Enjoy the people, cityscape, and culture of the Hanamaki area! Hanamaki City, Iwate Prefecture 【Fourth Multibase Residency Trial Tour

  • Iwate
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Walking around Hanamaki City
Have you ever thought, "I'd like to try a multi-location lifestyle? While the flexible working style using full remote and teleworking has been spreading after the Corona disaster, Hanamaki City in Iwate Prefecture has been conducting a trial tour of multi-location living in a total of four times as an effort to attract "multi-location dwellers" to Hanamaki City, who are not limited to one place of residence, but have various locations across the country, and is sending out information about the tours. The fourth and final tour was held on March 20, 2012.

The fourth and final tour was held from February 13 (Thursday) to 15 (Saturday), 2025, for three days and two nights! Here, the editorial staff of *and trip. who was involved in the planning of the tour provides an update on the day of the tour and comments from the participants!

What is Multi-location Residency?

For this tour, we defined "multi-location living" in this way.

"The use of houses, apartments, accommodations, etc. ("other locations") in addition to the main living base, while working and living in various ways, including teleworking and hybrid work, at the main location and at other locations."

After the Corona Disaster, you now have an environment where you can work anywhere with a computer without having to come to work. For such teleworkers, we would like to encourage them to choose Hanamaki City as a future destination for multi-location living or beyond. To this end, we first conducted a tour to familiarize them with the culture and people of Hanamaki City. Then, we will share information about what the participants experienced in Hanamaki City, and hope that people who read the information will want to visit Hanamaki City! and then visit Hanamaki City.

Click here to read the article of the first tour

▼Click here for the article of the 2nd tour

Click here to read the article of the 3rd tour

Fourth tour itinerary

This tour focused on the "Hanamaki area" near Hanamaki Station and Shin-Hanamaki Station in Hanamaki City, with the following itinerary. The tour was designed to allow participants to experience the culture and people of Hanamaki City while doing telework.
Fourth itinerary

Scene of the day (1) Orientation

At the beginning of the tour, an orientation was held and participants introduced themselves to each other. After that, we explained the purpose of the tour and showed them around the telework space in the city, which they could use during their free time.
Orientation

Scene of the day (2) Interaction with Ms. Yuko Shiono

After the orientation, we had an exchange meeting with Ms. Yuko Shiono, who works at the Kenji Miyazawa Memorial Museum. Ms. Shiono is originally from Saitama Prefecture, but moved to Hanamaki City because she loves Kenji Miyazawa so much. She has been a fan of Kenji Miyazawa for 17 years! After moving to Hanamaki, he also worked as a member of the Hanamaki City Community Development Cooperation Team. Currently, in addition to his work at the Miyazawa Kenji Memorial Museum, he is active in many other fields, such as secretary general of the "Hayachine Kenji Association," editor and citizen writer for the Hanamaki City information media "Makimaki Hanamaki," and illustrator. As an immigrant who is a fan of Kenji Miyazawa, he is sometimes asked to give lectures, as he did at this exchange meeting. Mr. Shiono said that he enjoys the "differences" in his life as an immigrant from a different perspective from that of the locals.

Main opinions and impressions from the participants

How long was the span of time from when you first thought of emigrating to when you realized it?

→It was one to two years.

What is the attraction of summer in Hanamaki City?

→ÆThe mountains and festivals are attractive!

Are there any works by Kenji recommended for children?

→I recommend "Acorns and Wildcat"!

What kind of local cuisine does Hanamaki City have?

→Favorite local dishes are "Pickled Basho-mai" and "Kurumidare-mochi (rice cake with walnut sauce)"!
After the social gathering, Mr. Shiono guided the group on a tour of the Kenji Miyazawa Memorial Museum. The museum consists of five genres that Kenji Miyazawa touched during his lifetime: "Science," "Art," "Space," "Religion," and "Agriculture.
Exchange meeting with Mr. Shiono
Visit to the Kenji Miyazawa Memorial Museum

Interaction with Mr. Kimichi Kitayama

On the second day, we had an exchange with Mr. Kimiji Kitayama, representative of Office Kazaya, LLC, and the leader of "machicoco," a Hanamaki city walking magazine. Mr. Kitayama said that Hanamaki's attractions include "accessibility," "fresh food," "few natural disasters," and "university," in addition to well-known attractions such as "Kenji Miyazawa's hometown," "abundant hot springs," and "many remaining traditional performing arts. I want the citizens of Hanamaki to know about these attractions! That is why they published "machicoco. He said that in order to make the local market stronger than the Tokyo market, it is important for the local people to absorb information.

Mr. Kitayama said that Iwate Prefecture, from his point of view, is "a region that does not like conflict and does not discriminate. He said that he aims to create a town that will further increase the value of the area.

Main opinions and impressions from the participants

I felt that it is important to love one's own community.

I admire a community that is full of love for its hometown.

I felt that the students are very active.

