka and Shizukuishi

Morioka City