Morioka Customized Half-Day Tour — Guide Hitoshi

What Is a Private Walking Tour of Morioka Like? A Licensed Guide's Report

After viewing the Kitakami River, the fifth longest river in Japan, and the majestic Mount Iwate, the highest peak in the prefecture, from Kaiun Bridge, the group approached the natural monument Ishiwari-zakura (the rock-splitting cherry tree) to take photographs up close. On the way along the approach to Morioka Hachimangu Shrine, we stopped at Suzuki Morihisa Studio, a long-established maker of Nambu ironware, where the guests purchased small iron zodiac-themed items. At Morioka Hachimangu Shrine, we visited the main hall and also toured the Hocho-zuka (kitchen knife mound), the sacred horse stable, and the traffic safety shrine. The guests seemed interested in learning at what ages people undergo purification prayers for unlucky years. In the Nataya-cho district, there was a traditional townhouse where boats are made for the "Funakko Nagashi" festival held in August, and the group went inside to photograph the work in progress. At the grave of Mitsumasa Yonai, the guests read with interest an English information board explaining how, as Navy Minister, he consistently maintained an anti-war stance right up to the end of the Pacific War. The guests were well acquainted with Isoroku Yamamoto, the Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet said to have directed the attack on Pearl Harbor, but appeared to be learning of Yonai's achievements for the first time. We toured inside the former Ninety Bank (Morioka Takuboku and Kenji Seishun-kan) and the Iwate Bank Red Brick Building, and the guests noted that although they were completed at almost the same time, their styles differ (the former in the Art Nouveau style popular in German-speaking regions, the latter in the Tatsuno-style Renaissance). At Morioka Castle Ruins Park, after viewing the poetry monument of Takuboku Ishikawa and the pedestal of the bronze statue of Lieutenant Nambu, we admired the drum bridge featured in The New York Times, and then passed through the arcade of the Odori shopping street before safely returning to the Hotel near the station.

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Tour Report by Hitoshi

My name is Hitoshi Ohata. I’ve been an interpreter and guide for about six years since I retired. I live in Takizawa City which is at the foot of Mt. Iwate, the highest mountain in Iwate Prefecture. My hobby is playing table tennis once a week. I’m not a competitive player, I’m just having fun. I also play go, a board game. The main guides are a guide to Hiraizumi’s cultural heritage and a guide to cruise ship tours in Aomori and Iwate Prefecture. I’ve experienced the Great East Japan Earthquake, so I can talk about things like that. I try to convey Japanese culture and society to people overseas in an easy-to-understand way as much as possible.