Morioka Handi-Works Square 盛岡手づくり村

Morioka Handi-Works Square in Iwate Prefecture will stimulate all your senses. Try your hand at making local crafts, watch master artisans ply their trade, and look over the various fine goods being exhibited. Over 4,000 kinds of local crafts, including culinary crafts, are represented at the site.

You can get to Morioka Handi-Works Square by bus from Morioka Station.

From Morioka Station take a bus to the Morioka Tezukuri-mura-mae Bus Stop. You will be dropped off right in front of the venue. The journey takes about 30 minutes by bus.

The workshop zone at Morioka Handi-Works Square has several options that you can try, effectively making your own version of local products. The workshops cost money, and the prices and times vary depending on what you are making. Some of the more popular seminars are for Chagu Chagu horse dolls and Morioka reimen (cold noodles).

One of the cheapest (200 yen) and easiest items to make are Nanbu senbei rice crackers. You put the dough into a cast-iron rice cracker cast, add some peanuts or other toppings, and then cook the crackers over hot coals. Once your sembei are ready, take them out of the mold and eat them. It only takes about three minutes.

Two to three hours should be enough time to see and experience Morioka Handi-Works Square. Once you are done, it is a short bus ride to Koiwai Farm or to Tsunagi Hot Springs.