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Unique in Fukushima

Bandai-Azuma Skyline

This sightseeing road that runs from Fukushima City's Takayu Onsen to the Tsuchiyu Pass, commanding panoramic views of the surrounding landscape.The spectacular views that stretch out at an average altitude of 1,350 meters attract visitors time and time again, and Bandai-Azuma Skyline has been selected as one of the 100 Best Roads in Japan.In spring, tourists can enjoy flower viewing while at the same time taking in the otherworldly winter scenery of the "Snow Corridor".In summer, the Nemoto Shakunage (Rhododendron brachycarpum), a species of alpine rose, and other alpine plants display their colorful flowers and fresh, brilliant green leaves. During autumn, the drive warms as roads become enclosed by fiery seasonal leaves.There are also many hot springs in the vicinity of the Skyline where visitors can enjoy a bath and relax stiff muscles while out on a daytrip.The roadway passes next to the crater of Mt. Azuma-Kofuji. Visitors can easily park their car at the nearby guest center and enjoy a short hike up to the crater’s rim.The Bandai-Azuma Skyline Roadway has been selected as one of the top 100 roads in Japan, and unlike many others, this one is free to use. There are rest stops along the way for the hungry traveler; the most popular is Jododaira, as it’s home to a rest house and an observatory.Be sure to plan ahead though, from mid-November to early April the roadway is closed due to heavy winter snowfall.

Nature & Scenery

Kaiseizan Park

Koriyama’s Kaiseizan Park is a wide realm in the city. Home to around 1300 cherry trees, it is one of the prefecture’s most prominent cherry blossom spots. The impressive trees are lit up in the evening during cherry blossom season, making for fantastic views. The park has a baseball field, an athletics field, and an event venue. Additionally, it is home to one of Fukushima's Chansey's Lucky Parks, making it a popular destination among Pokémon fans. Located nearby is the Kaiseizan Daijingu Shrine.There is also a 3,000-square-meter rose garden that blooms in spring (typically from mid-May to late June) and in the fall (usually from mid-September to late October). Exact blooming dates vary each year.No matter the season, there is something to enjoy at Kaiseizan Park year-round.

Events & Festivals

Nihonmatsu Lantern Festival

The Nihonmatsu Lantern Festival is held yearly on the first Saturday, Sunday, and Monday of October. The main night of the 2024 festival (with all the lantern floats in one place) was held on Saturday 5th October, with smaller festival events held on Sunday 6th and on Monday 7th.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.

History & Culture

Aizu Hanko Nisshinkan

Aizu Hanko Nisshinkan was the highest-level learning institution of its time. It was established in 1803 by the Aizu Domain to foster Japan's next generation of talented samurais.Children of samurai families entered this school at the age of ten and worked on academic studies and physical exercises to instill both physical and mental discipline.The property, covering about 26,500 square meters in area, used to house such facilities as a martial arts training hall, an astronomical observatory, and Suiren-Suiba Ike, Japan's oldest swimming pool.During the late Edo Period, the school turned out a great deal of excellent talent, including the legendary group of young warriors, the Byakkotai. The facilities, which were burned down during the Boshin War, have been rebuilt faithful to their original design. They now function as a hands-on museum that features exhibits of the magnificent architecture of the Edo Period and dioramas of school life as it used to be.Visitors can enjoy practicing some of the essential disciplines of the samurai, including tea ceremony, Japanese archery, meditation, and horseback riding, as well as experiencing hand painting an akabeko (red cow), a traditional good-luck charm of Aizu.Make a reservation : https://nisshinkan.jp/reservation*Since the website is in Japanese, we recommend that you use Google Translate or other translation functions to make reservations.

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