[Iwate Prefecture] A Journey to Conquer Morioka's Three Great Noodles | 5 Recommended Hotels to Enjoy Wanko Soba, Jajamen, and Reimen
Hello everyone. This time, I will introduce the charm of Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture.
In 2023, Morioka was selected as one of the "52 Places to Go" by The New York Times. Since then, attention from both Japan and abroad has surged, and even now in 2026, its popularity shows no signs of fading; in fact, it is steadily growing.🌿
When you think of Morioka, you think of the Three Great Noodles. The three types—Wanko Soba, Jajamen, and Morioka Reimen—are all unique dishes that you cannot taste in other regions. Wanko Soba is a dynamic way of eating where bowls are stacked up one after another; Jajamen is a unique noodle dish tossed with spicy meat miso; and Morioka Reimen features firm noodles infused with the spiciness and umami of kimchi. These are flavors you won't forget once you've tried them.
Since you are visiting Morioka, I want you to take your time eating your way through the three great noodles and soothe your travel fatigue in hot springs and hotels. This time, I will introduce five carefully selected hotels where you can fully enjoy the charm of Morioka, including information on rates and access.✨
[Morioka Station Area] A City Hotel Where Art and History Intersect
Art Hotel Morioka
If you want to stay while feeling the castle town culture of Morioka, this hotel is a must. Its historic location, built on the site of "Kaijuso," the former villa of Taisho-era politician Takashi Hara, is a unique feature you won't find anywhere else.
It is in a prime location just a 1-minute walk from Morioka's downtown Odori area, providing immediate access to the area where famous Wanko Soba, Jajamen, and Reimen shops are gathered. There is no more convenient place to base your noodle-hopping tour.
Recommended point is the view of Morioka city from the top floor.🌆 All rooms were renovated in 2019, reborn as clean and comfortable spaces. With three on-site restaurants serving Western, Chinese, and Japanese cuisine, you can also enjoy a relaxing dinner within the hotel. Dishes featuring ingredients from Iwate are perfect for those who want to savor local flavors.
This long-established city hotel is supported by a wide range of guests, from business travelers to families, and offers excellent access to various parts of Iwate Prefecture. It is also a convenient base for sightseeing in Hanamaki Onsen and Hiraizumi.
Price estimate
Room-only plan: from approx. 6,000 yen per person
Breakfast-included plan: from approx. 8,000 yen per person
Dinner and breakfast-included plan: from approx. 15,000 yen per person
Access Approx. 7 minutes on foot or 3 minutes by taxi from JR Morioka Station. Approx. 15 minutes by car from Morioka IC on the expressway, and approx. 40 minutes by car from Iwate Hanamaki Airport.
👉Check availability on Rakuten Travel
[Morioka City Center Area] An Urban Hotel Where You Can Refresh with Natural Hot Springs and Saunas
Natural Hot Spring Sansa no Yu Dormy Inn Morioka
This is the hotel that will thoroughly soothe your body after you've tired yourself out eating your way through the three great noodles. It is a high-performing hotel that won the Rakuten Travel Bronze Award 2024, and its natural hot spring large bath and sauna are particularly well-regarded.🛁
At the "Sansa no Yu" large bath on the 10th floor, we pour in rare Morden hot spring water brought in daily from Appi Kogen in Hachimantai City, Iwate Prefecture. It is a hot spring known for its thick, smooth water quality and is reputed to have high skin-beautifying effects. In addition to the indoor bath, it is fully equipped with an open-air bath, a pot bath, a high-temperature dry sauna, and a cold water bath, making it very popular among sauna enthusiasts.
Recommended Point is, above all, the breakfast buffet🍱 You can enjoy local Iwate gourmet dishes from the morning, such as Morioka Reimen, Hittsushi soup, and seafood bottled bowls. The main noodle dishes are served freshly made, so you can experience the taste of Morioka while staying at the hotel. Furthermore, the free "Yonaki Soba" (late-night noodles) service is very popular among travelers. The location, just a 3-minute walk from the downtown area, is also excellent.
The hotel is highly rated in reviews for its attentive service, such as the free popsicles offered after bathing in front of the large public bath.
Estimated Price
Room-only plan: From approx. 5,000 yen per person
Breakfast-included plan: From approx. 7,000 yen per person
Access Approx. 12-minute walk from JR Morioka Station South Exit. 3-minute walk to Morioka downtown area. Approx. 15-minute drive from Tohoku Expressway Morioka Minami IC.
