Genbikei Gorge — Attraction in Ichinoseki

Beautiful with plenty of scenic spots to take pictures until you've run out of drive space. You can make use of the zip line basket from a local food vendor to order treats while standing on the opposite side of the gorge. We did not partake of this, and instead crossed the bridge to sit down at their shop which has a public bathroom outside.

There are a total of three bridges that cross the gorge and provide great places to take pictures. One of the bridges is a suspension bridge and is bouncy as you walk across. Much to the delight of some local sight seers when the two of us lumbered across causing a bit of sway.

We visited in early November and the gorge was rimmed in gold and red hues. We stopped at several public benches and sat to soak up the sounds and sights.

You can catch the city bus from Ichinoseki Station, it's a sort of off green bus. Ask the driver to confirm if you're on the right bus, make sure you take a ticket when boarding at the back. It was 490 yen per person and took 15 to 20 minutes.

The return bus is just across the street from the drop off bus stop...

Had such an amazing time here! Firstly the scenery is amazing. We were here in autumn so we got to experience all the brilliant colours on display. The gorge is very picturesque. The best part though was the flying dumplings. The dumplings are really a kind of mochi ball with some sauce. They were nice but what you really pay for is the experience. You put your yen in the basket on one side of the gorge, hit the mallet on the wooden slab and the basket wizzes across to the other side where the yen is replaced by dumplings and the basket is sent back. Because we so obviously look like tourists the guy on the other side tried to guess where we were from by holding various flags out the window. He couldn't guess but when we shouted across that we are Australian he quickly got th Aussie flag AND played the national anthem over a stereo as our dumplings came back. And if all that wasn't enough when we got over to his side of the gorge he invited us up into his dumpling hidey-hole and chatted and we took pictures. Highlight...

If you're a first time tourist in Japan & you don't speak Japanese, please give this one a miss. The buses from Ichinoseki to Genbikei are not frequent. We had a grumpy bus driver who got super angry with us more than once: moving off the seat to adjust sitting position and for the card tap not working and him needing to reset the machine to accept the Suica card tap.

The gorge is not worth the challenge of figuring out how not to offend the locals. There was a long line in the hot sun for the flying Dango and that was the only activity there. The gorge is roped off so you can only see it from the bridge. Old cafe signs for places that had closed. The Sahara glass shop was pleasant enough but nothing that wowed us.

The best thing about this side trip was the friendly souvenier store owner who spoke to us in English and was happy to be so helpful. There are far more amazing experiences to be had in Japan. We could have spent more time chilling in our guest house in Geibikei or walking around...