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11 — BooksA thousand years of Morioka,
through novels.
Morioka's history is a treasure trove for novelists: an ancient Emishi hero, the 150 years from the Former Nine Years' War to the Northern Fujiwara, the last battle of unification, a Shinsengumi swordsman from Morioka. Read before your trip and the landscape changes; read after, and the memories deepen. (Many are available only in Japanese.)
Morioka's history as story
Kaen: Kita no Yōsei Aterui
The life of Aterui, the Emishi leader who resisted the imperial armies. At the end of his war with Sakanoue no Tamuramaro, the age of Shiwa Fort begins — the eve of Morioka's story.
Homura Tatsu
An epic covering about 150 years from the Former Nine Years' War to the fall of the Northern Fujiwara. The fall of Kuriyagawa and Yasuhira's end, told from the Tōhoku side.
Ten o Tsuku
Kunohe Masazane and the last battle of unification — the pride of a northern warlord who never gave ground to Hideyoshi's army.
Mibu Gishiden (When the Last Sword Is Drawn)
The story of Yoshimura Kan'ichirō, who left the Morioka domain to join the Shinsengumi. A samurai's love for his family and the landscapes of Morioka tug at the heart.
Written by people of this town
A Handful of Sand (Ichiaku no Suna)
Includes “Lying down in the grass of Kozukata Castle” and other poems of home and youth. Read at least one before walking Morioka.
The Restaurant of Many Orders
Kenji's first collection, published by Kōgensha in Morioka — stories born from Iwate landscapes, subtitled “Ihatov Tales”.
Bushido: The Soul of Japan
Written in English by Morioka-born Nitobe to introduce Japanese values to the world, drawing on his own upbringing in a Morioka samurai family.
Hara Takashi Nikki (Diary)
The vast diary kept by the commoner prime minister for over forty years — a first-class source on the inside of modern Japanese politics.
Books on northern Tōhoku
The Legends of Tōno
A founding text of Japanese folklore studies, collecting legends of Tōno, once part of the Morioka domain — the air of the land along the northern-flight route.
Kaidō o Yuku 3
Shiba's travels in the Nanbu lands, from Hachinohe to Sannohe, the Nanbu clan's old home.
Book information is current as of writing. Contents may differ by edition and publisher.