This museum, located in sunny Iwaki City, exhibits the moving calligraphy of Shoko Kanazawa. The whole museum has been constructed while keeping in mind traditional Japanese architectural styles. As well as the calligraphy exhibition, Shoko Kanazawa Art Museum also has a Japanese tea room café on site, where you can take a rest with beautiful Japanese garden viewing. The same building also houses a kimono exhibition, while features one of the world's biggest kimono!
| Website | http://kanazawa-shoko.jp/museum/index.php(Japanese) |
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| Contact | Shoko Kanazawa Art Museum |
| Best Season | All Year |
| Opening Hours | 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM Closed: Wednesdays (or the following day if the Wednesday falls on a public holiday). The museum is also closed during the year-end and New Year holidays (Dec 28-January 1) |
| Entrance Fee | Adult: 800 yen | Free for elementary school students or younger |
| Access | Yokomichi-71, Tono-machi Negishi, Iwaki City, Fukushima Pref. 972-0163 View directions |
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| Getting there | By Car: 15 min from the Iwaki Yumoto I.C. exit off the Joban Expressway By Train: 25 min by taxi from Iwaki Yumoto Station (JR Joban Line; JR Ban-etsu East Line) |
Natsuigawa Valley continues 15 km along JR Ban-etsu East Line. In autumn, the train passes the valley at a slow speed so that passengers can enjoy the awesome views from its windows. The beautiful view of the waterfalls and clear streams meandering through rocks is definitely worth seeing.
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.
Tenzan Bunko is a quaint old-fashioned house stood in beautiful Kawauchi Village, which has been opened up as a museum. This house was presented by the village to the famous Japanese poet Kusano Shinpei. Kusano found inspiration to create many of his works at Tenzan Bunko, and this house now serves as the venue for the annual Tenzan Poetry Festival, which gives local people and poets a place to meet and network.
Approximately 1,500 cherry trees of the quintessential Japanese Somei Yoshino variety create a beautiful tunnel of cherry blossom for visitors to pass through. Many of these trees are over 100 years old.
Lovingly referred to as 'Horuru' by locals, Iwaki City Coal & Fossil Museum is home to exhibitions on the city's history of coal mining. Horuru also exhibits a range of fossils, including the locally-excavated Plesiosaur Futabasaurus, which was discovered by a high school student. There are also some hands-on experiences to try out, such as making your own amber accessories. Horuru is accessible on foot from Iwaki Yumoto Onsen town, and is a great addition to any trip to the Iwaki area.
Aquamarine Fukushima is an ‘environmental aquarium’ that exhibits aquatic creatures in environments which closely mimic their natural habitats. As well as being an aquarium, Aquamarine Fukushima is also home to a research center and offers educational information about sustainability and conservation. The main exhibits are two gigantic tanks that extend from the second to the fourth floor, reproducing Shiome no Umi, an area of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture where the Kuroshio (Black Current) and the Oyashio (Kurile Current) meet. Visitors can enjoy walking through a transparent tunnel whilst being surrounded by the wealth of marine life found in Shiome no Umi, which includes vast schools of sardines and bonito. On the fourth floor, visitors can also visit a calming botanical garden which exhibits the various plant life of Fukushima Prefecture. In addition, guests can see over the top of the main tank, a great spot to appreciate the sheer scale of the water and the curious marine life below. There is also a touch tank where interested visitors can try touching starfish and other small sea critters. Since its establishment, Aquamarine Fukushima has conducted research into an ancient species of fish called coelacanths, and its findings are exhibited on the first floor in a corner entitled the World of Coelacanths. Here visitors can view an anatomical specimen of the rarely seen coelacanth and watch exclusive footage of living coelacanths. There are events throughout the year, with many activities for children and families to enjoy together including a fish maze, art festivals, and a fishing experience where you can catch real fish to be fried for lunch! If catching your own lunch doesn’t appeal to you, you are in luck as there is a seafood market selling fresh seafood just a 10-minute walk away! The seafood market is located within Iwaki Lalamyu, a shopping center that also includes restaurants where you can dine on locally sourced, freshly caught fish.
The Minamisoma City Museum is located on the eastern side of the Soma Nomaoi festival grounds within the spacious Higashigaoka Park. Its exhibitions center around the Soma Nomaoi festival, a traditional festival of the Soma region that is a nationally-designated important intangible cultural property, and the nature, history, and culture of the local region.
Opened on Saturday, May 30, 2020, the museum was established to share the history of the disaster and the following reconstruction efforts by preserving and exhibiting materials related to the earthquake and tsunami, giving talks by local storytellers, and other activities. This way, they are able to preserve the memories and lessons of the disaster. There are panel displays about the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear power plant accident, as well as about recovery and reconstruction, and displays of actual items damaged in the disaster, such as a blackboard from the former Toyoma Junior High School. The Iwaki Storyteller's Group offers regular lectures on the disaster. For more information on lectures, please visit this website.