Hanamaki

Hanamaki, in Iwate Prefecture, is the birthplace of novelist and poet Kenji Miyazawa and the origin of wanko soba, Iwate's signature dish of repeatedly refilled modest soba portions. The city sits between the Ou Mountains to the west and the Kitakami Highlands to the east, with hot spring resorts in its western reaches. UNESCO World Heritage sites lie within the wider region, and the city has enough cafés and restaurants to reward a day or two of exploration.

• Population94,691
• Nearest water0.1 km
• Nearest mountain4.3 km
• UNESCO within 50 km6