I was impressed by their willingness to take action on things that are not in front of them.

→I am stimulated by looking around me. Hanamaki's sense of scale makes it easy to take action, so it may be the influence of the environment. In order to create a good environment, I think it is important to nurture top runners.
After the social gathering, Mr. Kitayama guided us on a city walk to the Marukan Building cafeteria, where we had lunch. Although the walk was conducted in the snowy weather, participants from the Tokyo metropolitan area enjoyed the best part of Tohoku in winter.
Exchange meeting with Mr. Kitayama
Walking around town

Scene 4: Marukan Building cafeteria

Following the January tour, we had lunch at the Marukan Building cafeteria again! Although it was a weekday, the cafeteria was very crowded.

As mentioned in the experience report of the third tour, the Marukan building cafeteria was once closed, but has since made a comeback. In fact, Kitayama-san has published a book about the story of the revival of Marukanville Dining Hall. During lunch, Mr. Kitayama and Hanamaki residents shared their thoughts on the Marukan Building cafeteria.
Taking a picture of the famous soft-serve ice cream

▼Click here for the article on the Marukan Building Grand Cafeteria

Comments from Participants

Through these experiences and contact with local people, we received the following comments from the participants.

Participant 1

In Hanamaki, you can meet and interact with a wide variety of people through the city's natural culture and hot springs. The people of Hanamaki value their local community and are very kind and warm to visitors. Many people are very kind and helpful to visitors, and they are happy to tell you about tourist spots, Hanamaki's history and culture, and to answer your questions, so you can enjoy communication with them. In addition, there are plenty of places to enjoy mountain climbing and hiking in the Hanamaki area. I heard that Mt. Iwate and Hachimantai are especially popular, but I wanted to climb Mt. After climbing the mountain, I thought it would be possible to relax and exchange stories in the hot springs of Hanamaki.

Participant ②

Hanamaki is a region where one can enjoy diverse experiences while teleworking. In an environment rich in nature, it is possible to successfully balance work and private life, which can improve productivity while reducing stress. In addition, the unique experiences available here include literary studies related to Kenji Miyazawa and events such as festivals that have been held for generations. And through warm interactions with local people, I knew I could create rich memories.

Participant 3

There were many things I noticed when I spent time imagining life in this town rather than as a tourist. I was also told that there are wonderful traditional hot-spring cures, so I fantasize that next time I would like to try a long-term stay in the form of a hot-spring cure plus a work vacation. I have a feeling that my normal days of working, cooking, eating, walking, meeting people, and talking will become even more special than they are now. If you are interested in multi-location living like myself, I highly recommend you to visit Hanamaki.

Participant 4

During this tour, I was able to enjoy various attractions such as "the charm of the land," "the charm of the people," and "the charm of the food. Workacation is a coined word that combines the words "work" and "vacation. While enjoying the feeling of vacation, one can also engage in normal "work" activities. Working as if you were living while refreshing yourself. When I thought about it, I realized that Hanamaki is a very attractive place. I felt that I had only experienced a small part of its charms this time, so I would definitely like to come back for another vacation.

Would you like to experience multi-location living in Hanamaki City?

As we have shown you, Hanamaki City offers you experiences and warm people that you can only experience here. Whether you are interested in multifocal residence or not at this time, we encourage you to visit Hanamaki City for an exchange experience.

In addition, the Hanamaki City Settlement Promotion Division accepts inquiries about immigration and multifaceted residence by phone or through the inquiry form on the Hanamaki City website. You can also consult with them at City Hall when you visit Hanamaki.

Hanamaki City Settlement Promotion Division

Click here for the inquiry form to the Settlement Promotion Division.
Hanamaki City Settlement Promotion Division Contact us at

▼ Check here for other Hanamaki City information!

Hanamaki City Website

Hanamaki City website is here

Hanamaki City Immigration and Settling Portal Site "Iitoco Hanamaki

"Iitoco Hanamaki" is here

Hanamaki City City Promotion Site "Makimaki Hanamaki

"Makimaki Hanamaki" is here

Hanamaki City JRE MALL Furusato Tax Payment

JRE MALL Furusato Tax Payment is here

Let's combine your favorite train and lodging to save money!

You can make your own original trip!

JR East View Dynamic Rail Package is a variable-price individual travel product available only on the web, allowing you to choose your train and accommodations freely and make a reservation at once. Depending on the timing and conditions of your reservation, you may be able to save even on the day of departure at the earliest! We also offer one-day trip plans! Enjoy your own unique trip according to your schedule and purpose.

Click here for details

For train + accommodation "Hanamaki area" reservations, please visit 【JR East View Dynamic Rail Package】

Coupons are also available at JRE MALL Furusato Tax Payment

We also offer discount coupons for those who travel to Hanamaki City with JR East View Dynamic Rail Package!
【Hanamaki-shi】JRE MALL Hometown Tax Payment "JR East View Dynamic Rail Package Coupon" is here.
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