👉Check availability on Rakuten Travel
[Morioka Station Area] Hotel with Natural Hot Spring and Great Value
Natural Hot Spring Rindo-no-Yu Super Hotel Morioka
For those who think, "I want to soak in a hot spring, but I also want to keep costs down!", Super Hotel Morioka, which boasts No. 1 for 10 consecutive years in customer satisfaction surveys, is perfect. With its great access, just a 10-minute walk from Morioka Station, it is easy to use as a base for touring the famous shops of the three great noodles.
Recommended Point is the abundance of free services💪 It is surprising that free breakfast, free natural hot spring, free welcome bar, and gifts for women are all included in the price.
In the large public bath, you can enjoy "Rindo-no-Yu," a 100% natural hot spring that gushes from Fudo Onsen. It is a weakly alkaline hot spring with effects for neuralgia, fatigue recovery, and beautiful skin, which is also great for feet tired from walking around eating the three great noodles.
At the Welcome Bar held from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM, you can enjoy all-you-can-drink of about 20 types of drinks, including local sake🍶 It is a great environment for solo travelers to enjoy local Iwate sake slowly at the inn. The ability to choose from 8 types of pillows at check-in is also popular with those who are particular about a good night's sleep.
Estimated Price
Breakfast-included plan: From approx. 5,000 yen per person
Room-only plan: From approx. 4,500 yen per person
Access Approx. 10-minute walk from JR Morioka Station East Exit. Approx. 4km from Tohoku Expressway Morioka IC via National Route 46 towards Morioka city.
👉Check availability on Rakuten Travel
[Tsunagi Onsen Area] A scenic inn with beauty hot springs and lake views from all rooms
Morioka Tsunagi Onsen Hotel Shion
For those who want to 'go a little further and spend some time relaxing at a hot spring inn,' this is a hotel you definitely need to know about. It is a popular hotel in the Tsunagi Onsen area that won the Rakuten Travel Japan Inn Award 2025🌊
Its greatest appeal is the lake view where you can overlook Mt. Iwate and Lake Gosho from every guest room. Being able to gaze at scenery that looks like a painting from your room every day is a luxury you won't find anywhere else. Premium guest rooms were also added in 2023, allowing for an even higher-quality stay.
Recommended points include two hot spring areas with different atmospheres♨️ At the panoramic open-air bath 'Hitorijime no Yu,' which overlooks the surface of Lake Gosho and Mt. Iwate, you can fully experience micro-bubbles and skin-beautifying water. The other, 'Nanbu Magariya no Yu,' is a dignified bath area that retains the charm of a traditional Nanbu Magariya house, and the light-up at night creates a fantastic atmosphere.
The cuisine prides itself on local 'chisan-chisho' (local production for local consumption) kaiseki meals using seasonal seafood from Sanriku and mountain delicacies from Kitakami and Ou. You can truly feel the richness of Iwate's food through dishes that cherish seasonal ingredients. There are also private open-air baths, making it perfect for creating special travel memories.
Price Estimate
Room-only plan: From approx. 5,500 yen per person
Standard plan with 2 meals per night: From approx. 12,000 yen per person
Plan with 1 snow crab: From approx. 15,000 yen per person
Access Approx. 25 minutes by scheduled shuttle bus from the JR Morioka Station West Exit. Approx. 15 minutes from the Tohoku Expressway Morioka IC via National Route 46 towards Akita.
👉Check for vacancies on Rakuten Travel
[Tsunagi Onsen Area] A Japanese-style inn where you can taste authentic kaiseki in a purely Japanese setting
Morioka Tsunagi Onsen Shikitei
A Japanese-style inn nestled in a corner of Tsunagi Onsen, which boasts a 900-year history dating back to the end of the Heian period. It is highly rated on Rakuten Travel, and there is no shortage of reviews saying, 'I was moved by the food and the attentive service of the staff'✨
The water of Tsunagi Onsen, where legend has it that Minamoto no Yoshiie tied his beloved horse to heal its wounds, is a pH 9.1 strong alkaline sulfur spring. It is a 'skin-beautifying hot spring' rich in the natural moisturizing ingredient metasilicic acid, and you can feel your skin becoming moist and smooth every time you bathe. You can enjoy a leisurely hot spring tour in both the large public bath overlooking the courtyard and the open-air bath with a sense of openness.
