Autumn Adventures in Iwate

Just a short trip from Sendai, southern Iwate comes alive in autumn. Crisp plateaus, fiery wetlands, the famed river-crossing dango, soba made by hand, and the glow of Nambu ironware—each reveals how the season deepens both land and craft.

On the Sukawa Plateau, walking is the first pleasure. A circular trail leads from the Oiran-buro, a steam chamber where yujo (courtesans) are said to have bathed, to a deck overlooking Nagorihara wetland—“God’s carpet”—now shifting into the reds of autumn. The path then narrows into Sai-no-kawara, a stark riverbed stripped bare by volcanic gases, before looping past the rusted rails of Meiji sulphur mining, fragments of ambition left to the hillside. Yet the plateau’s true constant is touji bathing, practised here for three centuries. Yujirisawa’s acidic springs, with a pH of 1.7, surge hot and milky at 50°C before tumbling into a green stream below. The lodge gathers these waters into its bath, where the heat softens the body after a day’s walk. In Iwate’s highlands, geology, history, and ritual lie close together, offering a rhythm both grounding and restorative.

Ichinoseki City

“Flying Dango” Experience at Genbikei Gorge

At Genbikei Gorge, buying sweets becomes part of the visit. Instead of queuing, visitors place coins in a basket, tap a wooden board, and watch as it slides across the river to a teahouse on the opposite bank. Moments later, the basket returns with kakko-dango dumplings and green tea, delivered without a spill despite the swift crossing. The canyon itself frames the ritual: steep cliffs, rushing water, and leaves turning red lend scale to a small exchange. A playful custom invites visitors to call out their country’s name; the basket will return with its flag alongside Japan’s. Simple in practice yet memorable in spirit, the tradition turns a snack into theatre, leaving visitors with more than a taste of sweetness.

Inquiries / Contact Information

Kakkō Dango (Genbikei) 
Takinoue-211, Genbicho, Ichinoseki, Iwate 021-0101 
Tel: 0191-29-2031 (021-0101 岩手県一関市厳美町滝ノ上２１１)

About 113 km from Sendai Airport, approx. 1 hr 30 min by car

At Oigen Foundry in Oshu City, the air holds at 40°C as molten iron is poured into sand moulds, glowing red and volatile. The process leads to suyaki, a final firing at 900°C that creates a thin oxide film, giving kettles their matte grey tone and natural resistance to rust. Though often grouped together, Morioka’s Nambu ironware grew from tea culture, while Oshu’s roots lie in cookware and tools—traditions that meet here in enduring form. Upstairs, the factory shop shows the range: kettles and pans beside wind chimes and daily objects. The visit concludes with a tasting of plain hot water, boiled in an iron kettle. This experience is essential: softened by trace minerals, the water’s flavour becomes rounded and clear, offering visitors a direct way to sense the craft’s refinement. In Oshu City, even water carries the story of iron.

At Soba-an Shizuka-tei, visitors can book a hands-on soba-making class. Buckwheat flour meets water in mizumawashi, the first step that sets the dough’s texture. The mixture is kneaded about fifty times, pressed and folded until pliant, then rolled into a sheet of even thickness. The final stage is cutting: participants use a wide blade against a guide, producing strands of near identical width. The rhythm—mixing, kneading, rolling, cutting—shows how patience becomes craft. The reward is a bowl of soba made by your own hands, plain, warm, and resonant in its simplicity.