Torakuji Temple wooden eleven-faced Kannon statue

Kusashido

Nanbu Shizome has been known as Iwatene Murasaki since the Kamakura period, and was protected and encouraged after the reign of Morioka Harujo by Lord Nobunao Nambu. It was dyed using high-quality, abundant purple grass roots that grow naturally in the mountains, a unique dyeing technique, and simple squeezing in large, small, and standing tubs, and it came to be called Nanbu Murasaki.

Homespun Michinoku Akanekai

You can see the homespun process, which is all done by hand, from dyeing to weaving, and a series of panels introduce the manufacturing process. Homespun, which was popularized in Iwate by British missionaries at the beginning of the Meiji period, is a woolen fabric made from dyed wool and woven from hand-spun thread. While mass production is often done by machines, Michinoku Akane-kai is particular about creating original handmade products, in which each warp and weft of spun wool is woven by hand.

Yonai Water Purification Plant

The city's water purification plant, located in Kamiumai, on the outskirts of Morioka City, is also known as a famous spot for cherry blossom viewing, and the grounds are specially opened to the public during this season. Approximately 30 Japanese weeping cherry trees are carefully protected as city-designated preserved trees, and the sight of them in full bloom is truly spectacular, as if displaying the dignity of the queen of cherry blossoms. The red brick building of the water treatment plant, which has a strong presence, also adds flowers to the cherry blossoms. [Blooming period] Early to mid-May