Shizukuishi: Mountain Scenery and Koiwai Farm

Shizukuishi offers two distinct focal points for planning a trip: the mountain scenery around Mount Iwate and the attractions at Koiwai Farm. In the northwest, part of the town lies within Towada-Hachimantai National Park. At Koiwai Farm, the “Makiba-en” leisure area and the guided “Farm Tractor Ride” tour offer different kinds of visitor experiences. If you are looking for a hotel in Shizukuishi, these differences can help you first decide what kind of destination you are interested in: mountain scenery, leisure activities, or a guided tour?

Mountain Scenery: Mount Iwate and the National Park Area

Mount Iwate is 2,038 meters high, is one of Japan’s “100 Famous Mountains,” and is also called “Nanbu-Katafuji.” Its foothills extend across Shizukuishi. It helps to read these details separately: the number of meters indicates the mountain’s height, its inclusion on the list is a classification, and “Nanbu-Katafuji” is another name for the mountain.

A different scale of landscape can be found in northwest Shizukuishi: part of the area lies within Towada-Hachimantai National Park. From Hachimantai, mountain peaks around 1,500 meters high extend southward. The park area and its peaks therefore represent a different landscape focus from Mount Iwate, which stands alone at 2,038 meters.

The height figures refer to different things: 2,038 meters refers to Mount Iwate itself, while around 1,500 meters refers to the peaks that extend south from Hachimantai. The other details also serve different purposes: the title “100 Famous Mountains of Japan” classifies Mount Iwate, while the national park reference locates an area in the northwest. This helps distinguish the prominent individual mountain from the peaks in the park area.

Outings at Koiwai Farm

Koiwai Farm’s “Makiba-en” leisure area is a destination for adults and children. It offers a variety of leisure activities as well as meals made with farm products. This is a different kind of outing from a tour with a set guided format: Makiba-en focuses on a leisure area and a range of recreational activities.

The guided “Farm Tractor Ride” tour travels through a wooded area at Koiwai Farm that is not open to the public. This access restriction is an important part of what distinguishes the outing: it is not a freely accessible woodland walk, but a guided tour through a non-public area. If you are considering this experience, take both its guided format and the access restriction into account.

Makiba-en and the “Farm Tractor Ride” are therefore not simply the same kind of leisure activity: the leisure area offers a variety of activities and meals made with farm products, while the tour is defined by its guided route through a wooded area that is not open to the public. Depending on whether you are interested in the leisure area or the distinctive tour format, your outing will have a different focus.

Choose the Focus of Your Trip

When looking for a hotel in Shizukuishi, you can make the reason for your trip your main consideration: are you primarily interested in the mountain scenery, or will leisure activities and the guided farm tour play a bigger role in your plans? This distinction helps you decide what kind of stay you want without treating the different types of outings as interchangeable.

Discover more destinations: Kuzumaki.

Return to the regional travel overview: Iwate District.