(by Anna Thomas of Oshu City and Kazunori Oikawa of Ichinoseki City)

The 2018 ILD meeting is set to be held from February 20 to 22 in Ichinoseki City, Iwate Prefecture and we look forward to seeing you there! For those of you able to explore a little before, after or during this meeting, we’ve made a guide for enjoying the area.

Getting Here

From Tokyo

■　Take the Tohoku Shinkansen from Tokyo Station. It will take about 2 hours. Some trains don’t stop at Ichinoseki Station: in that case, transfer trains at Sendai Station.

From Sendai to Ichinoseki City

■　It takes about 20 minutes from Sendai Station to Ichinoseki Station via the Tohoku Shinkansen.

*For maps of the area, please go to the bottom of this page.

Recommended Spots

Ichinoseki City

Jazz Spot BASIE

Jazz fans from all over the country come to BASIE for its high quality sound system. This famous café’s namesake, Count Basie, visited BASIE multiple times.

The café owner’s LP collection weighs a grand total of 25 tons. Prominent jazz musicians often give live performances here.

Access: 13 minutes on foot from Ichinoseki Station / 7 minutes on foot from Ichinoseki Cultural Center (ILD meeting venue)

Sekinoichi Sake Brewery

This sake brewery was founded in 1918. At Sekinoichi’s restaurant, which is a renovated sake storehouse (kura), you can try local cuisine like mochi and local brand pork sausages. The ILD Welcome Reception will be held at this restaurant (February 20^th from 19:00).

The brewery makes beer as well as sake, so you can enjoy a variety of beers. For shopping, try Sekinoichi’s store, where you can buy sake, sausages, snacks, mochi and more.

Access: 11 minutes on foot from Ichinoseki Station / 5 minutes on foot from Ichinoseki Cultural Center (ILD meeting venue)

Oshu City

NAOJ Mizusawa Campus

The National Astronomical Observatory of Japan Mizusawa Campus is home to a variety of projects. Pictured is one of four 20 meter antennas in the VERA VLBI array taking a detailed picture of the galaxy. This campus has a rich history spanning back to the 1890s with the International Latitude Observatory of Mizusawa: check out the preserved historical buildings and museum.

Get a sneak peek in this video, and see the official English website for more on the campus and how to visit.

Access: Around 20 minutes on foot (about 1 ½ kilometers) or about a 8 minute taxi ride from Mizusawa station.

Esashi Fujiwara no Sato (Fujiwara Heritage Park)

Ramble through this Heian period theme park experiencing samurai-style archery, trying on armor and kimonos, and taking uncanny photos in the trick art building.

Explore the park in this video, and see this official PDF for details on entrance fee and hours.

Access: Easiest access is by car. About 3000 yen by taxi from Mizusawa-Esashi station (Oshu’s bullet train station).

Products to Enjoy

Ichinoseki City

Dyed Goods

The Kyoya Dyed Goods Store is one of the rare businesses in Japan that can perform the whole process of making dyed goods, from design to dyeing to sewing.

At the store, you can buy popular items like handkerchiefs, hand towels, scarves, and small items.

Kyoya can also take special orders for yukata, hand towels and other products, and on weekends and holidays the factory is open for tours and hands-on dyeing activities.

Access: 10 minutes on foot from Ichinoseki Station / 5 minutes on foot from Ichinoseki Cultural Center (ILD meeting venue)

Hidehira-nuri Lacquer ware

Hirahira-nuri lacquer ware representative of Iwate Prefecture is produced areas including Ichinoseki City and Hiraizumi Town.

Marusan Lacquerware in Daito-cho, Ichinoseki makes lacquer ware in this lovely style. Marusan’s bowls, plates, glasses, spoons, chopsticks and other products are a popular choice for souvenir shoppers..

Marusan Shikki products are offered at a store near the ILD meeting venue called Kumato.

Access: 6 minutes on foot from Ichinoseki Station / 1 minute on foot from Ichinoseki Cultural Center (ILD meeting venue)

Oshu City

Maesawa beef (Oshu beef)

One of Oshu’s most famous products, featured in a recent video by Youtuber Abroad in Japan (“5 Must Try Meat Dishes in Japan”).

This gourmet beef will melt in your mouth.

See our Oshu guide map available online for a map showing restaurants serving our specialty beef. Our guide map is available in English as well as Japanese, Korean, traditional Chinese and simplified Chinese.

Nanbu Ironware

Go all-out and buy a cast iron kettle, or keep your luggage light with little goods like bells.

Shop at places including Mizusawa Tourist Products Center on the way to Mizusawa VLBI Observatory, or at the Cupola Museum near Mizusawa-Esashi station.

If you go the Cupola Museum, you can also shake hands with (an ironware cast of) famous major league baseball player Shohei Otani!

Maps

Ichinoseki City

Oshu City

Further information

• A Trip to Iwate

  Official information on visiting Iwate.

• For people with dietary restrictions
  

  It may be difficult to find a restaurant that can serve food according to your specifications. The following website may be helpful to you: http://www.vegietokyo.com/

• Information for Muslim travelers
  

  There are very few places that serve halal food in Iwate, but there are restaurants throughout Morioka that serve non-Japanese vegetarian options. You may also consider contacting restaurants beforehand to see if they can set up a suitable menu. For more information: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2302.html

• Winter sports
  

  Iwate is one of the best places to do winter sports in the whole country! Over 20 ski areas can be found throughout the prefecture, from the northern highlands to the coastal hills. A Trip to Iwate keeps a list of some of the more famous ski areas, which can be found here.