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Green Tea Experience at Suirakuen Garden
Try matcha green tea in a traditional tea house in Suirakuen Garden, located inside Nanko Park. Suirakuen Garden is also a popular place to visit for its fall foliage.
The Ebisu Circuit is a famous car racing track and drifting school in Nihonmatsu. Three times a year, it holds the Ebisu Drift Matsuri (Ebisu Drift Festival), a thrilling event that gathers car drifting fans from across Japan and abroad.
The festival usually goes from Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon, during which participants can drift all day and night in the designated courses for a set fee.
There are typically three Drift Festivals a year:
Ebisu Drift Matsuri in 2024 (tentative):
Participating in the Drift Festival is a perfect opportunity to get the most out of a visit to the Ebisu Circuit. For instance, using the racing courses at the Circuit would normally require a reservation, but, during the event, participants are free to use the course of their liking between the available options.
Because of that, cars run right next to each other, making the already exciting prospect of drifting even more adrenaline-packed!
To participate, you can register at the website before the event.
Even if you cannot drive, you can make your way there to watch the incredible maneuvers of drifters as they screech their way through the courses. A big allure of the festival is the atmosphere of being among drivers and car enthusiasts.
The information in this post is accurate as of 2023 but could change. For updated information, please refer to the official site of the Ebisu Circuit (in Japanese).
Website | https://www.ebisu-circuit.com/ |
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Best Season |
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Related info | 2023 Dates: Spring Drift Festival: April 29-30 Summer Drift Festival: August 19-20 Autumn Drift Festival: November 18-19 |
Access | Sawamatsukura, Nihonmatsu City, Fukushima Pref. 964-0088 View directions |
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Getting there | By Public Transportation from Tokyo: Tohoku, Yamagata or Akita Shinkansen (from Tokyo Sta. or Ueno Sta.) to Koriyama Sta [郡山駅] (~1 hour 20 minutes). From there, take a JR Tohoku Line train to Nihonmatsu Sta. [二本松駅] (~25 minutes). At Nihonmatsu Station, take a rental car or a taxi to Ebisu Circuit. It takes between 3 to 3.5 hours to get from Tokyo to Ebisu Circuit from Tokyo using this route. By Car: Approximately 3.5 hours from Tokyo Station (275 km) via the Tohoku Expressway, or 3.5 hours from Narita Airport (285 km) via the Joban Expressway and the Iwaki Niigata Route/Trans-Tohoku Expressway/Ban-Etsu Expressway (please note that roads may have tolls). |
Try matcha green tea in a traditional tea house in Suirakuen Garden, located inside Nanko Park. Suirakuen Garden is also a popular place to visit for its fall foliage.
Ebisu Circuit – revered as a drift racing paradise – is visited every year by lots of international visitors. Ebisu Circuit’s ‘Drift Taxi’ experience lets you ride as a passenger in a special drifting car while a professional Drift School Teacher speeds around the circuit! Booking and more information here.
There are records of Shirakawa Daruma (Japanese traditional dolls) being sold as far back as the feudal reign of the Niwa Domain in 1627. Current Shirakawa Daruma are known as “Shirakawa Tsurugame Shochikubai Daruma.” The faces of these dolls are painted to incorporate various animals and plants, with the eyebrows representing cranes, the mustache representing a turtle, the ears representing pines and plum trees, and the beard representing bamboo or pine trees. All of these images are thought to bring good luck. The daruma is known to be a very classical, lucky talisman, started by Matsudaira Sadanobu, the lord of Shirakawa, when he hired the renowned painter Tani Buncho to paint the now famous face on the daruma doll. Once every year a large Shirakawa Daruma Market is held to celebrate and sell the beloved daruma dolls. You can paint your own daruma at the two daruma workshops in town!
Established in 1836, the Yoshinoya family has been continuing the production of Enobori banners using traditional techniques. Originally the family business was a kimono shop, however, the side business of painting Enobori banners began to grow until is eventually became their main business.These banners typically feature images of warriors and can be quite complex with their designs. They are made by painting on banners with a type of calligraphy ink.To create clean and uniform design, stencils are made from various materials to be used as a guide for the design. Once the basic design is painted with a stencil, you connect the lines and add fine details by hand.As a nod to a famous Sukagawa person, they began creating a design of Ultraman posing as a samurai warrior! You can try out the traditional banner making method explained above to create tote bags and small banners featuring a variety of samurai and Ultraman samurai designs.©円谷プロ
From late July to late September, a magical world of illumination is created at the Adatara Kogen Ski Area using 2 billion light bulbs. Numerous romantic locations amidst the light display are created through ingenious creativity, such as the "Tunnel of Light" surrounding the ropeway, and the "Blanket of Shining Flowers" found at the mountain summit.
This is one of the three major fighting festivals in Japan and has a tradition three hundred years in the making. This festival is so vibrant that throughout the town you can hear the beat of Japanese drums like an earthquake as huge floats crash together in battle. Hachiman Shrine becomes the main stage for the festival, after the floats are paraded around the streets.
At Usokae Festival, held in Iizaka Onsen Town, visitors buy lucky, hand-carved, wooden birds called ‘Usokae’. ‘Usokae’ translates as ‘changing lies’. Visitors who buy an Usokae bird must think of a ‘lie’ – i.e. something they don’t want to happen – which will in turn be changed to good luck to make sure that thing doesn’t occur by the birds by the end of the year. For example, you could think “I won’t pass my school exam” when you buy the bird, and by the end of the year, the bird will help you pass it! This is a unique local festival, and the hand-carved Usokae birds make very charming gifts too!
Shirakawa Daruma Market is held annually on February 11. On this date, the streets become lined for 1.5 km with stalls selling Daruma of all shapes and sizes. This lively, exciting market celebrates the culture and history of Shirakawa Daruma – a traditional doll which is characterised by having cranes for eyebrows, a tortoise for a moustache, beard made of bamboo, and pine and plum branches for cheeks, all of which make it a very auspicious item to keep at home.