Visited 10.10.2015 (Sat)
Talent. Miyazawa Kenji (1896 - 1933) is almost analogous to Hanamaki city. Reason being the late Japanese poet and children's literature author was born in Hanamaki and despite his early demise at 37 years old, his works continue to influence many people today. He was a talented individual, artistically inclined and an advocate of agricultural science, hoping to improve the livelihood of farmers. He is best known for his children's stories and Ginga Tetsudo no yoru 銀河鉄道の夜 (otherwise known as Night on the Galactic Railroad) is the most popular out of them. Here in Hanamaki city, there are several facilities dedicated to Miyazawa Kenji and Dowa Mura 宮沢賢治童話村, a theme park inspired by his stories written for children, is one of them. In this theme park, fans will be pleased to find installations and scenes that were mentioned in Ginga Tetsudo no yoru here. There is a replica of Ginga train (Milky way train 銀河トレイン), the magical train which travelled through space, showcased outside the theme park. Visitors have to walk through Ginga Station (otherwise known as Milky way Station 銀河ステーション) to enter the theme park. After this visit, I spoke to my Japanese teacher about Miyazawa Kenji and she told me that she grew up reading his stories, similar to many children in Japan.
Visual tricks. The entire theme park is pretty spacious and easy to navigate; comprised of two buildings named Kenji's School 賢治の学校 and Kenji's Classrooms 賢治の教室, a large multi-purpose plain field where ad-hoc activities and events are held and two nature trails named the Owl Path (Fukuro no komichi ふくろうの小径) and Fairy Path (Yosei no komichi 妖精の小径). The stairs which leads to the entrance of Kenji's School is one of the visual tricks that visitors will encounter in the theme park. The stairs are built to create the visual impression that one is making a descend on the stairs / going down slope though he/she is actually climbing up the stairs. A small stream runs alongside the stairs; however the flow of water appears to defying gravity as it is moving in an opposite direction (if I am indeed descending the stairs, the direction of flow should be the same). Could be quite mind boggling initially.
Fairy tale world. The only admission fee required facility in the entire theme park is Kenji's School. There are a total of five rooms in Kenji's School and each takes on a different theme. However, photography is only allowed in the Fantastic Hall, the first themed room of Kenji's School. Fell in love with the spatial experience in the Fantastic Hall; the entire space is almost entirely white, uniquely designed chairs are equally spaced out on one side of the hall to face the bookshelves, with monitor display screening works of Miyazawa Kenji, lined on the other side. After the Fantastic Hall, we were teleported to other dimensions in Miyazawa Kenji's fairy tale world, such as the Space Room, Sky Room, Earth Room and lastly the Water Room. On the other hand, Kenji's Classrooms is made up of five log houses, where visitors can learn about rocks, birds, stars, animals and plants that appeared in his novels, and two other log houses which contained shops selling an extensive line up of merchandises related to Miyazawa Kenji as well as products originated from Hanamaki city.
Before concluding our visit, we made our way to the Owl Path. While strolling along the path, we discovered several gigantic installations hidden in the different parts of the woods, such as bench shaped like a book and a huge book in which a page could be flipped. Standing here, we could also get a better overview of the entire theme park.
Overall, Miyazawa Kenji Dowa Mura is suitable for all ages to explore and most facilities here are kids friendly. This is an excellent place to find out more about Miyazawa Kenji's fairy tale stories which are still well loved by many people today.
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Miyazawa Kenji Dowa Mura / Fairytale Village 宮沢賢治童話村
〒025-0014 岩手県花巻市高松第26地割19番地
Operating hours: 0830 - 1630 hrs
Admission fee for Kenji's School (賢治の学校) = 350 yen
https://www.city.hanamaki.iwate.jp/miyazawakenji/dowamura/index.html
How to get there?
(1) By foot. It takes about 20 minutes to walk from Shin Hanamaki JR Station 新花巻駅.
(2) By bus from either Hanamaki 花巻駅 or Shin Hanamaki JR Station 新花巻駅.
From Hanamaki Ekimae 花巻駅前, board Iwate Ken Kotsu Bus 岩手県交通バス Dosawa line 土沢線, heading for Shin Hanamaki Station 新花巻駅 and alight at Miyazawa Kenji Kinen Guchi 宮沢賢治記念口.
