The Kura Café Sen no Hana is located on the grounds on Kunitaya Miso Factory in a remodeled kura (storehouse). Try the local flavors of Fukushima cuisine with their lovely lunch items featuring locally Nihonmatsu-produced miso and soy sauce. There are also many other menu items to appreciate, such as amazake, Mongolian-style tea, and coffee. The inside of the shop is also calming and decorated with local pressed flowers.
Open from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (with a break from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.), the Kura Café Sen no Hana is sure to give your taste buds a treat. Their fair prices and delicious cuisine make them popular with locals and visitors alike.
The amazake, a nonalcoholic drink made from koji, or fermentation starter, is popular with guests. As for food, the zaku zaku soup is a traditional soup of chunky cubed vegetables which is eaten on special occasions like festivals and ceremonies, it is a famous Nihonmatsu specialty. But if you’re wanting to go for dinner, make sure you’re there before the last order at 5:30 p.m. (4:30 p.m. on Sundays). Next door to the Kura Cafe Sen no Hana, guests can also visit the Kunitaya Miso Factory. The redwood lattice of the exterior is especially attractive. In addition to the tours, the Factory also sells miso, soy sauce, and koji, which is used to make Fukushima’s famous 'sagohachi' pickles.
All the products for sale are made at the Kunitaya Miso Factory and use pure water from Mt. Adatara and locally grown ingredients. It’s a great way to get the fresh flavors of Fukushima Prefecture. There are also seasonal products available, so be sure to have a look!
| Website | http://kunitaya.jp/menuJapanese |
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| Contact | Kura Café Sen no Hana (+81) 243-24-7018 |
| Opening Hours | Closed on Mondays |
| Parking | Available |
| Related info | <u>Opening Hours</u> Tue. to Sat.: 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM, 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM. (L.O. at 5:30 PM) Sun.: 11:30 AM - 2:00 PM; 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM. (L.O. at 4:30 PM) |
| Access | Takeda 2-30, Nihonmatsu City, Fukushima Pref. 964-0902 View directions |
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| Getting there | By Car: 7 min drive from Nihonmatsu I.C. exit off the Tohoku Expressway By Train: 25 min walk - or 6 min taxi ride - from Nihonmatsu Station (JR Tohoku Main Line) |
This is a museum dedicated to Eiji Tsuburaya the “Father of Tokusatsu,” or, the “Father of Japanese special effects.” There are exhibits relating to many of the monsters, “Kaijyu,” that are featured in many of Tsuburaya’s films including a Godzilla suit and Mothera egg!Eiji Tsuburaya is from Sukagawa City so you will also find statues around town of various Kaijyu and Ultraman characters from the Ultra-series, a series that was primarily created by Tsuburaya.©円谷プロ
Fukushima is renowned for its delicious fruits, and a wide variety of direct-sale farmer's fruit stalls, 30 minute all-you-can pick tourist orchards, and other fruit attractions can be found among the vast fruit fields and orchards that line the "Fruit Line," which is the nickname for a road that runs for 14 km along the base of Mt. Azuma, and the "Peach Line (National Road 13)," which runs along the train tracks. Come and enjoy the bounty of cherries, peaches, Japanese pears, grapes, and apples of Fukushima City, known as the Fruit Kingdom of Japan!Check out our full updated guide to Fukushima fruit picking here.See below for when each fruit is in season: Strawberries....January to May Cherries..........June to July Peaches..........July to September Nashi Pears....August to October Grapes............August to October Apples.............October to DecemberFruit Picking at Marusei Orchard: Info & Booking
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.
Approximately 5,000 colorful hydrangeas bloom here every summer. Nicknamed by locals as 'Hydrangea Alley', this is a great place for relaxing or taking photos. Doaidate Park routinely makes lists of best places to see hydrangeas in Tohoku every year thanks to its sheer number of bushes and tranquil atmosphere.There is also a play park for children and an old shrine within the park grounds, while the west side of the park offers excellent views over Mt. Adatara.Parking is available for roughly 40-50 cars by the slope leading to the park entrance.In an average year, the best time to see hydrangeas fully in bloom is between the end of June and beginning of July.
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.
The Kunitaya Miso Factory is a small shop that was founded in 1777 to produce miso paste for the local community. Miso is one of the most (if not the most) popular flavor for foods in Japan. Many people drink miso flavored soup at least once a day and it isn’t uncommon to find miso soup present in every meal of the day. Before grocery stores and convenience stores were as widespread as they are today, people would go to their neighborhood miso shops to source this kitchen staple Today, many of these small shops have disappeared, however at Kunitaya Miso Factory, the owners want to preserve their small business and the unique culture of small batch local miso makers.The small scale operation allows for more freedom and diversity in flavors. At the café next door, “Kura Café,” you can try different variations and flavors of the miso that they produce at the Kunitaya Miso Factory.The brewery is housed in an old fashioned Japanese ware-house style building with a red lattice front. Years ago, during festivals, the red lattice front was removed to make the building more open to the street and the public. If you are interested in getting a more in depth experience, consider joining a tour of the brewery! Contact us if you are interested.
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!
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 to take home as a souvenir (reservations here), with the experience and tour taking about an hour to ninety minutes. Additionally, the cafe on site serves matcha and seasonal sweets, and features a modern, bright space that uses tatami elegantly.
