Morioka City is located in central Iwate Prefecture and is one of the major cities in the Tohoku region, along with Sendai and Koriyama. It is also designated as a core city. The city is inland, surrounded by Mt. Iwate to the northwest, Mt. Komagatake to the west, Mt. Hayachine to the east, and Mt. Nansho and Mt. Higashine to the south. The city's green belt is also a landmark. It developed as a castle town around Morioka Castle, built by the Nanbu clan, and after the Meiji period, urbanization progressed rapidly with the opening of the Tohoku Shinkansen. The Morioka metropolitan area is the second largest metropolitan area in the Tohoku region after the Sendai metropolitan area. The city's traditional industries include Nambu ironware and ancient Nambu stencil dyeing. It is home to 14 nationally designated important cultural properties.