Iwate's Gorgeous Geibikei Gorge in Early Winter

    Back in early December, my husband pulled together a few days off so that we could have our annual winter family vacation, this time to Iwate, just one prefecture north of our home in Miyagi.

    We've been to Iwate a number of times, usually to try (and frequently fail) to see the cherry blossom tunnel in Kitakami, a city my husband lived and worked in briefly in the year before we met. We've also seen the dragon shaped cave system a number of times and while I enjoy it, visiting again wouldn't bring anything new to my life.

    To my utter shock, my husband actually planned something new and exciting for us to do in Iwate.

The manhole covers in this area provide a delightful clue as to what fun awaits in the gorge.

    Geibikei Gorge in Ishiniseki is home to a great experience any time of year. My husband had been nervous that we would not be able to enjoy the gorge's gorgeousness in the awkward transitional period between fall and winter. While he was right about the lack of beautiful foliage or pristine ice and snow, the experience was wonderful all the same.

The cute little boat ticket building in front of the souvenir shop and docks.

    The cost for the boat fare is listed in English and Japanese at the ticket booth. Tickets for adults cost 1800 yen each while children between elementary school and adulthood can ride for 900 yen each and those between the age of 3 and elementary school cost only 200 yen. Babies appear to be free.


The little fleet of hand-made boats wait for their turn to ferry passengers down the river and back again.

    The best reason to come to the gorge is to take the boat trip through it one of the best things about taking this trip in winter is the presence of a boat-length kotatsu, set up in sections pushed together. By my estimate the boat could easily fit twenty people without getting too crowded but on the day of our visit, business was so slow that only a few other couples joined us on the boat.

Our little group on the kotatsu boat, enjoying our warm beverages. The basket in the center of the kotatsu at the other end is full of packets of duck food.

In addition to a last minute sale of warm drinks, the boat agents also gave us complimentary ice cream as a thank you for riding. It was lovely.

    Ducks came forward in curious little groupings and I bought duck food (available on the dock as well as on the boat in small plastic baggies for a few hundred yen) for my daughter to throw to her fowl friends, who followed the boat on its course. Each boat is hand-made by the staff of the boat tour company and runs without an engine of any kind outside of a single man, standing at the back and pushing with a long pole, gondola style.

Our driver on the boat where it docked for out walk to the bridge. In the background, digging cranes sort out some issues with the scenery. The ride was perfectly magical despite their short intrusion.

    The whole tour was set to take ninety minutes including a short walk up to a small bridge. Somehow, despite the ducks, the water was so clear that we could see leaves on the bottom of the river. Our tour guide gave lots of information, almost exclusively in Japanese, but I was given an English brochure at the ticket booth, so I could read along if need be. 

    The little bridge connects to a small outcropping where you can buy 5 small ceramic stones for 100 yen. The goal is to then throw the stones into the hole on the other side that resembles the eye of a dragon. Apparently, even professional baseball players have difficulty performing this task, but still it's fun to give it a try.

Each ceramic stone is imprinted with a character representing a generally desired aspect, such as luck or love, which the thrower is supposed to be granted if the stone makes it through the eye of the dragon.

My kid giving it her all. I'm pretty sure it still went in the river.

    We threw ten stones, mostly in the water, but one of mine hit the rock face, which was not a win but far better than I had hoped.

    If you're looking to take this trip, you can check their website for access and current boating status as well as a map. Walking from Geibikei station on the Ofunato line should apparently take only about five minutes.