Destination Spotlight

5 Reasons To Visit Tadami Line’s Yanaizu Town

5 Reasons To Visit Tadami Line’s Yanaizu Town

Yanaizu Town lies west of the historic city of Aizu-Wakamatsu, Fukushima Prefecture. It’s a perfect destination to include in a day trip from Aizu-Wakamatsu City, or as part of the journey to Kaneyama or Miyashita, where you can stay the night before venturing out to see the No. 1 Tadami River Bridge View Spot in the morning! The best part? The scenic JR Tadami Line local railway line connects all of these places!

Here are some of my favourite things about visiting Yanaizu during the winter months.

1) ENZOJI TEMPLE

Originally constructed in the year 807, Enzoji Temple is a remarkable and historic temple in Yanaizu Town. Although damaged heavily and repaired in the 17th century, the temple still feels extremely old, and bears the scars of historic events such as damage to the wood caused by the fighting that took place during the Meiji Restoration.

This temple looks absolutely magical in winter time, as there is heavy snowfall in Aizu area each year. The temple is just a 9 minute walk from Aizu Yanaizu Station on the JR Tadami Line, or you can drive here easily from Aizu-Wakamatsu City.

Enzoji Temple is most famous for being the birthplace of the legend of the lucky red cow of Fukushima known as the ‘Akabeko’. This cow supposedly played a vital role in the construction of the temple nearly a millennium ago.

2) THIS VIEW

I never get over how beautiful the view from the steps leading up to Enzoji Temple is. Every time I drive past here, no matter the season, I can’t help but park my car and snap a photo or two.

3) STEAMED BUNS

Yanaizu Town is known within Fukushima Prefecture for its really tasty sweet steamed buns known as ‘Awa Manju’, which are filled with a variety of flavours. Made from millet and pounded mochi rice, and filled with red bean paste, these buns have been loved in this town for almost 200 years. They’re especially delicious enjoyed with hot green tea!

There are a number of shops that sell them along the quaint roads that surround Enzoji, so please take a walk around and choose your favourite! I’ve included the main manju shops in the map to the top of this post.

4) KIYOSHI SAITO MUSEUM OF ART, YANAIZU

Just a 12 minute (1 km) walk from Enzoji Temple, this museum of art displays the work of Kiyoshi Saito, an internationally famous artist who was born in nearby Aizu-Bange Town. Inspired by traditional woodblock print, Saito produced many beautiful block prints during his life which have been exhibited in countries including the US, Australia, India and Czechoslovakia.

Over the decades, the subject of Saito’s prints developed and changed, and range from animals and vegetable motifs to landscapes and portraits. For the town of Yanaizu, arguably the most important prints produced by Saito were his Aizu Series, made in 1940.

Saito left Aizu in 1911 when he was 4-years-old to move to Hokkaido due to his father’s job transfer. He returned to Aizu for the first time in 1937 to visit his Aunt in Yanaizu Town. He was really moved by the beautiful scenery and created prints to capture the atmosphere and magic of rural life. He became a honorary citizen of Yanaizu Town years later and retired there at the age of 80. The museum has a great English website so please check it out here.

The museum is located close to Michi-no-Eki Yanaizu (Roadside Station) and Hot in Yanaizu, where you can buy souvenirs and local food (and even a steamed bun or two if you get there before they all run out!) so be sure to check these shops out too.

Images ©Hisako Watanabe

5) NAKED MAN FESTIVAL

This festival is officially known as ‘Nanokado Hadaka Mairi‘, which translates as ‘Naked Temple Visit’. On the evening of January 7th every year, crowds of men dressed in fundoshi loincloths (which you read about last week!), get ready for this festival, which takes place in Enzoji Temple. Participants cleanse their bodies, and march through the streets of Yanaizu to Enzoji Temple, almost completely exposed to the elements.

