Tono (Tono City, Iwate Pref.)

Tono Mukashi-banashi Mura

Among the buildings found here is Ryuojuku, an old relocated and preserved Japanese-style travelers' inn where Kunio Yanagita (1875-1962), founder of Japanese ethnography, stayed when he wrote his magnum opus, Tono Monogatari.

Photograph: Ryuojuku

Tono Furusato Village

This facility recaptures the essence of a traditional Tono mountain village. Visitors can partake in farming activities, pound steamed rice into rice cakes, help make buckwheat noodles, and more. In addition, considerable focus is placed on "green" tourism initiatives designed to allow visitors to engage in actual hands-on agricultural functions.

Specialty Goods of Tono

Hops are produced extensively in the vicinity of Tono city, spurring the development of local beer. Homebrewed sake known as doburoku (unrefined sake), sales permitted as an exception under the law, is also popular, as is yamame (a river fish similar to trout) dried overnight. The production of dried yamame is number one in Japan.