Great Stuff to See and Do!
Tour Tohoku with the Hanamaki Onsen Village as your base
Hanamaki Onsen Village is an area of 12 hot springs situated in the western part of Hanamaki, Iwate. Hot spring inns are lined up along the Dai and Toyosawa Rivers.
Along the Dai River are the Dai Onsen and Hanamaki Onsen. At the Dai Onsen, which has been popular for more than 1,200 years, you can enjoy the charms of a Japanese hot spring town. The Hanamaki Onsen is a modern hot spring resort, which is comprised of three large hotel buildings and a giant rose garden, well known in Tohoku.
A renowned hot spring frequented by Kenji Miyazawa
Along the Toyosawa River, there are eight distinctive hot spring locations. Among them, the Osawa Onsen is a popular hot spring, and known to have been used often by Iwate-born writer Kenji Miyazawa. One of its features is an old-fashioned jisui-bu (an inn that prepares necessary items for customers staying there for long periods to cook for themselves). The large open-air bath overlooking the river and mixed bathing are also appealing.
Further up the river from Osawa Onsen is the Namari Onsen, a little-known hot spring with a detached-house that functions as an inn, said to have been discovered when an ancestor of the owner saw white monkeys healing their wounds in the spring. The three-story wooden main building envelops visitors in the hot spring atmosphere.
There are various other inns as well. A big appeal of Hanamaki Onsen Village is being able to find the inn that is perfect for you.
