25.8.14

Looking for Mythical Creatures in Iwate Prefecture

Morioka > Iwate-san > Morioka > Toono > Hiraizumi > Ichinoseki.

After returning from Koya-san on the 16th by night bus, I finally got to sleep in my bed, and it was one night of blissful ZZZs... but I was off again on the next day, yet again by night bus.

I arrived in Morioka on the 18th, and caught a bus to get me to the trailhead of Iwate-san (2038m), an active volcano and also a hyakumeizan. Matsukawa Course > Iwate-san (1-night) > Omisaka Course. The weather on the first day was decent, but on the next it was raining quite heavily. I stayed at the emergency hut at Fudoudaira 不動平, and if you plan on stopping there, bring earplugs, because the resident rats party pretty hard.

I fell in love with Toono, the scenery is so revitalising, and so beautiful, I highly recommended coming here if you want to get away from it all. All the museums/parks, except for the Storytelling Museum, were a complete waste of time though. It's definitely more worthwhile to search for kappa outside in the green.

After Hiraizumi, it was a night bus back to Tokyo from Ichinoseki.
[Kappa in Toono]

[Fungi on Mount Iwate]

[Hiking Mount Iwate]

[On the crater of Mount Iwate]

[Down the mountain to a hotspring for a dip and food in Morioka.]

[At Fukusenji Temple, Toono]

[Meal with hittsumi (dumplings in soup), a local dish at Tono Furusato Village, Toono]

[Rice fields in Toono]

[Rice fields in Toono]

[Takkokunoiwaya Bishamondou, Hiraizumi]

[Takkokunoiwaya Bishamondou, Hiraizumi]

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