Fukushima City
Poetry and produce by hot springs
Peaches inspire Haiku by Onsen to fine produce and fierce festivals for a racing pulse. Discover traditional festivals, horse races, flower parks, fruit orchards and healing hot springs.
Discover Fukushima City
Peaches are the most famous produce of Fukushima, shipped across Asia. Followed by Nashi pears, grapes, or cherries – depending on what time of year. Nihonmatsu is known for a mellow tasting sake attributed to the waters from Mt. Adatara. At Fukushima Product Promotion Center find Kinsuisho sake and Fukushima craft beer made with local apples and peaches.
Īzaka Onsen in Fukushima city has operated for over 1,000 years. Glide over the oldest surviving steel-arch bridges and take a dip in the historic Sabakoyu. Visitors include legendary figures such as the master of haiku poems, Matsuo Basho. The town is also dotted with a number of communal baths and public foot baths.
For peace of mind and spirit visit Ryusenji Temple for Zazen, temple yoga, or calligraphy settle into natural surroundings and calming halls built in 1320 and reconstructed in 1758. In early October, you can witness the evening mayhem of the Iizaka Kenka Matsuri (Fighting Festival). This rowdy festival features huge portable shrines slamming into each other. On Mt Shinobu Iwaya Kannon carvings contain around 60 Buddhist figures.
In spring peach blossoms & cherry blossoms abound. More floral delights exude colour in summer. Visit Doaidate Park for Hydrengea and Dahlia of 300 varieties. Sukagawa Botan-en Peony Garden is filled with 290 varieties of peony, the deep purple of Japan. Furoyama Park Yama-tsutsuji (Mountain Rhododendron) is covered the park in deep shades of red.
Succulent Matsuba crab owes its rich flavor to cold waters and a plankton-rich environment. Eaten steamed, boiled in a hot pot or as sushi. Or veggie lovers enjoy TOMATO LAND on Wonder Farm’s, meet ‘Hula Girls’, ‘Midori Chan’ and ‘Carol’ some puzzling varieties of tomato not people.
Kasumigajo Castle Park (Nihonmatsu Castle) castle ruins have been turned into a prefectural natural park, with the stone walls framing the seasonal beauty of the landscape. In Spring, 1,700 cherry trees bloom as a cherry fluff haze makes the castle seem in a mist, Kasumigajo. Breathtaking beauty of cherry blossoms perpetuate. Each year the blooms of Miharu, now over 1000 years old are called Takizakura, a Waterfall of Cherry Blossoms. Benishidare Jizo-zakura is 400 years old and is called the “daughter” of Miharu. Kassenba’s Weeping Cherry Tree trees are estimated to be around 170 years old and possibly the grandchildren of the great Miharu. While Fureai-Zakura Cherry Blossom Somei Yoshino cherry blossom trees bloom along both sides of the Fujita River for three kilometres around Horinouchi Bridge near Kikuta Station.
Fukushima Prefectural Museum of Art at the foot of the mountain is worth a visit for an excellent collection, of 3,800-pieces including 20th century American Realism, modern Japanese, French Impressionist and post-Impressionist works by Monet, Gauguin, and Pissarro.
Feel the rush and excitement at one of Tohoku’s largest horse racing tracks. The Fukushima Racecourse has a century of history. Cheer on your favourite horse and jockey during major races held every season, except winter.
This region has gastronomical specialities in addition to sake, lacquerware and Kokeshi dolls. Aizu nuri lacquerware dates back to the late 15th century. Decorative techniques and elaborate designs distinguish this lacquerware. The most striking patterns feature embossed, engraved or painted motifs. Tsuchiyu Onsen has an artisan neighbourhood with studios selling Japan’s famous Kokeshi dolls.
