Iwate Hotels

Iwate Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tôhoku region on Honshû island. The capital is Morioka. Iwate was historically part of Mutsu Province. It was brought into the empire around 800. In the Jômon period it was an area abundant in fishing and hunting. There were also Emishi settlements in the Kitakami Basin until the end of the eighth century when the Nara authorities penetrated deeply into Iwate, with Fort Shiwa, to the north of present day Morioka, constructed in 803. Iwate-ken is a quiet place with rich farmland, sleepy valleys and some pretty serious mountain ranges, too. You'll find it feels more provincial – in the best of ways, and stopping in places like Tôno can seem almost like turning back time. Once rife with feudalism, the region was separated into north, controlled by the Nambu clan, and south, under the rule of the Date clan. Later, breakaway clans – Hachinohe (from Nambu) and Ichinohe (from Date) – divided Iwate further. During WWII, the prefecture was devastated and immediately embarked on a rehabilitation process marked by heavy industrial growth. Iwate-ken is the country's second-largest prefecture.