Rice fields soon to be ready for harvest, farmhouses and homesteads, patches of vegetable plots, the occasional dormant volcano, gorges with rivers penciled through in grey. And lots of fluffy white puffs of cloud in a deep blue sky. Green and blue in all their shades and tones. Those were the colours of Tohoku in summer as we drove through in August. We had such great weather!

We were en route through Iwate prefecture towards Tazawa-ko. Iwate-san rose gracefully in the distance, as it loomed over the fields and plains.

What road trip would be completed without a visit to a rest stop? This was a simple highway rest stop and provided the usual amenities – toilets, snacks and souvenirs with a bonus view of the conical slopes of Iwate-san in the distance.