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  1. Useful Information

    Fukushima’s Big Three Ski Resorts - And How to Get There

    If you’ve ever been to Japan’s most famous ski resorts like Hakuba, you know Japan’s glowing reputation as a ski haven is well-founded.But what if I told you you can get: Better powder Better views Cheaper lift pass and rental prices Less crowded slopesAnd all in a shorter travel time from Tokyo?In my six years living in Japan, I’ve travelled to over ten ski resorts, including several weekends at Hakuba – it’s where I first learned to ski!But the more ski resorts I visited, the more I fell in love with the lesser-known places – you typically get a better deal on lift tickets, but without the runs clogged with people. Especially as a beginner turning the corner to intermediate level, having slopes almost all to myself felt like I was free to make mistakes without accidentally barrelling into someone.As of 2025, there are 16 (sixteen!) ski resorts in Fukushima Prefecture, largely located in the western mountainous regions which see heavy snowfall every year. But just because these are lesser-known resorts doesn’t mean they’re ‘small’ – in fact, some of the resorts on this list rival the largest resorts in the country in size.EN Resorts GrandecoGrandeco offers some of the best scenery I’ve witnessed at any ski resort in Japan, with panoramic views across Mt. Bandai and Lake Inawashiro on a clear day. The variety of courses is excellent, with a mogul course, plus rails and jumps for snowboarders, and most of the mountain can be traversed following a single gondola ride.But Grandeco’s biggest strength lies at the foot of the slope, where the modern Grandeco Hotel feeds directly on to the ski resort. Guests can take their ski and snowboard gear from lockers listed with their room number, step out on to the snow, strap in and ski directly down to the gondola platform. When done with their day of skiing, guests cut through a gentle slope to return to the hotel. This convenient ‘ski in, ski out’ model is a game changer for many visitors.Level:Although an excellent choice for beginners thanks to its long and forgiving runs – one of which is four kilometres long! – Grandeco also features several tougher courses. Most popular among pros is the hidden ‘Powder’ course, which lives up to its name with thick powdery snow untouched by 95% of visitors. Those hunting the deepest snow must first traverse the narrow ‘Road to Powder’ forest path at the top of the mountain.Facilities: There is a large canteen serving all kinds of Japanese and Western fare at the bottom of the hill, plus a Baskin Robbins ice cream shop on site! There’s also a restaurant near the gondola drop-off station further up the slopes, where stonebaked pizzas are cooked from scratch. There is a rental shop inside the hotel, as well as at the ski centre by the gondola. Ski lessons are available, with English support on request. Parking is widely available and free.Access (Public Transport): From Koriyama Station, take a Ban’etsu West Line train to Inawashiro Station (about 40mins), where there is a free shuttle bus service to the resort (also about 40mins). All shuttle bus services in this article contain space for skis, snowboards and luggage. Equally there is a paid shuttle bus (approx. 2hrs) from Koriyama Station to the resort in winter, requiring an advance booking.For more details, see the resort’s English website.Courses at Grandeco can stay open as late as mid-April.Hoshino Resorts' Nekoma MountainPreviously two resorts, the merger of Hoshino Resorts Nekoma with Hoshino Resorts Alts-Bandai created one of Japan’s largest ski resorts, with the north and south side of Mt. Bandai now accessible on a single lift pass. Visitors can travel between the two on a scenic chair lift, meaning you can get gorgeous views over Lake Inawashiro on the south side in the morning, then ski the powdery snow of the sun-sheltered north side in the afternoon.Level:The south side is more beginner-friendly for its abundance of wide gentle slopes, with some narrower areas. The north side is a mixture of beginner and intermediate courses, although both areas are suitable for beginners while featuring some black courses for experts.Facilities: There are restaurants with large seating areas at the ski centres of both north and south areas, plus a charming café / restaurant called The Rider’s which sits halfway down the southern slopes, offering artisanal burgers. The base camps both north and south offer multiple rental shops and a variety of food options. Cashless payments are accepted throughout the