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Tambo Eki
"Rice!"
Before I arrived in Hanamaki, in March 2000, I had the standard stereotipe image of Japan as a crowded, asfalt-only urban country.
Once I got in the Shinkansen (fast train) and left the sorroundings of Tokio and started seeing all those rice fields, I was shocked! It was like I were in China instead! I never knew Japan still had so many fields!
I finally found myself in the city of Hanamaki, where I was to spend the next 11 month in an AFS exchange program. The first thing that called my attention was Shin-Hanamaki Eki, the city's fast train Station. Unlike the other stations in which the train had stopped on the way usually located in the cities' commercial area, Hanamaki's Station in in the middle of rice fields (tanbo), far for the city's tiny downtown. I couldn't name it anything but "Tanbo Eki", the "Station of the Rice Fields".
"How to get there"
It's really easy to get to Hanamaki. It has the only airport in Iwate-ken, and also has a Shinkansen Station (see above!). The prices don't differ much, but if where you live there are no speed trains, you should take the experience. It's really confortable!
Both the airport and the Shinkansen Station are located outside downtown; the first not so far, the second almost outside the city. Get yourself a cab.
The regular train station, coming from Morioka, is downtown, close to a nice square named after a famous local poems writer.
"Attractions"
First of all, the "onsen", or Hot Springs. They are wonderful, considered to be among Japan's bests. It might be a little scary to get into the (really) hot polls (I could only think of "soup" the first time), but once you get used to it, it's like before you were born.
Try to go to one of the outdoors onses, specially in winter. The contrast between the snow and the hot water is nice. Just be aware that most of the outdoor onsen are for men and women and you get in them with nothing but a hand towel, so don't be shy! Hanamaki is not used to non-asians, not to mention naked ones. They'll certainly stare at you.
The cities arrond Hanamaki also offer good attractions. Hanamaki has its own sky course, but take the train and go to Geto, a larger one located in a neighboring city.
There's also a cheese-and-wine town, Oohasama, nearby. It's nice.
