Sakurayama Shrine

Former Morioka High School of Agriculture and Forestry (Agricultural Education Museum attached to Iwate University Faculty of Agriculture)

Kenji Miyazawa also studied at the former Morioka High School of Agriculture and Forestry, which opened in 1908 as Japan's first high school of agriculture and forestry. It is currently open to the public as an educational museum displaying many materials related to Kenji. There is a botanical garden within the Faculty of Agriculture, which is a popular place for residents to relax. The European-style school building has been designated as a national important cultural property.

Boy Takuboku statue

The area where the statue stands used to be the alley of Morioka Castle's vegetable garden. For Takuboku Ishikawa when he was in junior high school, the footpaths and castle ruins seemed to be a source of poetic sentiment. The Takuboku statue by Takashi Honda perfectly depicts the earnest figure of a young boy standing in the harsh north wind, filled with hope. The pedestal is engraved with a line from the collection of poems ``Sad Toys.'' ``I believe in the coming of a new tomorrow, but there are no lies in my words.''

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.