Each year from mid-October to mid-November, an impressive collection of dolls adorned with chrysanthemum flowers (known as ‘kiku ningyo’) are on display at the Kasumigajo Castle Grounds in Nihonmatsu City, for one of Japan’s salient Chrysanthemum festivals. The city prides itself in its cultivation and cherishing of chrysanthemums, the National Flower of Japan. Several places in the city are adorned with chrysanthemums during the festival period.
Kasumigajo Castle, also known as Nihonmatsu Castle, was destroyed during the Boshin War in the 19th century. Visitors can climb up the castle ruins, of which only the walls remain, and enjoy a view of Nihonmatsu City from above. The castle was made into a prefectural natural park and is beautifully preserved, with many cherry blossom trees and flowers in bloom in the spring, as well as stunning foliage in the fall.
| Website | https://www.city.nihonmatsu.lg.jp/travel_guide/tourist_attractions/page002704.html |
|---|---|
| Contact | Nihonmatsu Tourism Federation |
| Best Season |
|
| Related info | Takes place annually from Mid-October to Mid-November. 2023 Dates: October 10 (Tuesday) to November 19 (Sunday), 2023 |
| Access | Held at Kasumigajo Castle Park (Nihonmatsu Castle) in Nihonmatsu City View directions |
|---|---|
| Getting there | By Car: 5 min from Nihonmatsu I.C. exit off the Tohoku Expressway By Train: 20 min walk from Nihonmatsu Station on the JR Tohoku Main Line
|
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.
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
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!
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.
Yabusame is a Japanese sport that has both a spiritual and military component. Originally designed as a ritual to please the gods and pray for health and good harvests, the modern version involves taking aim at three targets along a run about 200 metres long.The technique takes an immense amount of body control to guide the horse with the rider's knees, while keeping the upper body still to focus on the target.Furudono Town, in the south of Fukushima Prefecture, hosts tournaments showing off this honoured technique as a way of connecting with Japan’s samurai history and culture. The events have a festival atmosphere with dance performances and food stalls.The October tournament takes place at Furudono’s Hachiman Shrine, with two days of action over the second weekend of the month, while the June tournament is a simpler version held at the end of the month.
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.
The Nihonmatsu Lantern Festival is held yearly on the first Saturday, Sunday, and Monday of October. The 2025 festival was held on Saturday 4th, Sunday 5th and Monday 6th.Check the Nihonmatsu Tourism Association website for route maps of the lantern floats.The highlight of the festival is the procession of festival floats during the first evening. Seven large festival floats adorned with lanterns and filled with locals playing taiko drums make their way through the streets of Nihonmatsu City, filling the streets with festival music as they move. The final destination for the floats is the Nihonmatsu Shrine.The festival traces its roots back to 1643, when Niwa Mitsushige became the lord of the Nihonmatsu clan. Believing that fostering religious piety was a core tenet of strong government, Lord Niwa had Nihonmatsu Shrine built the following year, and opened its gates for anyone in the domain to visit. It’s said that in the first festival, the young people of the town carried a portable shrine (mikoshi) through the streets - in an era where there was a strict class system in place, encouraging widespread religious fervour in this sense was a progressive approach.As a result, historians say the local people came to greatly love and respect their lord, and before long the festival grew into a magnificent spectacle including dancing, huge drumming floats and hanging lanterns. The tradition has continued to this day, where the beautiful illuminated floats rolling through the streets is the backbone of an important yearly event for local people.
Fukushima City’s local summer festival ‘Fukushima Waraji Matsuri’ started in 1970. It is said that, despite its short history, this festival has its roots in an Edo Period traditional event known as the ‘Akatsuki-mairi’ (or Mt. Shinobu Dawn Procession).During the festival evenings, locals parade a huge straw sandal (known as a waraji) along Route 13. This procession is followed by many different groups, who perform dances around town. The first evening is filled with music from the Showa Era, while the songs of the second night are modern and very upbeat.This waraji weighs around 2 tons, is 12 metres in length, and is thought to be one of the biggest in Japan. Every February, local people follow the tradition of dedicating the waraji to Haguro Shrine on Mt. Shinobu, which is thought to help keep legs healthy and strong.The festival is held on the first weekend of August, with the 2025 festival likely to be held from Friday 1 to Sunday 3 August, 2025.