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Spot-Koriyama
TAKASHIBA DECO SHOPS
Deco Mansion is the nationally famous home to four large shops maintaining a centuries-old tradition of making papier-mache dolls and masks. To this day Miharukoma produces a special wooden doll that had become an important cultural item in Fukushima prefecture.
| Location | Koriyama City, Nishida-machi, Takashiba |
|---|---|
| Hours | |
| Closed | |
| Admission fee | 20-60 minute painting course : Miharukoma 1,200 yen |
| Tel | Honke Ebisu Shop 024-972-2204 Ebisu Shop 024-971-3900 DaikokuyaHonke 024-971-3176 Hikoji folk crafts 024-972-2412 |
| HP | http://www.dekoyashiki-daikokuya.co.jp/ |
TENJIN MEOTO CHERRY TREE
This 500-year old flowering cherry tree is located near the Deco Mansion Takashiba
| Location | Nishita-machi, Takashiba Azafukuuchi |
|---|---|
| Hours | |
| Closed | |
| Admission fee | |
| Tel | Ebisu Shop 024-0971-3900 |
| HP |
PEGMATITE STONES
The area near Kashima Shrine has so many areas of these large white granite pegmatite rocks all over that it has been designated a natural monument. It is estimated that there are over 14,000 tons of such stones.
| Location | Koriyama City, Nishi Tamachi 239 |
|---|---|
| Hours | |
| Closed | |
| Admission fee | |
| Tel | Kashima Daiginjo 024-971-3276 |
| HP |
TAKAKURA DOLLS OF THE HIWADA HISTORY MUSEUM
During the Edo Period, the art of ningyo joruri puppetry flourished in the Kansai and Shikoku area as it did in Asaka-gun, Yamanoi Village, Takakura (now Hiwadamachi Takakura). We are not sure of the origin, but this appears to be the northernmost limit of the distribution of the national puppet show. At the end of the the Meiji era, the practice of this puppet show also came to an end, and the puppets were put in baskets and stored at Sansei Temple and finally on display now at the Hiwada Community Center.
| Location | Koriyama city, Hiwada Machi Aza 23-4 |
|---|---|
| Hours | 8:30-17:00 |
| Closed | Closed every third Sunday |
| Admission fee | |
| Tel | Hiwada Kominkan 024-958-2352 |
| HP |
JAKOTSU JIZODO
Constructed in late Edo style, the Buddhist structure enshrines a Jizo statue made partly from snake bones. Legend (and in the “Princess Sayo Story”) has it that long ago the deceased princess became the spirit of a snake, and the building passes on the story.
People came and made sacrifices to the snake spirit. Below a stone wall behind the building stand statues of 33 Kannon. Today we can still see snake holes and resting rocks and historic sites relating to this legend in the area.
The hall was designated a City Cultural Heritage in 2000.
| Location | Koriyame City, Hiwada Machi, Hiwada 125 |
|---|---|
| Hours | |
| Closed | |
| Admission fee | |
| Tel | Saihoji 024-958-2260 |
| HP |
MT. ASAKA PARK
Following the old highway north of Oshu Hiwada, we come to a small hill, Mt. Asaka. It is said that the poet Matsuo Basho came here. Now it is a nature park famous for cherry blossoms and azaleas.
| Location | Koriyama City, Hiwada-machi Asakayama |
|---|---|
| Hours | |
| Closed | |
| Admission fee | |
| Tel | Koriyama Office of Tourism 024-924-2621 |
| HP |
OSHU TREE-LINED HIGHWAY
In search of the legendary “hana katsumi” flower, the poet Basho is said to have walked this tree-lined stretch of the Oshu Kaido, from Hiwada to Fukuyama. Oshu Kaido was one of Edo’s five famous highways, and today we can walk part of it for about 45 minutes.
| Location | Koriyama City, Hiwada-machi |
|---|---|
| Hours | |
| Closed | |
| Admission fee | |
| Tel | 024-958-2352 |
| HP |
SHIMIZU WELL ON MT. UZUMINE
Rising 677 meters above sea level, Mt. Uzumine has become a popular hiking course for families. Near the top of the mountain the Yatagawa Course offers fresh water springs. From the top, you have a spectacular view of the Abukuma mountains overlooking Koriyama, and farther in the distance Nasu, Bandai, and Adatara. Like the old warlords who slaked their thirst here in the past, you can wet your whistle before you continue your climbing.
| Location | Koriyama City, Tamura Machi |
|---|---|
| Hours | |
| Closed | |
| Admission fee | |
| Tel | Koriyama Office of Tourism 024-924-2621 |
| HP |
CLIFF Of THE THIRTY-THREE KANNON
Iconography and characters have been carved into the natural rock here, and sculptures of the 33 Kannon. This was done during the Meiji Era as a compilation of “Local history of Tamura” because a plague visited the village of Otomo in 1773, and prayers were carved in for the souls of the dead and for the health and safety of villagers and visitors past and present.
| Location | Koriyama City, Tamura-machi |
|---|---|
| Hours | |
| Closed | |
| Admission fee | |
| Tel | Koriyama Office of Tourism 024-924-2621 |
| HP |
TAMURA SHRINE
Along what is now National Highway 49 we find Tamura-machi Moriyama and the shrine founded in Daido era. The large main hall and the enclosed altar with doors are important cultural assets of Fukushima Prefecture. The atmosphere here is most impressive, with cherry blossoms brightening the solemn space in the springtime.
| Location | Tamura-machi, Yamanaka Aza Hongo 135 |
|---|---|
| Hours | |
| Closed | |
| Admission fee | |
| Tel | 024-955-2630 |
| HP |
OGAWA EZO BURIAL CAVES
This is a cliff grave of the Kofun Period (7th c.) The cavities were dug for burial and one contained a beautiful sword as a decoration. Thirteen such burial caves have been found.
