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Hachimantai, Iwate Basic Travel Information

Location

Hachimantai is located in the northern part of Honshu in Tohoku, in the northern area of Iwate bordering on Akita.

The closest shinkansen station is Morioka station.

  • Morioka Station – Tokyo Station –  about 2 hours and 30 minutes
  • Sendai Station – Morioka Station –  about 30 minutes

Exchange your currency.

If you fly in to Hanamaki Airport, we recommend exchanging currency before you leave.

If you have an international ATM card you can withdraw money at the ATMS in convenience stores (7-Eleven) and post offices in Hachimantai, Iwate.

(There is a currency exchange desk in the APPI Grand Hotel.)

It's most convenient to get to Hachimantai via local bus or with a rental car.

It is best to take a local bus from Morioka Station.

That said, there aren’t any rental car companies in Hachimantai, and public transportation is limited, so it’s actually best to rent a car near Morioka Station and come that way.

(Please be careful when driving on snowy roads between November and April.)

Please check the weekend and holiday hours for businesses.

Many restaurants are closed on Sunday nights and Mondays. Also, please note that many restaurants close during the afternoons after lunch until dinner time.

It's a very safe area.

Iwate has a very low crime rate and is exceedingly safe. But of course use common sense safety precautions in urban areas.

WiFi Info

Most hotels offer free Wi-Fi, but check their individual websites just in case. Most cafes and restaurants in town don’t have Wi-Fi, so it’s better to use a rental Wi-Fi device.

There aren’t many public bathrooms.

There are few public bathrooms in town. If you need to use a bathroom while you’re out, you can find them in convenience stores. Before you use the bathroom in the store, please tell the staff in Japanese that you would like to use the bathroom. After using it, it’s polite to buy something there.

Please follow rules prohibiting smoking.

There are many restaurants and hotels that prohibit smoking or have separate smoking areas. If this concerns you please check when you make a reservation.

Drinking water

The tap water in Iwate is clean and delicious. Residents just use tap water for drinking.

In fact, the water in Hachimantai was specially designated as one of the most 100 delicious waters in all of Japan and is known for being delicious.

Weather

The monthly average temperature over the past 20 years was the highest in August at 22.4°C, the lowest in January at -3.4°C, with a wide difference in temperatures between summer and winter.

Monthly precipitation is higher from July to September than in other months, and less in January and February. Snow falls in the mountains from November to April.

Thanks to this climate, Hachimantai is renowned as one of the most famous areas for powder snow in Japan.

Source: Hachimantai (https://www.city.hachimantai.lg.jp/ Japanese)