Good morning. View from my hotel. It’s super near to Morioka JR station.
I was up quite early. I remember the time was about 7am. When travelling, I like waking up early and take the chance to explore the neighbourhood.
First signs of autumn. I’m excited. Hopefully more to come during the next 10 days.
Breakfast at 松屋. This chain looks like Yoshinya. Very popular with the working crowd. I was always curious if it’s any good. Conclusion: can skip.
Toyota-Rent-A-Car opens from 8am. After checking out, we headed over to pick up our rental car. This time as we have a little more luggage, I opted for a Sienta. From the picture, you can see that we were able to fit in 3 jumbo luggage and 1 medium sized luggage with a little space to spare.
Off we go to our first stop. Genbikei Gorge.
Why Genbikei Gorge? 2 reasons. The first was that during peak autumn, stunning fall colors create a fiery contrast with the rocks and water. We hoped to catch that but unfortunately, it seems like we were too early.
Second reason: Flying Dango
This is perhaps Genbikei’s most unique and famous feature! On one side of the gorge, visitors can place money in a basket hanging from a rope. Knocking on a wooden board signals the shop on the opposite cliff. The basket is then pulled across the gorge to the teahouse (“Kakkoya”), and shortly after, it returns carrying freshly made dango (sweet rice dumplings) and tea. It’s a fun and memorable experience.
The dango taste pretty good.
There isn’t too much of anything else going on there. 1 hour or so would be sufficient for photos and the dango.
We made our way back to Morioka. Time was abit tight so we had to skip lunch at the famous soba shop. Instead, we decided to go to visit a beautifully preserved Meiji-era mansion.
Nanshoso 南昌荘
The mansion is intrinsically linked to its beautiful Japanese garden. It’s designed as a kaiyu-shiki teien (stroll garden), featuring a central pond with koi carp, carefully arranged rocks, stone lanterns, lush moss, and a variety of mature trees and plants.
Again we were hoping to catch the vibrant autumn foliage but we were too early for it.
Grab a seat with a nice view, enjoy the serenity and have some snacks and matcha.
Bumped into a couple taking wedding photos.
We have to start making our way to our hotel for the night. It’s a ryokan. We want to reach early to enjoy the facilities.
We stopped briefly (5 minutes) to snap a few photos of the Iwate Bank Red Brick Building (岩手銀行赤レンガ館 – Iwate Ginko Aka-Renga Kan), an iconic landmark in Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture, Japan.
It does remind me a little of the fire station opposite Funan.
We are heading west wards and a little into the mountains. The journey will take about 1 hour.
The ryokan was stunning. It’s one of the most beautiful ryokan I have stayed in thus far.
Tae no Yu is a well-regarded and popular ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) located within the famous Nyuto Onsenkyo (乳頭温泉郷) hot spring village. Nyuto Onsenkyo is nestled deep in the mountains near Lake Tazawa in Semboku City, Akita Prefecture, Japan. This area is renowned for its rustic charm, secluded atmosphere, and excellent natural hot springs.
The ryokan has very limited rooms. And during peak period the rooms are snapped up very quickly.
Before settling into our room, we were treated to some snacks while enjoying the view.
A little room tour.
The dinner was great. Usually ryokan dinner are good but not great. But for this, it was delicious.
Tae no Yu serves traditional Japanese multi-course kaiseki dinners, showcasing local Akita ingredients.
After dinner, remember to take a walk outside. (although it gets a bit chilly after the sun goes down).
The waterfall gets lighted up.
Time to rest. I plan to wake up early tomorrow to catch the sun rise.
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