1) MAHORA IWATE and Smelt Fishing on Lake Gandoko
Allow yourself to be invited into a fantastical world created by a magnificent collaboration between light and beautiful ice sculptures.
In the Yabukawa area, said to be the coldest place on Japan’s largest main island, that coldness is put to use to create “Ice World,” an icy theme park only open during winter.
With attractions such as the Ice Castle, Ice Town, and an illumination using 400,000 lights that bring color to the world of snow and ice, this theme park has so many sights to see that simply hearing its name is exciting.
Inside the park, the first thing that grabs your attention is the massive Ice Cave, with a width of 10 meters, a height of 5 meters, and spanning 20 meters long.
As you are surrounded by ice in 360 degrees, you can have a wondrous and beautiful experience as if you’ve wandered into a magical land. When night falls, the cave is illuminated, creating an even more dazzling space.

2) Warming up with Doburoku in the Cold Winter ~Tono Dobekko Festival~
During winter, when snow falls and piles up, and your breath becomes white from the cold, how about enjoying some warm Doburoku (unfiltered sake) in a traditional Iwate Nanbu Magariya house?
You can taste the dobekko (a regional name for doburoku) that Tono’s sake breweries have prepared especially for the day of the festival, while listening to folk tales and being entertained by traditional Shinto music and dancing performed by local storytellers. Dobekko is normally pasteurized and sold in bottles, but the dobekko you can try on this day is of course unprocessed. This is a luxurious experience that you can only have here in Tono, where dobekko is produced.
Enjoying local cuisine and the Dobekko Festival at a traditional Nanbu Magariya house, most of which are no longer standing, is a very unique and Japanese experience. There is a free shuttle bus from JR Tono station, so there is no need to worry about driving.
The shuttle bus operates on a reservation system, so please make a reservation in advance.

3) Unwinding on the Train?! A Trip on the Sanriku Railway’s “Kotatsu Train”
On Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays during the winter, the Sanriku Railway’s train interior transforms and takes on an unimaginable form. Believe it or not, every seat becomes kotatsu!
While on the train, it becomes a calm space that reminds passengers of home. This may also be an interesting experience for overseas travelers that allows them to experience winter life in an ordinary Japanese household.
Aboard the kotatsu train, in addition to the scenery, you can also enjoy bento boxes stuffed full with seafood, as well as a Little New Year (Jan. 15^th, celebrates the first full moon of the year) traditional event called “Namomi,” where people dressed as demons visit children to pray for their healthy growth.
Why not gaze out upon the Sanriku Coast’s wintry landscape while eating a freshly-made, tasty bento box?
There are two different kotatsu trains currently in operation: the “Western-Style Kotatsu Train” that runs between Miyako and Kamaishi, and the “Kotatsu Train” that runs between Miyako and Kuji. The scenery and bento boxes you can enjoy aboard each train are different, so please check both of them out! After riding one kotatsu train to Miyako, it’s possible to transfer to the next kotatsu train!

4) Entrance Limited to Twice Per Year!! Uchimagi Cave Glacial Bamboo Shoot Observation and Mamebu Dumpling Soup

Would you like to visit a mysterious and wondrous world created entirely by nature?
This is Uchimagi Cave, designated by Iwate Prefecture as a natural monument. It is said to extend as far as 6,350 meters, and is one of Japan’s most prominent limestone caves. As per the heading, visitors can only enter twice per year.
Those two times are during the Uchimagi Cave Festival in the summer, and the Uchimagi Cave Glacial Bamboo Shoot Observation we’re introducing today.

These “glacial bamboo shoots” are formed when drops of water fall from above and freeze on the ground, then grow upwards similar to bamboo shoots. They are rarely seen anywhere else, but somehow glacial bamboo shoots of all sizes grow in clumps in Uchimagi Cave. Apparently the big ones grow to be over 2 meters tall!

Visitors will surely enjoy the beautiful and wondrous otherworldly scenery created by the mysterious Uchimagi Cave and the glacial bamboo shoots within.

After you become cold from observing the glacial bamboo shoots, we recommend warming up and taking a break with Kuji’s traditional food- mamebu dumpling soup. The dumplings filled with brown sugar syrup and dashi soup combine to create an addictive flavor combination.