Iwate Kotsu Bus Dosawa line schedule: http://www.iwatekenkotsu.co.jp/hanamaki_tiku.html
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Commemorative stamps:
Talent. Miyazawa Kenji (1896 - 1933) is almost analogous to Hanamaki city. Reason being the late Japanese poet and children's literature author was born in Hanamaki and despite his early demise at 37 years old, his works continue to influence many people today. He was a talented individual, artistically inclined and an advocate of agricultural science, hoping to improve the livelihood of farmers. He is best known for his children's stories and Ginga Tetsudo no yoru 銀河鉄道の夜 (otherwise known as Night on the Galactic Railroad) is the most popular out of them. Here in Hanamaki city, there are several facilities dedicated to Miyazawa Kenji and Dowa Mura 宮沢賢治童話村, a theme park inspired by his stories written for children, is one of them. In this theme park, fans will be pleased to find installations and scenes that were mentioned in Ginga Tetsudo no yoru here. There is a replica of Ginga train (Milky way train 銀河トレイン), the magical train which travelled through space, showcased outside the theme park. Visitors have to walk through Ginga Station (otherwise known as Milky way Station 銀河ステーション) to enter the theme park. After this visit, I spoke to my Japanese teacher about Miyazawa Kenji and she told me that she grew up reading his stories, similar to many children in Japan.
Visual tricks. The entire theme park is pretty spacious and easy to navigate; comprised of two buildings named Kenji's School 賢治の学校 and Kenji's Classrooms 賢治の教室, a large multi-purpose plain field where ad-hoc activities and events are held and two nature trails named the Owl Path (Fukuro no komichi ふくろうの小径) and Fairy Path (Yosei no komichi 妖精の小径). The stairs which leads to the entrance of Kenji's School is one of the visual tricks that visitors will encounter in the theme park. The stairs are built to create the visual impression that one is making a descend on the stairs / going down slope though he/she is actually climbing up the stairs. A small stream runs alongside the stairs; however the flow of water appears to defying gravity as it is moving in an opposite direction (if I am indeed descending the stairs, the direction of flow should be the same). Could be quite mind boggling initially.
Fairy tale world. The only admission fee required facility in the entire theme park is Kenji's School. There are a total of five rooms in Kenji's School and each takes on a different theme. However, photography is only allowed in the Fantastic Hall, the first themed room of Kenji's School. Fell in love with the spatial experience in the Fantastic Hall; the entire space is almost entirely white, uniquely designed chairs are equally spaced out on one side of the hall to face the bookshelves, with monitor display screening works of Miyazawa Kenji, lined on the other side. After the Fantastic Hall, we were teleported to other dimensions in Miyazawa Kenji's fairy tale world, such as the Space Room, Sky Room, Earth Room and lastly the Water Room. On the other hand, Kenji's Classrooms is made up of five log houses, where visitors can learn about rocks, birds, stars, animals and plants that appeared in his novels, and two other log houses which contained shops selling an extensive line up of merchandises related to Miyazawa Kenji as well as products originated from Hanamaki city.
Before concluding our visit, we made our way to the Owl Path. While strolling along the path, we discovered several gigantic installations hidden in the different parts of the woods, such as bench shaped like a book and a huge book in which a page could be flipped. Standing here, we could also get a better overview of the entire theme park.
Overall, Miyazawa Kenji Dowa Mura is suitable for all ages to explore and most facilities here are kids friendly. This is an excellent place to find out more about Miyazawa Kenji's fairy tale stories which are still well loved by many people today.
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Miyazawa Kenji Dowa Mura / Fairytale Village 宮沢賢治童話村
〒025-0014 岩手県花巻市高松第26地割19番地
Operating hours: 0830 - 1630 hrs
Admission fee for Kenji's School (賢治の学校) = 350 yen
https://www.city.hanamaki.iwate.jp/miyazawakenji/dowamura/index.html
How to get there?
(1) By foot. It takes about 20 minutes to walk from Shin Hanamaki JR Station 新花巻駅.
(2) By bus from either Hanamaki 花巻駅 or Shin Hanamaki JR Station 新花巻駅.
From Hanamaki Ekimae 花巻駅前, board Iwate Ken Kotsu Bus 岩手県交通バス Dosawa line 土沢線, heading for Shin Hanamaki Station 新花巻駅 and alight at Miyazawa Kenji Kinen Guchi 宮沢賢治記念口.
Iwate Kotsu Bus Dosawa line schedule: http://www.iwatekenkotsu.co.jp/hanamaki_tiku.html
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Commemorative stamps:
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