The water at Kunimi Onsen runs an unmistakable emerald green, sulfurous and mineral-heavy, the color of something geological rather than decorative. This is Shizukuishi, a town folded into the foothills of the Ōu Mountains in Iwate Prefecture, where rivers — the Ryūgawa and the Kuzukata — converge into the Shizukuishi River and the surrounding peaks hold deep snow through the long winter. The onsen here are not a single cluster but scattered across the basin: Tsunagi on the shores of Gosho Lake, with its foot baths and the quiet of a lakeside afternoon; Ōshuku to the southwest, a sulfur spring that shifted over generations from a place of therapeutic bathing to something more like a resort.
Away from the water, the land has its own industry. Koiwai Farm spreads out beneath the view of Iwate-san, a working agricultural operation that has shaped the landscape visibly and for a long time. In the town, the Kikutsukasa Sake Brewery continues its production, and the Morioka Seiko factory — maker of Grand Seiko — sits here quietly, a fact that surprises most visitors who assume such precision craft belongs to a larger city. Once a month from late spring through autumn, the Ichinoichi market opens, and the Yoshire Festival brings the particular rhythm of the Nanbu folk song tradition into the streets.
At Kuzukata no Ōiwaya, columnar basalt rises in a sheer wall — a natural formation designated as a national monument — and the Shizukuishi Shrine holds old cedars that the town itself recognizes as cultural property. The place carries its history in layers: the name Shizukuishi traces to a stone said to drip water, and the ground beneath was contested during the Zen'kunen and Gosannen Wars centuries ago. None of this is performed for visitors. It simply persists, alongside the ski slopes, the green bath water, and the monthly market.
Where to stay
A day is rarely enough.
Booking through these links supports AURA at no extra cost to you.
What converges here
3 in this town. 19 within 25 km of the town office.
- Shizukuishi History and Folklore Museum
- Goshoko Kawamura Art Museum
- Koiwai Farm Museum
- Morioka Tonan History and Folklore Museum
- Iwate Museum of Art
See 14 more
- Morioka Memorial Museum of Great Predecessors
- Morioka City Study Museum of Archeological Site
- the Archaeological Museum of Takizawa Shi
- Morioka History and Culture Museum
- Morioka Takuboku & Kenji Youth Museum
- Morioka Museum of Letter
- Fukazawa Kōko Nonohana Museum
- Morioka Machiya Monogatari Museum
- Morioka City Central Community Center
- Iwate Prefectural Museum
- Yahaba Town Museum of History and Folklore
- Ishikawa Takuboku Memorial Museum
- Morioka Tamayama History and Folklore Museum
- Matsuo Mine Museum
Distances are straight-line from the municipal office. Each website was checked in September 2026.
- Kakkoneda no Oiwaya
- Koiwai Farm Facilities
- Koiwai Farm Facilities
- Koiwai Farm Facilities
- Koiwai Farm Facilities
- Koiwai Farm Facilities
- Koiwai Farm Facilities
- Koiwai Farm Facilities
- Koiwai Farm Facilities
- Koiwai Farm Facilities
- Koiwai Farm Facilities
- Koiwai Farm Facilities
- Koiwai Farm Facilities
- Koiwai Farm Facilities
- Koiwai Farm Facilities
- Koiwai Farm Facilities
- Koiwai Farm Facilities
- Koiwai Farm Facilities
- Koiwai Farm Facilities
- Koiwai Farm Facilities
- Koiwai Farm Facilities
- Koiwai Farm Facilities
- Towada-Hachimantai
- Kunimi Onsen
- Tsunagi Onsen
- Ojuku Onsen
- Mount Azumane
- Shizukuishi
- Harukiba
- Akabuchi