Hachimantai
Sightseeing
This place has a large garden where you can enjoy plants, and a place where you can interact with animals. Also, as the name suggests, there's a restaurant where you can enjoy some healthy food! They also have an illumination in the winter.
This is a lava flow formed by the solidification of lava that erupted in the past. Iwate has erupted five times in its history, and this is from the eruption in 1719, which was 3 km long and 1.5 km wide from the vent to the end.
The blackened lava piled up on the northeastern flank of Mt. Iwate, making it difficult for plants to grow in this area. When you see it up close, you can feel the power of nature!
Hot Springs
This hot spring is located in a hotel called Mori no Hotel. If you stay at the hotel, you can take a bath in the hot spring. The hot spring water here has a unique texture and is very slippery. It seemed to be good for the skin, and it kept feeling moist without drying out even after I got out. The baths are not very spacious, but there are saunas and outdoor baths, and the contents are very complete.
This is a day trip hot spring located in the Hotel APPI Grand. You don't need to stay at the hotel to take a bath here. The best thing here is the open-air bath! There are so many different types of baths that both children and adults can enjoy them without getting bored. After refreshing yourself in the hot spring, you can enjoy ice cream and beer🍺.
For my first address-hopping trip, I stayed at the APPI Rocky Inn, a beer bar in Hachimantai City, Iwate Prefecture.
Hachimantai City is a ski resort located on the border between Akita and Aomori Prefectures, and in the winter it is crowded with people enjoying skiing and snowboarding.
November, when I was staying there, is the least crowded time of the year. If you don't like crowds, this is the season for you!
Here are some of the recommended places in Hachimantai City that I visited during my stay.
Please use them as a reference when you visit.
Meals
An ice cream shop using milk from cows raised in Iwate 🍦 Vanilla soft serve and several kinds of gelato. I recommend the menu where you can enjoy soft serve ice cream and two kinds of gelato. Perfect for a foodie like me who loves sweets😋.
Old House Restaurant Natsukashi no Ie
This is a restaurant in a renovated old house. The inside has been left as much as possible as it was in the past, and you can eat your meal on tatami mats. They offer several meals that change daily, and the one I had was a beef bowl. It was different from a regular beef bowl, and the tender strands were delicious...! You can choose between large and small portions, so enjoy the amount you like.
This store sells miso made from locally grown ingredients. In addition to miso, you can also have meals and sweets. I had the miso soft ice cream. I love ice cream, lol. The sweet and sour sensation was addictive and so good! There were also cream puffs and miso ramen noodles made with miso.
How was it? I also made a short video summarizing my stay. You can find here 👇.
If you have any questions, please feel free to comment.
Thanks for reading all the way to the end!
