Ihatov is a quasi-Esperanto name of a fictional land derived from the word "Iwate" as a toponymcreated by author Kenji Miyazawa.[2] In the author’s works Ihatov is a utopia which ranges from small islands in vast oceans and includes deserts and continents; however, it shares a number of things on common with Iwate, including a tendency towards natural disasters, and a resilient population.
The Place of Scenic Beauty designation spanned six locations in the municipalities of Hanamaki (Miyazawa's birthplace), Ōshū, Shizukuishi, Sumita, HanamakiTōno and Takizawa, to which a seventh location was added in 2006. Each of the locations appears in one or more of Miyazawa's poems.