resort, except for parking areas. Night skiing is available on the south side. Ski lessons are offered on both the north and south side, with English available upon request.Parking: North: 1,000 yen on weekends, holidays and New Year. Free on weekdays or for season ticket holders. South: Parking at the closest parking area (‘South A’) is charged on weekends, holidays and New Year, otherwise free. Parking areas B to D are always free.Access (Shuttle Bus): North: A free shuttle bus leaves from most major Urabandai hotels, including Grandeco, MERCURE Urabandai, Urabandai Kogen Hotel and Urabandai Lake Resort. No reservation required. South: From Bandaimachi Station, 15min shuttle bus, free of charge, reservation required. From Koriyama Station, 85min shuttle bus, 1,000 yen, reservation required. From Aizuwakamatsu Station, 45min shuttle bus, 1,000 yen, no reservation needed. For more details about timetables and reservation procedures, please check the official Nekoma website.Inawashiro Ski ResortMy favourite resort I’ve been to in Japan for its cost-effectiveness, Inawashiro is famous locally for its pricing campaign, in which lift passes are free on weekdays. Weekend prices are always half-price, too, making it a discounted 2,800 yen for adults and 1,400 for children of elementary school age. Even at full price, the resort is terrific, boasting a variety of courses, great views and empty runs, but for free, it’s incredible value for money. Although you have to join the resort’s member program, it’s free to join, takes ten minutes and I was relieved not to receive any newsletters to my email.The base camps at Inawashiro are split into three areas, each with expansive parking and served by a circular shuttle bus. Inawashiro Kanko Hotel and Hotel Villa Inawashiro are also located within the grounds.Level:The variety at Inawashiro is good, boasting 18 courses – only three of these are advanced level, albeit one of these is the All-Japan Ski Competition mogul course used in international competitions. Otherwise, the resort is a haven for beginner or intermediate skiers and snowboarders, since several slopes are extremely wide and gentle. If I was looking to start skiing tomorrow, Inawashiro would be my pick for a safe place to repeatedly fall over.Facilities: Each of the three base camps has rental facilities and canteen-style restaurants, where customers order from a ticket machine. There is a kids’ park and snow park close to the main slope at Center House Bandai. There are yakiniku (barbeque) restaurants in two mid-slope locations: Mt. Bandaisan Terrace in the western Sky Area, and Hyobaku Terrace in the eastern Minero area. This is a great place for customers to scorch meat at their own table while taking a break to warm themselves up. This is a popular ski resort for school trips and ski classes due to its forgiving slopes. Lessons are available in English or Japanese – in fact, the resort offers English ski classes as a pathway to English conversation practice for local students. (I watched a group of about twenty students pelting a ski instructor with snowballs at the end of one class.) Night skiing is available until ten o’clock, but requires a paid ticket from 4.30pm.Access (Shuttle Bus):Inawashiro Ski Resort runs free shuttle buses from various areas in the prefecture. These are usually limited to once a day and a return journey, and reservations are required. Bandai Atami Onsen to the resort in approx. 45 minutes. Numajiri / Nakanosawa Onsen to the resort in approx. 30 minutes. Koriyama Station to the resort in approx. 1 hour and 20 minutes. Fukushima Station to the resort in approx. 1 hour and 30 minutes (weekends and national holidays only). Iwaki Station to the resort in approx. 1 hour and 50 minutes (weekends and national holidays only).There are also multiple free shuttle bus departures daily from Inawashiro Station to the resort, taking about 20mins with no reservation required. For more details about bus stops, timetables and booking procedures, please visit the Inawashiro Ski Resort website.Impeccable groomed runs at Fairyland in KaneyamaOther Ski Resorts to ConsiderLooking to cast the net a little wider and explore Fukushima's deep snow country? Here are some options from across the prefecture:SannokuraUrabandai / Inawashiro Area: Adatara Kogen Ski Resort Listel Ski Fantasia Nihonmatsu Shiozawa Numajiri Ski Resort Sannokura Urabandai Ski ResortTadami Ski ResortTadami Area: Fairyland Kaneyama Tadami Ski ResortMinami-Aizu Area Aizu Kogen Nango Aizu Kogen Daikura Aizu Kogen Takatsue Aizu Kogen Takahata Oze Hinoemata OnsenGoogle Maps list of every resort:

