Iwaki Yumoto Onsen Shrine
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.
A massive field of nanohana flowers that first bloomed in Spring 2012, bringing great joy to the community. Since 2013 to today, huge flower fields and mazes are organized for the public to come and enjoy entirely for free. Children can receive prizes for completing the maze and visitors of all ages are encouraged to walk through the maze and have fun.
Takayuki Ueno is a local farmer and creator of the Nanohana Flower Maze, planting the first flowers here in November 2011; eight months after the Great East Japan Earthquake. Click here to read more about his inspiring story.
Website | https://hamadan.theshop.jp/?fbclid=IwAR2zByaBaBD_8SAdnVefDj2L2ngD7E8GDE2q5rtZSDenukfvwA_O2fN_ICw |
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Contact | 090-4554-1525 |
Best Season |
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Opening Hours | 9:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. |
Access | 975-0036 Kitasainoue-82 Haramachiku Kaibama, Minamisoma, Fukushima View directions |
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Getting there | You can visit the field on any day when the flowers are in bloom. (Late April-Early May) Events are only on weekends and public holidays when the flowers are in bloom. Free parking is available on site but space is limited. |
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.
Wonder Farm, which covers the same area as 3.5 football pitches, includes a local products shop, restaurant, BBQ site, and tomato-picking experience!Mori no Kitchen (the restaurant inside Wonder Farm) is stylish, comfortable, and serves great food. The delicious pizzas and tomato curries are particularly popular!
Full House is a stylish bookstore and cafe run by the critically-acclaimed novelist Yu Miri. It is located near the JR Odaka Station in Minamisoma City, in the coastal area of Fukushima prefecture.Full House is located on the ground floor of a refurbished house. The interior is wooden and elegant, and there is a selection of books in Japanese chosen by the author. The cafe serves meals like pasta and doria, as well as desserts and drinks with seasonal options.Yu Miri is famously known for her novel Tokyo Ueno Station (translated into English by Morgan Giles), which won the U.S. National Book Award in the Translated Literature category in 2019.Following 3.11, Ms. Miri has worked extensively to communicate the stories of residents of evacuated towns and villages in Fukushima’s coastal area, and has been living in Minamisoma City since 2015.When Ms. Miri moved to Minamisoma, there were no other bookstores open in the area —the few bookstores that had been there before 3.11 had closed following the evacuation—, so she decided to open her own in 2018, and named it ‘Full House’ after one of her novels.But something was missing. She quickly realized that people who traveled all the way to visit the store wanted to sit down with a warm drink, and there weren’t many restaurants or cafes nearby yet, so she decided to turn Full House into a book cafe the following year.Today, Full House is a lively and cozy hub where locals and visitors can bond over their love of coffee and literature.
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.
Inside the park, you can see the blossom of around 200 Somei Yoshino and Oshima Cherry Trees in the spring. Marine Tower, which stands inside the park, offers fantastic views of the whole of Iwaki. It’s amazing to see the sea and sakura together at the same time.This wide park also has a play area for children, a picnic and barbeque area, an outside concert hall, and a viewpoint from which you can contemplate the Pacific Ocean.
Nakakamado is a very uniquely-shaped maple tree. This incredible tree – designated as a Natural Monument – looks like an open umbrella, and has 3 m of roots that protrude out of the ground. If visiting during autumn-leaf season, it’s best to plan your trip for mid to late-November. That being said, Nakakamado can be enjoyed through each of the four seasons – visitors can appreciate the fresh green leaves that cover it in spring, and the very unusual shape of the branches after the autumn leaves fall.
Wonder Farm, which covers the same area as 3.5 football pitches, includes a local products shop, restaurant, BBQ site, and tomato-picking experience!Mori no Kitchen (the restaurant inside Wonder Farm) is stylish, comfortable, and serves great food. The delicious pizzas and tomato curries are particularly popular!
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.