Recommended course

Drive this route from Hiraizumi to Tono on a trip that takes you back to old-time Japan.

After spending an autumn day in the World Heritage Site, Hiraizumi, drive on and you’ll fall in love with the placid fall scenery of Geibi Gorge and Tono.

Recommended course

Day 1
Morioka Sta.


約1H30min


Geto Kogen


約2H30min


Konjikido (Golden Hall), Chuson-ji Temple


約1H30min


Motsu-ji Temple


約1H30min


Stay around Hiraizumi
Day 2
Geibi Gorge


約2H30min


Kappabuchi Pool


約1H30min


Chotan Gorge


約3H


Morioka Sta.

Recommendation tourist attraction

Day 1

From the gondola, you can leisurely gaze down on the fall foliage and enjoy the vast panoramic view. The v-shaped gorge is covered in an expansive virgin beech forest, and the autumn leaves stretching along the prefectural road to Geto Onsen are beautiful.


A Buddhist hall within a temple that is listed as a World Heritage Site. Covered with gold leaf both inside and out, the decoration and ornament will captivate you and take your breath away. In autumn, it is a spectacular sight surrounded by autumn leaves.


Enjoy the outstanding, typically Japanese Jodo-style garden with a large fountain centering around a pond. In autumn, scarlet red leaves beautifully stain the landscape.


Day 2

Take a boat ride down the river while viewing the towering rock cliffs, and listen to the information provided by the boatman who even sings a song to entertain. Enjoy the stunning vista created by trees and rock walls. In winter, you can ride a boat and have a meal seated at a "kotatsu" (heated table).


It is said that many kappa (legendary creatures in Japanese folklore) once lived in the small pool behind Jokenji Temple. There is a small shrine dedicated to Kappa by the pool.


An enormous granite rock has been eroded into step-like formations so that it appears as if numerous tatami mats have been laid down right up close to the opposite shore. The pure water creates sheet-like waterfalls as it flows. In the autumn, this gorge is a scenic spot for viewing fall foliage.