Last summer some of my family visited Japan for the first time and as luck would have it, we met one of my friends that told us about a very special temple that I didn't know about. After meeting him we headed for Hoonji temple, also called the temple of 500 disciples. Despite having lived in Iwate for 9 years, I had never heard of it. I'm so glad that we came across him on that day. Unlike most temples in Japan this place is quite open, we can even visit the monks living quarters, when they aren't meditating. It is quite fascinating to see how they live also you won't be fighting big crowds like in Kyoto and Tokyo. On the day we were there, there were no other visitors at the temple so we enjoyed a very personal guided tour. There are also several other temples on that street if you feel like visiting them.
I would recommend anyone that comes to Morioka to take the time and visit it.