    Fukushima’s Big Three Ski Resorts - And How to Get There
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    Fukushima’s Winter Festivals: Details and Dates for 2025

    Winter is an excellent time to visit Fukushima -- great skiing, stunning snow scenery, and of course, traditional winter festivals. If you're looking to find out which winter events are right for you, see below for all the details for the 2025 editions.Visit the individual destination pages for more information.21 December – 28 February: Higashiyama Onsen Candle FestivalThe earliest of the winter attractions to open, the Candle Festival at Higashiyama Onsen runs for three months from mid-December through to the end of February. The candles in this charming onsen town are illuminated for 90 minutes every evening, making for a pleasant atmosphere on an evening stroll.(Candles are lit 16:30-18:00 in December and January, 17:00-18:30 in February)Given its dates, the Candle Festival combines well with visiting other winter festivals on this list, regardless of whether you’re staying in Higashiyama Onsen.Address: Higashiyama Onsen, Aizu-Wakamatsu City7 January: Nanokado Hadaka Mairi FestivalTranslating roughly as, ‘the naked shrine visit on the 7th January’, Nanokado Hadaka Mairi sees a group of men in nothing but loincloths climb a hemp rope to the top of Enzoji Temple. To get there they must race up the 113 stone steps to the main temple building in the freezing cold, and visitors are able to participate (advance notice is required).The festival traces its roots back to an ancient legend, telling of a princess who received a wish-granting jewel from a river dragon to tide against crop failures, and a community who banded together on the night of the 7th to prevent the dragon spirit from taking it back. To this day the festival is a rowdy display of hope and community.If you’re in Yanaizu for the festival, this is a great chance to see one of the prefecture’s most underrated towns: the Chansey Lucky Park is a winner, and since Enzoji is the birthplace of the akabeko legend, you’ll find merchandise of the red cows wherever you look.Address: Enzoji Temple, Jikemachi-ko 176, Yanaizu Town, Kawanuma District, Fukushima Pref. 969-72011 February – 9 February: Iwaki Tsurushi-bina MatsuriHeld in the Nakanosaku district of Iwaki in the south-east of the prefecture, this is the best time to visit this port town thanks to its colourful displays of handmade dolls and folk arts made with chirimen fabric (which is used in kimonos). The main display takes place at Seikokan, where over 3,000 fabric dolls hang from under the eaves of the old traditional house.There are also food and merchandise stalls that run primarily on Saturdays and Sundays.Address: Nakanosaku, Iwaki City (Map)7 & 8 February: Aizu Painted Candle FestivalThe start of a weekend of winter events, Friday 7th February is the first night of the Aizu Painted Candle Festival – tens of thousands of candles in artisanal wooden cases, bamboo holders and paper boxes that light up Tsurugajo Castle and the traditional garden down the road at Oyaku-en.The main time to see the candles is between 17:30 and 20:30, where visitors can not only enjoy the beautiful evening views but appreciate the time and craftsmanship involved in making each candle.Tsurugajo Castle: 1-1 Otemachi, Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima 965-0873Oyaku-en Garden: 8-1 Hanaharumachi, Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima 965-08047 – 9 February: Tadami Snow FestivalTaking place on the same weekend as the Ouchi-juku festival, the Tadami Snow Festival is a charming local festival that attracts over 20,000 visitors a year. It’s most famous for its large snow sculptures, which are illuminated when it gets dark, in addition to fireworks displays.The main festival takes place on the 8th and 9th, with some smaller festivities on the night of the 7th.Much like Ouchi-juku, the Tadami Snow Festival features music performances, sales of local crafts and food stalls.Address: In front of Tadami Station, Tadami Town, Minamiaizu District, Fukushima Pref. 968-04218 & 9 February: Ouchi-juku Snow FestivalMochi thrown from rooftops, wood-cutting competitions, igloos, traditional performing arts, fireworks, yosakoi dancing, soba noodles eating contests – the Ouchi-juku Snow Festival casts a wide gamut of activities in addition to its beautiful scenery. The thatched roofs of the hamlet covered in snow make for splendid photographs.Local vendors sell merchandise directly from their houses, and during the winter season there are food stalls selling chargrilled dishes and snacks. For many people in Fukushima, this is the festival to prioritise every winter.Address: Ouchi-juku (Yamamoto, Ouchi, Shimogo Town, Minamiaizu District, Fukushima Pref. 969-5207)11 February: Shirakawa Daruma MarketDaruma, traditional good luck talismans, are a symbol of Shirakawa City, with two major workshops where visitors can watch craftsmen at work. Shirakawa daruma vary slightly in design from the Tohoku-style daruma sold further north in Fukushima City or the art village at Miharu.At this event, held yearly on 11th February, there is a festival-esque atmosphere with hundreds and thousands of visitors turning up to peruse over 700 stalls. Since daruma come in 18 sizes and a variety on display, it’s easy to find a daruma that suits you – tradition says you make a wish while the daruma has only its left eye filled in (or you fill it in while making the wish), and then you fill in the right eye when the dream is fulfilled.Address: The main street in front of Shirakawa Station that runs parallel to the train line.Looking for more tips about travelling in Fukushima this winter? Check out our full guide.

