Hiraizumi, Tohoku
Hiraizumi (平泉町; -chou) is a town located in Nishiiwai District, Iwate, Japan. It was considered a cultural capital of northern Japan duing the Heian era.
During the Heian era, Hiraizumi was the northern capital of the Northern Fujiwara clan and is said to have rivalled Kyoto in splendor and sophistication, and has been called the “Kyoto of the North”.
Hiraizumi’s golden age lasted for nearly 100 years, but after the fall of the Fujiwaras the town sank back into relative obscurity, and most of the buildings that gave the town its cultural prominence were destroyed. When the poet Matsuo Bashō saw the state of the town in 1689 he penned a famous haiku about the impermanence of human glory:
Natsu kusa ya! / Tsuwamono-domo ga / yume no ato
Ah, summer grasses! / All that remains / Of the warriors dreams
However, the town’s historical monuments and sites are currently on the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Site status, and archeological work is being carried out to support this claim.
Visit Hiraizumi’s most famous temple, Chusonji and also The Pure Land Garden at Motsuji temple.
How to get to Hiraizumi?
From Tokyo, take the JR Tohoku Shinkansen to Ichinoseki Station (make sure the train stops at Ichinoseki as only a few do). From Ichinoseki, take the local JR Tohoku Line for a 7 minute ride to Hiraizumi. The whole trip takes about three hours and costs 12,470 Yen one way.
*fees are subjected to change without notice
Source: Wikipedia; Japan Guide
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