Fukushima

The province

Get to know Fukushima

Fukushima is Japan’s third-largest prefecture and is divided into three areas: Aizu, in the west, among the mountains; Nakadori, in the center, with the cities of Fukushima and Koriyama; and Hamadori, on the Pacific coast. Most trips focus on Aizu and the Bandai mountains.

In Aizu-Wakamatsu, Tsuruga Castle, with its red roof tiles, houses a museum about the history of the Aizu domain. On Mount Iimori are the graves of the young Byakkotai samurai and the Sazaedo, a wooden pagoda with a double-spiral ramp where you can go up and down without crossing people coming the other way. The city is known for its sake and for the akabeko, a small red papier-mâché cow.

Ouchi-juku, in Shimogo, was a post-town on the old road that connected Aizu to Edo. Thatched-roof houses line both sides of an earthen street, and many operate as shops and restaurants. The local dish is negi soba, eaten using a whole green onion instead of chopsticks.

To the north, Mount Bandai overlooks Lake Inawashiro, one of the country’s largest. Near the mountain, the Goshikinuma trail passes by ponds whose colors range from green to blue. In the city of Fukushima, Hanamiyama Park covers a hill of flowering trees in spring.