-Area Introduction-

The Towada-Hachimantai National Park is home to diverse terrains, from alpine marshland to volcanic landscapes with beautiful rivers and waterfalls. From the unspoiled natural monument of the lava flow to the diverse vegetation of forests, the contrast of black rocks and green mountains creates a splendid landscape. Hiking around this area can be as easy as a 30-minute stroll with normal shoes, trekking on less steep hills, or tackling more serious terrain.

-Recommendation-

Trekking in Hachimantai does not require serious gear or previous experience. Anyone can enjoy the spectacular natural presence of this area.

Here, leave your mundane life behind and enter another world. You can continue along various other spots and routes including hidden waterfalls and mysterious volcanic landscapes. It starts to feel as if the boundary between nature and one’s own self disappears. Though everything changes throughout the year, seasons and days, you can feel that everything is in fact connected.

The unspoiled wilderness here is perfect for breathing in the natural world and restoring a balance to our minds in these frantic times. It is said that the origin of Japanese traditional culture lies within nature. So, experience real nature in Japan unlike anything you’ve known before!

-Message-

“It rains when the mountains are covered with clouds.” “If the remaining snow on Mt. Iwate looks like the shape of a flying eagle, it’s time to sow.” People have chosen to live here for thousands of years, looking up at the mountains that connect the heavens and the earth, with the wind and water circulating everything and bringing blessings to living things. Such daily life routines, along with the seasonal changes in nature, create the atmosphere and scenery of this area.

It is wonderful to have somewhere you can always visit and feel acceptance no matter how you are. The mountains are always there, whether you are asleep or awake, happy or sad. They are always changing through spring, summer, autumn, and winter. You can meet trees, flowers, birds and deer there, and sometimes even bears.

Even if you can’t convey your impressions in words, you can entrust your mind and body and connect with what you meet there. And it reflects in your feelings. We repeat this throughout our lives. It feels like a mixture of joy and sadness, or a sense that such feelings are suddenly released and reset. The sense that reminds us of some memories, nostalgia, and elements that connect to the roots that you have forgotten in the depth of your heart.

Living here, I found this kind of feeling might have been the same more than a thousand years ago, even 10,000 kilometers away, and may continue to be true a hundred years from now.