Tono History
In Tono, we are focused on providing tourists with the highest levels of satisfaction – we will do everything we can to meet your expectations.
With a variety of offerings to choose from, we’re sure you’ll be happy visiting Tono. Look around our website and if you have any comments or questions, please feel free to contact us. We hope to see you soon!
A kappa is a demon found in traditional Japanese folklore. Kappa are distinguished for having a small pool of water suspended on top of their head, signifying their life force and habitat.
Kappa have been used to warn children of the dangers lurking in rivers and lakes, as kappa folktales have been often said to try to lure people into water and pull them.
Other theories suggest they are based on historical sightings of the now extinct Japanese river otter as seen from a distance, otters have been known to stand up straight. A drunk, frightened or hallucinating person may think they are seeing a human entity and not a wild animal. The best known place where it has been claimed Kappa supposedly reside is in the Kappabuchi waters of Tōno in the Iwate Prefecture. The nearby Jōkenji Buddhist temple has dedicated a komainu dog statue to honor the kappa, which according to legend helped extinguish the temple's fire.
Tono Food/Drink
To weather the cold winter, locals warm themselves by eating hittsumi (wheat dumplings), made by kneading, stretching and tearing off bits of flour dough, which are boiled in a broth with vegetables and mushrooms.
Wasabi is very popular in Tono, especially in Miyamori. In Miyamori, there is a wasabi beer brewery, wasabi dongo shop, wasabi restaurant where you can grate fresh wasabi onto Soba noodles, and a wasabi market where you can buy a lot of flavored items.
Jingisukan (Genghis Khan) or barbecued lamb or mutton. Cooked in a round metal pan and typically eaten in Tono by dipping it in a little shoyu tare (soy sauce soup), this dish is said to have been started by a local eatery around 60 years ago.
Ramen is a noodle soup dish that was originally imported from China and has become one of the most popular dishes in Japan in recent decades. Ramen are inexpensive and widely available, two factors that also make them an ideal option for budget travelers. Ramen restaurants, or ramen-ya, can be found in virtually every corner of the country and produce countless regional variations of this common noodle dish.
Kanenari is a delicious Mochi pancake. These can be made in a variety of ways, but mainly are known for either being sweet or salty. Sweet Kanenari is the most sold and most popular option. It is a miso and walnut paste spread over the mochi. You can find these at Denshoen or Kazenooka in Tono.
Kieran is a Tono sweet delicacy. It is pounded white rice powder with red bean paste inside. They are rolled into egg shaped figures and soaked in hot water. The sweetness of the Kieran sweetens the water and makes it drinkable after finishing the sweet dessert. This can be found at Denshoen in Tono!
This is the most popular sake in Tono, called Doburoku. Commonly called sake outside of Japan, nihonshu or sake (note that "sake" is also the general Japanese term for alcohol) is brewed using rice, water and white koji mold as the main ingredients. The alcohol content of nihonshu is typically about 10-20%. You can drink it hot or cold, and it is usually filtered although unfiltered nihonshu (nigorizake) is also popular. In doburoku, you can taste the rice grains inside. You can drink it dry or sweet and is available at most local stores in Tono.
