Article

03205 ／はなまきし

Hanamaki City

A time bell cast for Morioka Castle.

Tokigane, Morioka Castle's bell

Photo by Ty19080914 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Natural Monument

A chestnut with female flowers all along the spike;the living tree is a grafted second generation.

Natural Monument in Hanamaki City — Photo by Ishidoriyan (CC BY 3.0)

The Kazukuri chestnut site in Towa is a nationally designated Natural Monument. The prefecture records that this chestnut bears female flowers on its entire flower spike, an unusual flowering habit. The original tree died, and the present one is a second generation propagated by grafting, now flowering every year.

National Natural Monument (1927)
Female flowers on every spike
Present tree is a grafted second generation

02 ／ Farmhouse

A house once altered to an L-shapeis back in its original straight form.

The Ito House is a small thatched farmhouse at the southernmost edge of the former Morioka domain, and a nationally designated Important Cultural Property. Originally a straight-plan house with the stable inside, it was later altered into a magariya (L-shaped house), then restored in repairs to its original form.

National Important Cultural Property (farmhouse)
Southernmost edge of the former Morioka domain
Restored from L-shaped to straight plan

03 ／ Puppet Theater

Kabuki, performed by puppets.The puppeteers speak the lines.

Kurasawa Ningyo Kabuki is a puppet theater handed down in Kurasawa, Towa. The national government calls it a rare case of performing kabuki with puppets, in which puppeteers master kabuki acting and direction and speak the lines of each role.

Prefectural Intangible Folk Cultural Property (1995)
National selection (documentation measures, 2019)
Puppeteers speak the lines

Hanamaki City from the sky

Now and 1974–78. Tap a photo to zoom in.

Now1974–78

Wide (about 6 km across)

Close (about 1.5 km across)

Now (shot June 2024)Shot 1974–78

Source: Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI) GSI Tiles（全国最新写真（シームレス）／国土画像情報（第一期：1974〜1978年撮影））

Open in GSI Maps (now)Open in GSI Maps (1974–78)

Living here

Tokyo to Shin-Hanamaki in 2 h 30 min at the fastest.

about 90,000 people
Shinkansen stops here

In JR East's timetable (October 2026 edition), the fastest daily Tohoku Shinkansen from Tokyo Station to Shin-Hanamaki Station takes 2 hours 30 minutes. From Shin-Hanamaki to Hanamaki Station, the city says to change to the Kamaishi Line, about 8 minutes.

People living here: 93,193people
Area: 908.39km²
Households: 34,724households
Rent (average for rentals): 43,244yen
Healthcare: 6 hospitals ／ 68 clinics

Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103

Population from 2010 onward (municipal boundary changed).2006-01-01 に新設合併（大迫町・石鳥谷町・東和町）。2010年調査から市域が変わっている。

Children waiting for childcare: —33 nurseries and similar
Home purchase subsidy: —
Average annual temperature: —

These 3 items are waiting on a nationwide data source. We do not fill them with estimates.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Hanamaki City in Japan39.389°N 141.117°E

to TokyoTohoku Shinkansen150min

Travel times follow JR東日本『駅の時刻表』（2610版）の新花巻駅（コード0878）の下り（平日・土曜休日）に載る東北新幹線の列車ページを、docs/handoff/tools/jr_count.py（毎日運転だけに絞って）で数えた。東京発→新花巻着。毎日運転（平日と土休日の両方に同じ分数で載る）の最速は、はやぶさ111号（列車番号4111B）の東京19:40発→新花巻22:10着の150分（運転日の注記は無い）。次はやぶさ101号（4101B）の07:16発→09:50着の154分。下ごしらえで本体が数えた150分と一致 (checked 2026-10-23). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 8 municipalities.

Territory of Hanamaki City

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (Administrative Area Data), MLIT. Processed by Machigatari.

North to south

35.2km

Kitakami City, Tono City, Shiwa Town, Oshu City, Morioka City, Shizukuishi Town, Miyako City, Nishiwaga Town

Hanamaki City isthis kind of town.

01The time bell beside Hanamaki City Hall is a prefecturally designated bell cast in 1646 as Morioka Castle's time bell and used as the time bell of Hanamaki Castle; the prefecture records that it is struck every evening at 6 o'clock
02In Towa are the Kazukuri chestnut site, a national Natural Monument, and the Ito House, a national Important Cultural Property, and in Kurasawa a puppet kabuki in which the puppeteers speak the lines
03Hayachine Kagura, handed down in two districts of Osawa, is a national Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property, and in Ishidoriya 1,788 sake-brewing tools of the Nanbu Toji are kept as a national Important Tangible Folk Cultural Property

See the town as it is now.

Source: Wikidata (P2002, P2003, P2013, P2397)

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Hanamaki City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes