Iwaki Yumoto Onsen Shrine

Iwaki Yumoto Onsen Shrine

The Shinto gods of hot spring water and medicine are the enshrined deities of this shrine. This Onsen Shrine is widely thought of as being Iwaki Yumoto Onsen town’s own local Shinto deity.

Venue Details

Venue Details
Websitehttp://www.iwakiyumoto.or.jp/en/
Contact

Iwaki Yumoto Onsen Tourist Association
(+81) 246-42-4322
iwakiyumotoonsen@gmail.com

(+81) 246-42-4322

Best SeasonAll Year
Opening Hours

Open 24/7

Free

Access Details
AccessSahako-322 Joban Yumoto-machi, Iwaki City, Fukushima Pref. 972-8321
View directions
Getting there

By Car: 8 min drive from Iwaki-Yumoto I.C. exit off the Joban Expressway.

By Train: 8 min walk from Yumoto Station on the JR Joban Line.

Useful Links

Iwaki Yumoto Onsen

Nijuisseiki-no-Mori Park (21st Century Forest Park)

2 Days in Iwaki

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Full House Book Cafe

Full House is a stylish bookstore and cafe run by the critically-acclaimed novelist Yu Miri. It is located near the JR Odaka Station in Minamisoma City, in the coastal area of Fukushima prefecture.Full House is located on the ground floor of a refurbished house. The interior is wooden and elegant, and there is a selection of books in Japanese chosen by the author. The cafe serves meals like pasta and doria, as well as desserts and drinks with seasonal options.Yu Miri is famously known for her novel Tokyo Ueno Station (translated into English by Morgan Giles), which won the U.S. National Book Award in the Translated Literature category in 2019.Following 3.11, Ms. Miri has worked extensively to communicate the stories of residents of evacuated towns and villages in Fukushima’s coastal area, and has been living in Minamisoma City since 2015.When Ms. Miri moved to Minamisoma, there were no other bookstores open in the area —the few bookstores that had been there before 3.11 had closed following the evacuation—, so she decided to open her own in 2018, and named it ‘Full House’ after one of her novels.But something was missing. She quickly realized that people who traveled all the way to visit the store wanted to sit down with a warm drink, and there weren’t many restaurants or cafes nearby yet, so she decided to turn Full House into a book cafe the following year.Today, Full House is a lively and cozy hub where locals and visitors can bond over their love of coffee and literature.
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Bentenjima

In a crescent shaped cove separated from the mainland on the small island known as Bentenjima Island, you will find the mysterious Bentenjima Shrine. The vermillion painted tori gate stands out against the jagged stone and the powerful waves. It is believed that the shrine was land based until an earthquake that occurred in 1410 resulted in the formation of this jagged rock island. The construction date of the original shrine is unknown. The island is also known as Wanigafuchi because, according to legend, a creature known as a “wanizame” (crocodile shark) lived on the island. Half crocodile, half shark, this creature can be seen in many old Japanese paintings. The creature may have been believed to cause the swirling water and violent waves that crashed against the rocks, sometimes resulting in people getting swept into the water. Another legend suggests that the wanizame once kidnapped a young woman from Iwaki who had wandered out to explore the island.This coast is lined with small round pebbles that shine when the water hits them. However, do not take any of these pebbles home, as legend says that anyone who takes pebbles home from this coast will suffer from eye disease. This area was once a very popular destination for tourists and the Iwaki city website linked below features many photos. Although the page is in Japanese, it's viewable using the translation function on web browsers.Hattachi-Yakushi Temple is located near the shrine and is worth visiting, but please do not park there while accessing Bentenjima as it is disrespectful to the temple monks and patrons.
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The Suzuki Sake Brewery used to operate a sake brewery in Namie Town's Ukedo district, this building was located steps from the sea and was physically destroyed by the tsunami wave. This left the owner of the brewery without a home or a livelihood.They managed to evacuate with the necessities of the brewery and after the disaster, the brewery was moved to Nagai City to the mountains of Yamagata Prefecture in October 2011 (the same year as the earthquake). Since then, they’ve continued to brew sake with the hope of preserving the traditional sake brewing techniques that had been developed by generations of brewers in Namie Town.Finally, on March 20, 2021, the brewery was able to return to its hometown of Namie with the opening of a new brewery at the Namie Roadside Station. Here, visitors can watch the Suzuki brewers at work making their delicious sake. They even use locally grown rice to make some of their sake, with a focus on maintaining their hometown flavor.At the Namie Roadside Station, you can visit the sake brewery and taste their freshly brewed sake. For visitors who don't drink sake, there is also a sake flavored soft serve ice cream that is absolutely delicious. The soft serve comes in a traditional wooden sake cup!
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