Genbikei gorge

On 14th of July, hubby and me visited Genbikei gorge, a major and famous sightseeing spot in Ichinoseki city of Iwate prefecture in the Tohoku region of Japan. We started from our home in the afternoon and it took us about 2 hours and 30 min to reach there by our car. As soon as we got out of the car, we were mesmerized by the beauty of the place. Along the mountain stream of the Iwai river there is a two kilometer stretch of undulating rock layers, waterfalls, and river rapids. It offers beautiful scenery all year round. The flow of the Iwai river, which flows out of Mt. Kurikoma, has created a lot of abysses and pit holes. The cliffs are composed of dasite tuff from the eruption of Mt. Sugawa, and are constantly eroded by the torrent of water. We walked along a few trails and followed Genbikei and the Iwai river flowing through it. It was really nice and pleasant to walk in a natural scenic place. Here are a few photographs of Genbikei.

Hubby in front of a map of Genbikei area


Beautiful scenic Genbikei

Genbikei is also famous for its 'Flying Dango'. Dango is a Japanese sweet dumpling that comes in various flavors such as sesame (goma), red bean paste (azuki), and soy sauce (mitarashi). They are known as 'Flying Dango' because a restaurant on one side of the gorge sends it to the customers on the other side of the gorge in a basket via an overhead cable. We had the Dangos along with green tea. The Dangos were delicious.

Video of 'Flying Dango'


Our Dangos arrived with green tea


Delicious Dango



On our way back home, we had dinner in Maezawa restaurant in the service area of the Tohoku highway in Hiraizumi town of Iwate prefecture. The restaurant is famous for a variety of Maezawa-beef menus. Hubby chose beef yakiniku dinner set for both of us and it was really tasty.

Hubby in the service area of Tohoku highway in Hiraizumi town

Mouth watering yakiniku dinner set

We were tired by the end of the day but it was a nice day out for us.