| Location | Tamura-machi, Ogawa |
|---|---|
| Hours | |
| Closed | |
| Admission fee | |
| Tel | Koriyama Office of Tourism 024-924-262113 |
| HP |
OYASUBA CASTLE RUINS PARK
This burial field has one ancient rectangular tomb and four circular burial mounds. The 83-meter long Number 1 tomb and the Number 2 round barrow mounds have been specified as national historic sites. Number 1 was created 1600 years ago (latter part of the 4th century). It is the largest such tomb in Tohoku area. Number 2 is 15 meters in diameter and was created a hundred years later in the 5th century. The park was created to give an experience of the Kofun period in Tohoku.
| Location | Koriyama City, Tamura-machi, Daizenjiaza Daianjo |
|---|---|
| Hours | 9:00-17:00 |
| Closed | Closed Mondays and New Year’s. |
| Admission fee | Free admission |
| Tel | 024-965-1088 |
| HP | http://www.bunka-manabi.or.jp/oyasuba/ |
DAIZEN SHRINE WYSTERIA
This Inari shrine a little east of Highway 49 and near Daianjo Kofun Park boasts a profusion of wisteria. Here and there the lofty trees are spotted with the hanging masses of pale purple flowers.
| Location | Tamuramachi Daizenji |
|---|---|
| Hours | |
| Closed | |
| Admission fee | |
| Tel | Koriyama Office of Tourism 024-924-2621 |
| HP |
SUKUGAWA PEONY GARDEN
More than 240 years ago, in 1766, (Meiwa 3), Ito Yuurin ran his commercial pharmacy in SUKAGAWA and used the root of the Japanese peony (botan) to make medicine. The seedlings were brought from Takarazuka, Hyogo (in the old days, Settsukoku). The garden was designated a national scenic spot in 1932. It is the only botan park of its kind in the country. 7000 plantings of 290 varieties of peonies bloom in a ten-hectare park three times the size of Tokyo Dome. The best time to see the peony blooms is from late April to mid-May. A peony Princess statue stands in front as a sign of lasting exchanges between SUKAGAWA and friendship city, Luoyang, China, and in Showa 62 (1988), Luoyang reciprocated with Ojo Koen, a park for botan.
| Location | Sukagawa, Botan-en 80-1 |
|---|---|
| Hours | 8:30-17:00 |
| Closed | Paying period from near the end of April to the end of May. |
| Admission fee | Adults (from high school) 500 yen Elementary and junior high school 200 yen |
| Tel | 0248-73-2422 |
| HP | http://www.botan.or.jp/ |
BASHO MEMORIAL MUSEUM
In Genroku 2 (1689) the famous poet Basho stayed for eight days and seven nights in Sukagawa and wrote his haiku “The Depths of the Narrow Road.” In 1989 the memorial was built to the right of the current City Hall entrance. Hachiman Shrine has greeted visitors and worshippers for three hundred years since that time. It has been used as a center for many cultural activities as well as tourist information.
| Location | Sukagawa, Hachiman-cho 135 |
|---|---|
| Hours | |
| Closed | |
| Admission fee | |
| Tel | 0248-72-1212 |
| HP | http://www.city.sukagawa.fukushima.jp/kanko/ |
MIDORI-GA-OKA PARK
In 1923 Mr. Nikaido lived at Sukagawa Castle and planned a park on Mt. Myoken. In 1925 he connected this area with Mt. Atago. In 1959 the neighborhood, including Minami Date and Hodohara Kan, the site of Samurai residences, was developed as a city park.
In this park a spread of mainly red pine - over 1,800 - and green sward lie close to the center of town, and has kept the feeling of the area natural, even with heavy development. In July of 1989 it was chosen as one of the 100 best urban parks in Japan and in February of the next year “Fukushima Prefecture Hometown Amenity.”At 29.9 hectares, about seven times the size of Tokyo Dome, the park includes the lawn, Freedom Square, a free space for children to play, a waterfall and monument with manyo poems inscribed on 60 stones. In addition there are museums and sports places and places to rest in a complete park.
Inside the park flows the Suka River, and for one kilometer people can enjoy a row of 196 cherry trees that line It and cast their reflections in it.
| Location | Sukahawa City, Atagoyamasoto |
|---|---|
| Hours | |
| Closed | |
| Admission fee | |
| Tel | Tourist information office 0248-72-3182 |
| HP | http://www.city.sukagawa.fukushima.jp/kanko/ |
SHAKADO RIVER
The catchphrase “rinkuutoshi” (Face the Sky City) applies well to Sukagawa with its people, clean air and sunshine creating an expanse of flowers for two kilometers along both banks during all four seasons. Spring brings tulips and cherry blossoms, summer brings salvia and marigold, fall cosmos, and winter snow flowers. All four seasons complete for the beauty prize and citizens come to the river to enjoy this meeting of flora and aqua. It is also a great spot for health and fitness exercise, with jogging and cycling paths. In 1992 the Ministry of Construction gave this place to congregate a "Color and Water of our Hometown" award to the local handcraft group, and in 1993 the city was given the ”Farmers Improvement System” award. In 1994 “the best new flower viewing place" made the Shakado River famous both in name and reality.
| Location | Fukushima Prefecture, Sukagawa City, Ushibukuro-machi, Oroshimachi, Kakenuma-machi etc. |
|---|---|
| Hours | |
| Closed | |
| Admission fee | |
| Tel | Tourist Information Office 0248-72-3182 |
| HP | http://www.city.sukagawa.fukushima.jp/kanko/ |
