# Travel Destinations | Japan Voyage Travel

- [Hiraizumi](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/hiraizumi): Iwate, Temple. In the 12th century Hiraizumi was the political and cultural centre of northern Japan, and two of its temples, Chuson-ji and Motsu-ji, are part of the UNESCO World Heritage listing. Chuson-ji's Konjikido (Golden Hall), covered entirely in gold leaf, is a masterpiece of Pure Land Buddhist art. Motsu-ji's Pure Land garden represents the idealised Buddhist paradise on earth.
- [Tsunami Memorial Museum and Michi-no-Eki Takata Matsubara](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/tsunami-memorial-museum-and-michi-no-eki-takata-matsubara): Iwate, Museum. A combined roadside station and free memorial museum in the Takata Matsubara Tsunami Reconstruction Memorial Park, telling the story of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, with a local-products shop, a restaurant, and a short walk to the Miracle Lone Pine.
- [Miracle Lone Pine](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/miracle-lone-pine): Iwate, Landmark. The single pine that survived the 2011 tsunami among Takata Matsubara's roughly 70,000 trees, preserved as a monument to the disaster and the region's recovery, a short walk from the tsunami memorial museum.
- [Taro Kanko Hotel Tsunami Ruins](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/taro-kanko-hotel-tsunami-ruins): Iwate, Historic site. A six-story hotel on the Taro coast of Miyako, gutted to the fourth floor by the 2011 tsunami and preserved as a disaster-heritage ruin. Free to view from outside; go inside on the guided 'Learn Disaster Prevention' tour (booking required).
- [Tono](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/tono): Iwate, City. A rural town in the mountains of Iwate known as the birthplace of Japanese folklore studies, where kappa legends, old farmhouses, and pastoral landscapes preserve a vanishing countryside.
- [Jodogahama Beach](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/jodogahama-beach): Iwate, Attraction. Named for its resemblance to a Buddhist paradise, Jodogahama is a white pebble beach backed by sharp white rock formations and crystal-clear emerald waters.
- [Chusonji Temple](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/chusonji-temple): Iwate, Temple. A UNESCO World Heritage temple complex featuring the stunning Konjikido, a hall covered entirely in gold leaf.
- [Geibikei Gorge](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/geibikei-gorge): Iwate, Attraction. Geibikei is a spectacular river gorge where visitors glide through two kilometers of towering cliffs on traditional flat-bottomed boats poled by a boatman.
- [Motsuji Temple](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/motsuji-temple): Iwate, Temple. A UNESCO World Heritage temple in Hiraizumi featuring one of Japan's finest Pure Land gardens from the Heian period.
- [Ryusendo Cave](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/ryusendo-cave): Iwate, Attraction. A limestone cave in Iwaizumi with about 700 meters open to visitors and three lit underground lakes, the deepest of them 98 meters, in water so clear it glows blue.
- [Michi-no-Eki Hiraizumi](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/michi-no-eki-hiraizumi): Iwate, Michi no eki. A roadside station on Route 4 in Hiraizumi, open every day. Its restaurant starts serving breakfast at 6:00 in the warmer months, early enough to eat before Chuson-ji and Motsu-ji, and the farm stand sells vegetables grown in town.
- [Mount Iwate](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/mount-iwate): Iwate, Mountain. Iwate's highest mountain at 2,038 meters, called Nanbu Fuji for the cone it shows Morioka. The main route, the Yanagisawa course from the Umagaeshi trailhead, is 7.2 km and about 4 hours 40 minutes one way. It is an active volcano, and the western trails around Ojigokudani have been under entry restrictions since 2024, so check the current status before you go.
- [Goshono Site](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/goshono-site): Iwate, Historic site. The site of a Jomon village on a plateau above the Mabechi River in Ichinohe, northern Iwate, lived in from about 5,000 to 4,200 years ago and one of the 17 parts of the Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan World Heritage property. You cross a covered wooden suspension bridge to reach it. Some pit houses have been rebuilt with earth roofs, based on burnt remains found here. The park is free; the museum costs 300 yen.
- [Michi-no-Eki Shizukuishi Anekko](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/michi-no-eki-shizukuishi-anekko): Iwate, Michi no eki. The last big stop on Route 46 before the mountains to Akita. It has a day-use hot spring with an outdoor bath next door, Shizukuishi beef in the restaurants, and a produce hall rebuilt in 2023.
- [Michi-no-Eki Tono Kaze-no-Oka](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/michi-no-eki-tono-kaze-no-oka): Iwate, Michi no eki. A hilltop station on Route 283 just off the Tono exit of the Kamaishi Expressway, marked by wind turbines and looking over the Tono basin. Stop here first for maps and advice, then come back at the end for local sweets, sake and beer.

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Source: [Travel Destinations | Japan Voyage Travel](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations?prefecture_id=3)
Last updated: 2026-10-29