Morioka
盛岡市39°42′ N 141°09′ ECityPop. 290,553Tohoku
Morioka suits travellers who want a walkable castle town with three noodle traditions between ski days at APPI, Shizukuishi and Hachimantai. The trade-off is that every slope is a train or bus ride of 20 minutes to an hour from your hotel.
Photo 663highland · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 and others, credited in the gallery
Who should base here
Stay in Morioka if you want to ski a different area each day, eat well every night and spend your rest day on foot round the castle and the river.
The name
Morioka
盛岡The name is said to carry the wish for a hill that would flourish and prosper, and dates from 1593. The castle site was earlier called Kozukata.
japanese
The encyclopedia gives the story with the phrase 'it is said', which marks it as tradition.
Eat in Morioka
Morioka grew around the castle the Nanbu lords finished in 1633, and its granite walls still stand in Iwate Park above the Nakatsu River. The river runs clear through the middle of town, and salmon come up it to spawn in autumn. A short walk away, the red-brick Iwate Bank building from 1911 and a 360-year-old cherry tree splitting a granite boulder outside the district court give the centre its look.
The city eats three noodles. Wanko soba arrives a mouthful at a time from a server who keeps refilling your bowl, Morioka reimen is a chewy cold noodle made with wheat flour and potato starch in a beef broth, and jajamen comes topped with meat miso. The New York Times put Morioka second on its list of places to go in 2023, and the feature put wanko soba in front of readers around the world.
In winter Morioka works as a hub. APPI's guest shuttle leaves from the West Exit, the Tazawako Line reaches Shizukuishi in under 20 minutes, and buses run to Hachimantai's ski areas. The Denden-mushi loop bus circles the centre from the station's East Exit every 20 minutes from 9:00.
Worth knowing
- Iwate Prefecture recorded about six times its usual number of bear sightings from January to March 2026 and keeps a warning in force, so check its page before walking riverside or forest trails outside the centre.
- Try wanko soba at lunch, when you have the afternoon to recover.
Quick answers about Moriokaよくある質問
How long does it take from Tokyo to Morioka?
Hayabusa 5 took 130 minutes from Tokyo to Morioka on 16 October 2026. A regular-season reserved seat cost ¥15,450.
How do you get from Morioka to APPI?
APPI runs a guests-only shuttle from the West Exit, stop 26, for ¥2,200 one way from 5 December 2026 to 4 April 2027, booked by 23:59 the day before. Trains also run from Morioka to Appi-Kogen Station in about an hour for ¥1,220.
What does the name Morioka mean?
Morioka comes from the local name Morioka, meaning the name is said to carry the wish for a hill that would flourish and prosper, and dates from 1593. The castle site was earlier called Kozukata. The encyclopedia gives the story with the phrase 'it is said', which marks it as tradition.
Is Morioka a good place to stay?
Stay in Morioka if you want to ski a different area each day, eat well every night and spend your rest day on foot round the castle and the river.
Within 12 km