Fukushima’s sake is renowned across Japan, and Nihonmatsu is known in particular as a region with great sake production and high-grade sake producers. Using water from Mt. Adatara, the sake of the area is characterized by a mellow taste and is popular with sake lovers around the world. Himonoya Sake Brewery was established in 1874 and specializes in Senkonari sake; Senkonari is named after the battle standard "Sennari Hyotan (1000 Gourds)" of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the famous military leader and one of the great unifiers of Japan.
The sake at Himonoya is a local secret that many outsiders, even Japanese, don’t know about. To get real sake-brewing experience, be sure to visit on a winter morning, when the sake brewing art begins and most of the day’s tasks are performed. Because Himonoya Sake Brewery operates in a traditional and artisanal manner, it only makes sake during the winter season (a centuries-old rule). The tours and sake tasting offered at this old-fashioned brewery are available by reservation and are a treat to anyone with a taste for Japanese sake, or Nihonshu. These sake brewery tours are free for groups of one to ten people and take only 30 minutes to experience the brewing process. Guests should be legal Japanese drinking age (20 years of age or older) in order to enjoy the free tasting. There are four types of sake to be sampled along the tour - Kinpyo is the most highly recommended, with its sweet aftertaste making it an excellent match for Japanese snacks.
| Website | https://www.nihonmatsu-dmo.jp/en/plan/sake_1/ |
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| Contact | (+81) 243-23-0164 |
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| Entrance Fee | Free |
| Related info | Brewery Tours: Run between 9:00 AM and 4:30 PM. Please reserve at least one day in advance. By appointment on Sundays and national holidays. Booking Tours Contact Himonoya Sake Brewery at (+81) 243-23-0164 Or book via Nihonmatsu Tourism Association via their website, or by calling (+81) 243-24-5085. |
| Access | 173 Matsuoka, Nihonmatsu City, Fukushima Pref. 964-0905 View directions |
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| Getting there | By Car: 5 min drive from Nihonmatsu I.C. exit off the Tohoku Expressway. By Train: 4 min walk from Nihonmatsu Station (JR Tohoku Main Line). |
Hanamiyama Park is a privately-owned field for flowering and ornamental trees, in southeast Fukushima City.The park is located within a satoyama-type landscape i.e. managed woodland hill country close to human habitat. What originally began more than 60 years ago with local farmers planting flowers and trees, has grown into a beautiful scene. The landowner generously turned the area into a park in 1959 to allow visitors to enjoy the beautiful flowers there.Hanamiyama Park, and the wider Hanamiyama area, is now visited by thousands of admirers every year!Springtime visits see cherry, plum, and forsythia trees paint everything in vivid colors. A gentle pink and purple landscape waving in the breeze with the picturesque snow-capped Azuma Mountains in the distance makes for an amazing sight.The riot of spring colors is spectacular enough to merit calling this park Fukushima's very own paradise.The flowering landscape moves all who see it and has been preserved through the cooperation of the local residents. Enjoy a leisurely one-hour stroll that will take you from the foot of the hill to the summit. Travel through groves of flowering trees and other vibrant flowers in full bloom.Hanamiyama is the perfect getaway for a day for nature lovers, hikers, or people trying to escape for a short time.The best part is that spring isn’t the only beautiful time to visit. Marvel in wonder during the lush green summer foliage or the dappled colors of autumn. When you visit this fairytale-like wonderland, it is recommended that visitors wear comfortable walking shoes as the terrain includes graveled paths, steep slopes, and slippery areas. Mid- through late April is the peak season, so ready your camera and your heart for the beauty that awaits.
Tucked away in a cedar grove in Tanagura Town, the moss-covered rocks and statues of Isshikikanei Shrine make you feel like you’ve stepped into a Ghibli movie.The shrine is well-known in the area for its two koma-inu (lion statue) carvings. These were carved in 1934 by Kobayashi Wahei, a famous stonemason from the region responsible for dozens of statues on shrine grounds, especially in his birthplace of nearby Ishikawa Town. One of them is known as one of Kobayashi’s ‘Great Three Lion Statues’.
