In Hachimantai for lunch? What about dinner? (Both works as well…) If you don’t know about Restaurant Lamp- you’re welcome!
They offer a number of great local dishes including this perfection of a stake plate in the photo below. Some other popular menu items include their 200g Angus Steak (1,490 yen), Taco Rice (1,300 yen), and their Chicken Karaage Wasabi Set (1,000 yen).
Up in the Appi Highlands, an ancient beech forest was cut down, but then naturally grew back, becoming what is called a secondary beech forest. When you look up at these beautiful trees, you can really feel the life force that runs through them.
Take a deep breathe and smell the crisp clean fragrance of the forest as you feel the sunlight filtering through the gaps between the leaves high above.
Have you ever met an Alpaca? Maybe you have? But can you really ever meet *enough* alpaca. Probably not. So come out to the Salad Farm in Hachimantai, where in addition to a beautiful new garden with a pond and stunning view of Mt. Iwate, you can meet and feed alpaca!
The youngest one, momo, is around 100 days old and beyond cute. In fact, the Salad Farm is holding an event on November 14th for Momo-chan, the youngest Alpaca! The event will be held around 11AM on Saturday, November 14th.
Hachimantai City in Iwate Prefecture is home to not one, but three famous ski resorts: APPI Kogen Ski Resort, and Hachimantai Resorts Panorama and Shimokura. Together with its excellent powder snow and heavy snowfall, it’s one of the best places in Japan for skiing.
At the end of October, Mt. Iwate began its transformation for the coming cold season! Snow now crowns the summit area. While this massive volcano is beautiful all year round, its majesty reaches a climax during the winter when it towers white over Hachimantai and Morioka.
The Hachimantai Dragon Eye was featured on the BBC Reel in a beautiful short video explaining the beautiful phenomenon.
They even found a way to discuss this beautiful phenomenon (which started from an instagram post from a foreign visitor) and tie it into a local myth of the dragons of Lake Towada and Tazawa.
The Hachimantai Dragon Eye is best viewed in early June – when hopefully international travel will be allowed again!
Great to see the BBC sharing a video of our very own Hachimantai!
The autumn colors are now at their peak in Hachimantai! Now is the perfect time to visit Matsukawa Hot Springs and enjoy gazing at the brightly colored autumn leaves while bathing in an outdoor bath and perhaps even enjoying a sip of sake! (Matsukawaso sell little 500-yen pitchers of sake that you can drink in the mixed bathing outdoor bath!!)
If you’re not in the mood for a bath, just taking in the view at Genbuiwa or the Matsukawa Geothermal Power plant is also a great way to spend a day!
The Nanataki trail up Mt. Iwate starts in a place called Kenmin no Mori (Iwate Prefectural Citizens’ Forest Campgrounds). This is my favorite trail up Mt. Iwate for obvious reasons. It is long (about 21km round trip), but there are so many different transitions in the scenery that you get to enjoy many mountains all in one.
I would actually recommend trying just the first leg of this hike without going all the way to the summit of Mt. Iwate if you’re not confident. The bottom photo below is a placed called Ojigokudani, or the Great Hell Valley – that you find after walking for about 90 minutes on the Nanataki Trail. (The waterfall in the top picture is along the trail about an hour in.)
There are many different types of hot springs to choose from. It’s up to you to decide which one you want to enjoy. It would be a waste to visit only one! Most hot springs in Japan are sulfurous. Hachimantai is no exception, and has sulfur hot springs as well. Guests can enjoy both the unique smell and atmosphere. Don’t forget to use a wet towel on your head to regulate your body temperature in the hot spring baths.
Great routes for cyclists of all levels of experience!
There are routes for everyone in Hachimantai, whether you’ve never even touched a road bike before or you’re a world-class cyclist! And we’ll match you with the route that’s right for you!
In particular, the Expert Course is recommended for advanced cyclists, as it is included in the Hachimantai Hill Climb Race Course. Pedal out into the wilderness of Hachimantai! Get information about the differences in elevation and relay spots where you can take a break and do some sightseeing. Information on bike rental stores, power lunches, etc. are also really useful!