Fukushima

Fukushima (福島) [1]is the capital city of Fukushima Prefecture in Honshu, Japan.

Travel to Fukushima - Visa Requirements

Flights and airtickets to Fukushima

It is a 40-minute bus ride from Fukushima Airport to Koriyama station (¥800), from which you will then have to travel to Fukushima station by Shinkansen (¥2920, 15 minutes) or local train (¥820, 45 minutes). It may be a bit more convenient to arrive in Tokyo and take the Shinkansen from there.

By train

Fukushima is a stop on the Tohoku Shinkansen line between Tokyo and Sendai, and is also served by the JR Tohoku and Yamagata lines. The Yamagata Shinkansen branches off here, traveling over conventional lines to Yamagata and Shinjo.

The travel time from Tokyo to Fukushima by Shinkansen is approximately 1 hour 45 minutes, with 2 to 4 departures every hour at a cost of ¥8500 each way (non-reserved seats).

Buses to Fukushima

Six daily buses called Abukuma depart from Shinjuku in Tokyo, at a cost of ¥4800 one way; the trip takes about five hours.

Kintetsu Bus' Galaxy overnight bus service runs from Osaka and Kyoto to Fukushima. It takes approximately 12 hours from Osaka (¥12740 one way) and 10 1/2 hours from Kyoto (¥12130 one way).

123bus [2] has nightly bus service from Tokyo to Fukushima, with English online booking service.

The Sakura Bus [3] offers bus service between Tokyo and Fukushima at a cost of ¥2600 one way, making it the most economical means of transportation to Fukushima. Bookings must be made in advance on their site (in Japanese).

Tours and Getting around Fukushima

Be prepared to walk or take a taxi. The buses will take you out of Fukushima and the trains will do the same.

Fukushima tourist attractions and sightseeing

• Five Colored Lakes (五色沼) are a beautiful attraction visited by many sightseers. The lakes were formed after a Mount Bandai (磐梯山) erupted in the 1800's. The minerals from the eruption give each lake a different color.

• Iwaya-Kannon (岩谷観音) has sixty Buddhas carved into the rock face of Mount Shinobuyama (信夫山).

• Hanamiyama Park (花見山) is the place to go in spring for cherry blossom viewing. It is quickly becoming a place famous throughout Japan, be prepared for crowds. You can take a short trail up a hill and see some amazing panoramas as well as enjoy walking underneath gorgeous light-pink canopies.

• Fukushima Small Bird Sanctuary (福島小鳥園) It's a steep walk up a small mountain. The trails at the top are short and quiet. It is very peaceful but not so special.

• Prefectural Art Museum Small museum mostly with local art, though it does have some national and internal exhibits as well.[4]. price varies.

• Prefectural Culture Center Has different performances year-round. [5].

• Fukushima Museum [6]. Fukushima Museum

• Fukushima Racetrack If you feel like betting on horses then this is the place to go in Fukushima. Live races only happen during certain times of year, but video races are available year-round. It costs ¥100 to get in.¥100.

• Izaka hot springs

• Takayu hot springs

• Tsuchiyu hot springs

• Shin-Noji hot springs

Fukushima city tours

• Waraji Festival

• Obon Festival

Fukushima souvenirs and shopping

• fruit You can buy lots of fruit. Peaches and apples are very good from this region.

Fukushima Restaurants: cheap, moderate and expensive

• Mana's Rasoi has great authentic Indian food and excellent service. There are two in Fukushima. Shinmachi 3-20 Shinmachi first floor of Building No. 8 Longevity Culture. Hours 11:00-15:00 (Last Order 14:30), 17:00-23:00 (Last Order 20:00), closed on Tuesday.

• Kitakata ramen(chinese noodle)

• Sake and Soba noodles Famous in the Aize region (maybe).

• Peaches Fukushima city is famous for the peach and produces a large amount of delicious peaches every summer, try one.

Fukushima nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs

There are lots of izakayas and beer gardens in Fukushima.

Fukushima cheap and luxurious hotels, youth hostels and lodging

Get out

• Namazu-tei (なまず停), also known as "Catfish" is a cozy blues bar in Fukushima, which features live music most weekends. Cover charges range from ¥400-500 for the house band "Blues Cruiser" (highly recommended, with a fantastic harmonica player) through to ¥4,000 for more famous acts. Namazu sometimes has a DJ playing, with more of a focus on bossanova and jazz. Johnny the barman speaks passable English, and knows pretty well all there is to know about the Blues, having in his past run "Gangster," a major blues venue in Tokyo.

• Neo is the other club in Fukushima. Expect to pay a ¥2000 cover charge and then ¥500 for each drink and to be in a small very smokey room. The music is okay, the crowd is small at best. Expect to feel elderly if you're over 25.

This page was last edited by Wikitravel user Texugo. Based on work by Stacy Hall, Ravikiran Rao and Jose Ramos, Wikitravel user(s) Mnd and Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel. - Content on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0 license