    Fukushima’s Winter Festivals: Details and Dates for 2025
  3. Destination Spotlight

    How I Joined the Kohata Flag Festival

    Held yearly on the first Sunday of December, Hata Matsuri - the Kohata Flag Festival - is a bustling display of colour and community in a beautiful part of rural Fukushima. Here’s what I learned from joining the procession myself, complete with some tips for the future if you’d also like to attend!Since I arrived in Fukushima, I’ve been trying to go to every festival I can. Attending local festivals is a great way to learn more about lesser-known areas of the prefecture and the local people are always eager to welcome new visitors.With that in mind, after seeing pictures of the Kohata Flag Festival online, I was keen to visit the area and see the colourful flags for myself. That’s how I ended up getting up early on a chilly Sunday morning and heading to the sleepy mountain village of Kohata, a district of equally sleepy Nihonmatsu City.(If the name sounds familiar, Nihonmatsu itself is widely known for its extravagant three-day lantern festival in October, and the Chrysanthemum Doll Festival which takes place roughly around the same time to coincide with autumn colours.)The flag festival, meanwhile, is the biggest yearly event for Kohata. Although the main procession takes place on the Sunday, there are also festivities on the Saturday, including mizugori (purifying oneself with buckets and buckets of cold spring water), dancing and a foot race while holding the great flags.This first day is also when first-time participants to the festival – usually boys who have come of age – are taken halfway up the mountain via the woodland trails to complete their initiation into the flag-bearers. This involves slipping through a narrow gap just barely wide enough for an adult to pass through, before heading up to Okitsushima Shrine to pray and be inducted as a member of the procession.Unlike the all-whites of the regular flag-carriers, these first-timers wear red and are treated as adults. Although usually there are two or three new members, this year there was only one, who was forced to take photos by his family at every step of the journey.The festival traces its history back nearly a thousand years. A defeated Genji army in 1055 barricaded themselves in meagre defences on Mt. Kohata, and it’s said that their pursuers among the Abe forces mistook the heavy snow for Genji banners and fled from certain victory. This is one of the reasons that white flags appear alongside the more colourful ones in the flag procession.The flag-bearers depart from the Kohata Community Center at 8:30am on Sunday. They first gather at 7:30, and there is an opening ceremony from 8:00, but this is mostly speeches from local officials and guests of honour, and since the grounds are surrounded by rows of trees, it can get fairly chilly at that time of the morning – I would say arriving shortly before departure time would be fine for most people.That being said, this is where I met Hatarou, the local mascot (this is a pun, since 'hata' is Japanese for flag. It'd be like calling a mascot 'Flaggy', but funnier.) This also makes Hata Matsuri one of the few Fukushima festivals with its own mascot.The procession lasts for several hours, taking the marchers from the community center in the west part of town up into the foothills of Mt. Kohata, and eventually leading to the magnificent Okitsushima Shrine deep in the mountain woodland. There are multiple good places for taking photos – it quickly becomes obvious where they are, since a flock of local photography enthusiasts follow the procession wherever it goes! I’d recommend the road bridge shortly after leaving the main street of town.When I stopped in someone’s driveway to get a good photo of the marchers heading through the torii gate, the home owner came and spoke with me for a while about what brought me to the festival. She said in her childhood, the flags numbered nearly two hundred, whereas nowadays the number is closer to seventy or eighty. When I thanked her and went to follow the parade, she handed me a wrapped sweet and told me to have a great day – this is exactly the kind of wholesome experience that makes it worthwhile going to lesser-known festivals.In fact, this happened multiple times over the course of the day. Both the members of the procession and regular attendees struck up conversations with me about my hometown, my experiences in Fukushima, and my