These windy highlands are located at the plateau summit of Mt. Aizu-Nunobiki. It’s location to the south of Lake Inawashiro provides ample breeze to power the 33 windmills that stand majestically atop the highland plateau. Nunobiki Kogen Wind Farm is one of Japan's largest wind farms. It's location at an altitude of about 1,000 meters, makes for a truly fantastic view of the surrounding scenery.From early August to early September, visitors can enjoy amazing vistas of the beautiful himawari batake (sunflower fields). The sunflowers here are planted at 3 different intervals, meaning that visitors can enjoy seeing them throughout the summer months.Sunflowers aren’t all that Koriyama Nunobiki Kaze-no-Kogen has to offer flower lovers: - from August to September - you can see cosmos blooming. Of course, visitors are always greeted with superb views of Lake Inawashiro and Mt. Bandai.There are walking courses along the plateau, so visitors can explore the area and snap some great photos. One really amazing photo spot can be found at the observatory. Depending on the timing of your visit, you might be able to purchase some local vegetables at temporary stalls. We recommend trying the region’s famous Nunobiki Plateau daikon radish.
Iino is known as the 'UFO no Sato' (UFO Village) for its track record of sightings of luminous or unexplained flying objects. The UFO Museum tracks some of that history, as well as the wider history of UFO sightings worldwide featuring photographs and historical documents.There are also speculative models of possible extraterrestrial life and their spaceships, and a 3D cinema showing a short film exploring the mysteries of the local area.The second floor of the building features relaxation rooms and a public bath.Across from the museum, there is a souvenir store with alien-themed merchandise, in addition to a ramen restaurant with a similarly-themed menu.Please be aware that most displays are in Japanese with only sporadic English.
TATAMI VILLAGE (Kuboki Tatami Shop) is a shop, cafe, and workshop in Sukagawa City in Southern Fukushima prefecture. The Kuboki Tatami business was founded in 1740 in Sukagawa and is currently run by the 15th generation of the same family. ‘Tatami’ is a kind of woven mat made with rush grass frequently used as flooring in traditional Japanese-style rooms. Kuboki Tatami is not only dedicated to flooring, but also makes tatami coasters, smartphone mats, and accessories made with tatami-heri (a kind of ribbon used to fasten the sides of a tatami mat).At Tatami Village, visitors can make a tatami coaster or a pouch made of tatami-heri. Both experiences take approximately 30 minutes to complete. Additionally, the cafe on site serves matcha and seasonal sweets, and features a modern, bright space that uses tatami elegantly.
At Marusei Orchard, you can enjoy seasonal fruit picking as well as beautiful rural views. You can even treat yourself to delicious sweet treats made using fresh fruit at their onsite cafe! (The cafe menu changes by season).Fruit-Picking Experience Info & BookingSee more information about fruit picking in Fukushima City here.
Newly opened in 2022, Michi-no-Eki Fukushima (道の駅ふくしま）is a great place to buy local produce, souvenirs, and eat delicious Fukushima foods! Or even just to pause for a break along your road trip.It is located near the Fukushima Fruit line, so you’ll find a good assortment of delicious fresh fruit on display. You can also go fruit-picking to the nearby orchards using the rental bicycles available.Click here for more information on fruit picking in Fukushima!There is a dog park and an indoor play area for children called Momo Rabi Kids Park, which has many cute wooden toys and structures for children to play at as well as an indoor sandpit.We recommend trying the unusual ice-cream flavors at ‘yukiusagi’, a sweets shop that sells delicious parfaits and desserts using local produce. They sell rice-flavored ice-cream, as well as a special flavor called “Fukushima’s Sky Milk”（ふくしまの空ミルク）, which has a salty milk flavor!
BRITOMART is a stylish and rural shopping and restaurant complex in Miharu Town, Tamura district. It makes for the perfect place for a pit stop, or to take a coffee or lunch break if you’re visiting nearby tourist attractions, such as the Miharu Takizakura or the Koriyama Museum of Art. Its many wooden storefronts blend wonderfully with the surroundings.BRITOMART includes a bakery, a coffee shop, an interior shop, a restaurant, a home and garden shop, and more. Relax and enjoy the natural environment in the heart of Miharu, a beautiful rural town in central Fukushima prefecture, known for having splendid displays of flowers in the spring, and thousands of sakura trees.
