A lovely restaurant where you can savor the flavors of handmade soba and coffee. This restaurant is commited to serving delicious, seasonal food. In summer, the noodles are made thinner. In winter, they’re made a bit thicker. You’ll be able to relish the stone-ground, handmade noodles. Their most popular topping for soba is their large umeboshi (sour pickled plums) from the Kishu Domain, which can be enjoyed as part of Ishiharaya's Grated Plum Soba dish.
| Website | http://shimogo.jp/(Japanese) |
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| Contact | Shimogo Town Tourism Association |
| Best Season | All Year |
| Opening Hours | 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM (Irregular holidays. During the winter season, business hours may be affected by snow.) |
| Access | Yamamoto 5, Ouchi, Shimogo Town, Minamiaizu District, Fukushima Pref. 969-5207 View directions |
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Established over 110 years ago, the main store of Yamanaka Senbei serves up handcooked senbei rice crackers. Just like in times of old, they use a traditional brick oven to cook their crackers over a charcoal fire. This experience is highly recommended for foodies and tourists alike, as you’ll be able to enjoy senbei fresh from the charcoal oven! (Reservations are advised for the senbei-making experience)
With a diameter of 3.5 km, Lake Sohara is the fourth largest lake in the wetlands of the Urabandai highlands. Blessed with bountiful plankton and aquatic plants such as potamogeton distinctus and water shield, many wild birds flock to its waters. Walking the shores of this lake, you can feel as if you're in a wild highland oasis.
Nanokamachi-dori Street is a quaint shopping street with an olde-worlde atmosphere, located in central Aizu-Wakamatsu City. There is a mix of western-style buildings, and traditional Japanese architecture, including Japanese-style storehouses and wooden town houses, from the Taisho Period (1912-1926). This street is home to a number of shops selling local products such as Aizu lacquerware and Aizu momen (cotton made in the Aizu area). Nanokamachi-dori Street is a great spot to grab a bite to eat, and is also useful as a base to explore Aizu-Wakamatsu City. Suehiro Sake Brewery and Suzuzen lacquerware shop are just two of the esteemed businesses located close to this shopping street.
The Goshiki-numa ponds of Urabandai are a cluster of five volcanic lakes at the foot of Mt. Bandai. When Mt. Bandai erupted in 1888, Goshiki-numa - which translates as "Five-Colored Ponds - were formed.In actuality dozens of lakes were created due to the 1888 eruption, but the Goshiki-numa Ponds are the most famous. It was thanks to the eruption that the lakes each took on rich color; the various minerals found in each lake give them a unique color and create a mystical aura.The colors of the Goshiki-numa Ponds also change throughout the year depending on weather and time of day, a truly mysterious phenomenon. The lakes have become a popular tourist destination. The five main lakes are Bishamon, Aka, Ao, Benten, and Midoro, and their colors range from a lime green to deep turquoise to a topaz blue. A scenic walking route guides visitors around the ponds. At 3.6 km in length, this walking route - which will take you past many of the ethereal colors - takes about 70 minutes to complete.If you’d like a view of all five lakes at once, why not take the 4 km walking trail from Bishamon-numa (largest of the five lakes) up to nearby Lake Hibara. Alternatively, if hiking is not on your itinerary, enjoy a simple rowboat out on Bishamon-numa. It’s especially lovely in autumn as the color of the autumn leaves reflects on the deep green surface of the lake. In winter, there are even snowshoe trekking tours offered. The color of the lakes looks particularly vivid in winter, seeing as the minerals in some of the lakes stop them from freezing over, meaning you can see their colors contrasted with the white of the snow.Be sure to stop by the Urabandai Visitor Center, which is a large and well-equipped facility. You can find great information here about tours as well as the various geography, wildlife, and even the history of the area. It’s a great chance to learn more about the ecosystem that makes up the Goshiki-numa Ponds.
Although Fukushima is most famous for its sake distilleries, the Inawashiro Original Beer Brewery has a growing reputation among expats for its rich taste. The large beer hall here is well-located in central Inawashiro, close to the lake, allowing travellers a chance to sample the beer and German sausages. Views of Mt. Bandai from the second-floor restaurant hall are spectacular and unobstructed, making this an excellent stopping place on a longer journey.The beer at Inawashiro is made using the famously pure mountain spring waters of Mt. Bandai, combined with German wheat and hops for a unique taste you won't find anywhere else in Japan. A 5-drink sample set is available for new guests to try the range of the brewery's most popular five beers.There's also a shop downstairs selling Fukushima specialties and beers from the brewery, as well as souvenir stand where you can buy ice cream (including a beer-flavoured one!)The brewery shares parking with the World Glassware Hall, where visitors can try their hand at glass-blowing and etching. The Hideyo Noguchi Memorial Hall is also a short walk away.
Among the simple color palette of Ouchi-juku, Honke Kanouya will draw your eyes with their brightly-colored collection of goods. Lining the store front is a wide assortment of items like vegetable-shaped beanbags to ornaments to decorations to fabric accessories. All these crafts are handmade. The eye-catching goods make great souvenirs for family and friends alike! Recommended items include the Aizu-made fabric accessories and selected seasonal vegetables beanbags.
The tradition of weaving ‘karamushi' (plant fiber from nettles, known as 'Ramie") has been handed down in Showa Village for generations. Learn more about this tradition at this facility, which house a shop selling locally-produced goods, and an area where you can try ramie weaving for yourself.
Yanaizu Town is best known as the birthplace of the legend of the lucky red cow Akabeko, but it is also known for its famous manju (sweet steamed buns). Hot in Yanaizu is a center with a bit of everything; it sells local products, has sightseeing information, rest areas, and an eatery. They even have an "experience area".It goes without saying that, at Hot in Yanaizu, you can paint your own Akabeko, but you can also make manju with the help of the facilities' kind staff (Read more here). Hot in Yanaizu have staff that can speak English, but please make sure to contact them in advance, as you might not be able to do the experience without placing a booking.Please take your time & enjoy the slow pace of Japanese countryside life in Yanaizu Town.