thoughts on the festival. Some offered suggestions for places I should visit in the area, while several local school-age children spoke to me in English they’d been practising in class.I got chatting to one group of flag-bearers about the festival and the area, and one of them asked if I’d like to try carrying his flag, which I did for about five minutes! (His friends bantered him relentlessly about getting the visitors to do his work for him). Although the flags are as heavy as they look, the most strenuous part is simply how large they are – the village is beset with power lines and overhanging tree branches, and making sure the flags don’t catch on anything requires constant vigilance.Making that task more difficult, of course, is the fact that the flag-bearers are drinking robustly from the moment they assemble at the community center at 7:30 in the morning. Every so often, when the procession slowed and took a break, members of the group carrying hefty bottles would pour a sweet sake into small bamboo cups that each man carried on his hip.It meant that wherever we walked, there was always the fragrant smell of the sake in the air, and more than one member of the procession arrived at the shrine a little worse for wear. One younger flag-bearer drank a little too much and was bundled into a fire engine to go home about halfway through the route...And so we headed to Okitsushima Shrine. Although we passed the front entrance during our walk up the mountain, the flags must first be taken through the back route to the Tainai Kuguri Rock, where a prayer is said for health and good fortune before continuing up the trail. In the woods the slopes can be fairly steep and the footing a little slippery, so this was where I wished I’d worn slightly more rugged shoes with a better grip. Fortunately, you only need to pass this way once, as you’ll use the front steps to leave the shrine later.In addition to the beautiful old shrine building at Okitsushima, the grounds also play host to a beautiful deep red pagoda that is a central pillar of the shrine’s history. It’s said that when famous warlord Date Masamune set Mt. Kohata ablaze in the 1500s that the pagoda would not collapse, and these days it is a power spot for those wishing for academic success and the prevention of disease.When they reach the top of the long steps up to the shrine building, each flag-bearer group stops to say a prayer for long life and celebrate a job well done. Then, the groups come together to hear words from the shrine’s caretakers, after which the festival comes to an end.Overall, the festival began in earnest at 8:30am and ended around 1pm. There were several breaks during the march to allow people to rest up and recharge – not realising how rugged a walk it was, I didn’t bring anything in the way of snacks or water, so I’d certainly recommend that for people thinking of joining all the way to the end.Also, while the walk back down from the shrine avoids the woodland route and thereby takes less time, it still took me about 45mins to walk from Okitsushima Shrine back to the community center where I parked, so you should factor that into your schedule. There is parking at the shrine, but space is limited and the roads can get crowded at home time.Final Thoughts & TipsApart from the great atmosphere, friendly people and the colourful flags, for me the most lasting impression of the festival was the beauty of the local area. Even though the festival is held just after the peak of autumn colour season, there were still streaks of orange in the hillsides, and there’s more than one viewpoint looking over the town as you make the climb to the shrine.Although you don’t have to follow the procession all the way to the top, I think it’s worth it to see the final ceremony with all the flags lined up at the shrine, and the pagoda alone is worth the trip. Several people congratulated me for making it all the way to the top, or said they looked forward to seeing me next year.If I were to go again, I’d be keen to see the other ceremonies and events on the Saturday, and I’d probably aim to arrive shortly before departure to skip standing in the cold. Otherwise, as I mentioned above, good walking shoes and snacks / water will come in handy, and bring your camera!For more festivals in Fukushima, why not check out the Aizu Festival or the horse riding samurai of Soma Nomaoi?

    How I Joined the Kohata Flag Festival
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