Recommended points are the monthly Japanese kaiseki meals where the head chef changes the menu every month🍱 Dishes carefully prepared with brand-name ingredients that Iwate is proud of, such as fresh fish from Sanriku, Maesawa beef, and Sasuke pork, are all beautiful to both the eyes and the tongue. As symbolized by the review, 'The food was really, really, really delicious,' it is an inn with many repeaters who visit for the sake of the food.
For breakfast, you can feel the attention to detail in the local ingredients, such as Iwate's 'Hitomebore' rice, organic ripe apple juice, and dashi made with kelp from Sanriku. The Japanese-Western style room with an open-air bath, which was renovated in 2018, is the largest room at Shikitei and is perfect for special day trips.
Since Morioka gained attention in The New York Times, it has become one of the inns that is also gaining popularity among travelers from overseas.
Price Estimate
Shikitei Standard Plan with 2 meals per night: From approx. 20,000 yen per person
Special Kaiseki Plan using Maesawa beef and seasonal Iwate delicacies with 2 meals per night: From approx. 25,000 yen per person
Japanese-Western style room plan with open-air bath, 1 night with 2 meals: from approx. 30,000 yen per person
Access Approx. 35-40 minutes by local bus or approx. 25 minutes by taxi from JR Morioka Station. From the Tohoku Expressway Morioka IC, take National Route 46 toward Akita and turn left at Tsunagi Jumonji. Free parking available.
👉Check availability on Rakuten Travel
Recommended sightseeing spots around the hotel🗺️
Morioka City Area
Morioka Castle Site Park: A location selected as one of the "100 Fine Castles of Japan" and "100 Historical Parks of Japan," it is also famous as a cherry blossom viewing spot in spring. The ruins of the Sannomaru, Ninomaru, and Honmaru remain, allowing you to stroll while feeling the history of Morioka's castle town. Its appeal lies in its easy accessibility within walking distance from Art Hotel Morioka and Dormy Inn Morioka.
Bank of Iwate Red Brick Building: A beautiful brick building constructed in 1911, it is designated as a National Important Cultural Property. I highly recommend capturing the elegant architecture—the reason why Morioka is called the "Europe of the North"—with your camera📸
Sakanacho/Natayacho Area: An area where you can enjoy the historical townscape of Morioka, with old merchant houses and storehouses still remaining. Cafes and general stores are scattered throughout, and it is fun to find your favorite shops while strolling.
Morioka's Three Great Noodles Area: The downtown area stretching from around the station to Odori. Wanko soba is very popular among foreign travelers as an experiential food culture, and it is well worth trying. Jajamen is famous for the restaurant "Pairon" as its birthplace, and the entire experience, including the chitantan (egg soup) after the meal, is addictive.
Tsunagi Onsen Area
Koiwai Farm: Located 15-20 minutes by car from Hotel Shion and Shikitei, this is one of Japan's largest private farms. It is a classic Iwate spot visited by over 1 million tourists from Japan and abroad annually, and the magnificent farm scenery spreading out with Mt. Iwate in the background is breathtaking🌄 You also cannot miss the farm-exclusive gourmet treats like soft-serve ice cream and Koiwai milk.
Gosho Lake: A beautiful lake spreading out right in front of Hotel Shion, where you can enjoy activities such as kayaking and SUP. It shows the beauty of each season: cherry blossoms in spring, fresh green leaves in summer, autumn leaves in fall, and snowy landscapes in winter. At the Gosho Lake Kawamura Museum, you can also view art works themed around Iwate's rich nature.
Morioka Zoological Park ZOOMO: A zoo located about 30 minutes by car from Morioka City that reopened in 2022. Its modern design and the close proximity to the animals have become a hot topic, and its popularity is rapidly rising, especially among families🦒
Summary
Morioka is one of Japan's leading travel destinations, offering a high level of food, hot springs, history, and nature. I think the best Morioka travel plan is to enjoy eating your way through the three great noodles and then slowly soothe your fatigue in the skin-beautifying waters of Tsunagi Onsen.
The five hotels introduced this time can all be booked on Rakuten Travel, and each has its own unique charm.
May your trip to Morioka become an unforgettable memory🌿 Please plan a wonderful trip.