[2] Hanamaki is famous as the birthplace of the novelist and poet Kenji Miyazawa and Iwate Prefecture's local specialty, Wanko soba, as well as its hot spring resorts.

To the east the city rises to the highest peak in the Kitakami Range, Mount Hayachine at 1,917 metres (6,289 ft).

A chain of 12 hot springs that lie along the edge of the Ōu Mountains form the Hanamaki Onsenkyo Village.

The area of present-day Hanamaki was part of ancient Mutsu Province, and has been settled since at least the Jōmon period.

[7] Hanamaki has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 25 members.

In terms of national politics, the city is part of Iwate 3rd district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

The three-day festivities include a dance of over one thousand synchronized traditional dancers; the carrying of over one hundred small shrines; and the parading of a dozen or so large, hand-constructed floats depicting historical, fictional, or mythical scenes and accompanied by drummers, flautists, and lantern-carriers.

With the city's recent mergers, Hanamaki now lays claim to its absorbed towns' attractions.

On a hill above the town of Ōhasama proper stands a statue resembling the wolf-like costumes donned by Hayachine Kagura dancers.

Hayachine, which at 1917 m (6289 ft) is the second highest mountain in Iwate Prefecture, lies in the northeast section of Ōhasama.

Around the time of Japan's Girls' Festival, Ōhasama puts on displays of its collection of dolls, many of which are several hundred years old.

Local history suggests that the dolls may have been given to residents of Ōhasama by travelers from Kyoto on their way to trade in Hokkaidō.