[From October Issue 2011]

Located in the west of Fukushima Prefecture, Aizuwakamatsu City has long thrived as a castle town. It’s famous for its history and rich nature. Situated in the Aizu Basin, the area has snowy winters and very hot summers. The east of the city faces Lake Inawashiro, the fourth largest lake in Japan, and rising high in the north is the majestic Bandai San (Mount Bandai).

When they hear the name “Aizuwakamatsu,” many Japanese will think about the Byakkotai (White Tiger Force), a group of teenage samurai recruited by the Aizu domain. The Byakkotai fought in the Boshin War (1868~1869) to maintain the Tokugawa Shogunate. Nineteen of the group’s members committed suicide on Iimori Hill in order to remain loyal to their masters and families whom they believed to be dead. Halfway up Iimori Hill, the graves of the 19 Byakkotai are visited by many people. This sad story is famous and there have been many TV dramas based on it.

To visit historic sites related to the Byakkotai and other sightseeing spots, it’s convenient to use sightseeing buses such as the “Haikara San” and “Akabei.” Running every 30 minutes, these buses stop at the major tourist spots in the city. A one-day pass for them is available for 500 yen. It’s fun to travel around the city on one of these colorful buses.

The first spot to visit on the sightseeing bus is Tsuruga Castle in the center of town. The castle was renovated last year and its roof tiles were replaced with red ones similar to those used at the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Now visitors can see what the castle used to look like in those days. Tsuruga Castle is also where many people come to see cherry blossoms when they’re in season.

Every autumn, the Aizu Festival is held. The main event is the Aizu domain procession, where 500 people dressed up as past lords of the domain or as Tokugawa Shogunate period style samurai parade through the city. During this period, the whole city is energized by the festival which brings the history of Aizu to life.

One of the charms of sightseeing around the city is to look at the old fashioned buildings. There remain a number of buildings from the Edo to Taisho periods in Aizuwakamatsu City. Constructed in a mixture of Japanese and Western styles, these buildings are used as restaurants, general stores and other establishments. Especially popular among them are unique cafés. These rows of buildings are found on Nanokamachi and Noguchi Hideyo Seishun Streets, to the south of JR Aizuwakamatsu Station.

Sazaedo Hall, located halfway up Iimori Hill, is recommended for those with an interest in unique buildings. At 16.5 meters tall, it’s a small building, but its interior structure is quite unusual. From the entrance you climb up in a spiral along a narrow hallway that winds round at an angle of 270 degrees. Instead of making a U-turn at the top, you wind back down another hallway at an angle of 270 degrees. Before you know it, you arrive back at an exit next to the entrance.

The Sazaedo Hall was built in 1796. Originally a Buddhist temple, it housed statues of Kannon (the Goddess of Mercy) from 33 temples in Western Japan. Just by entering Sazaedo Hall, visitors here were able to simulate the experience of making a pilgrimage to the Kannon statues at those 33 temples. The Kannon statues were removed from the hall in the Meiji period. As one of the very few wooden buildings in Japan with a double-spiral structure, in 1995 Sazaedo Hall was designated an important national cultural property.

The charms of Aizuwakamatsu City lie not just with its historic buildings and quaint landscape. The food produced by the fertile Aizu Basin is another attractive feature of the city. Aizuwakamatsu is blessed with an abundance of clear groundwater; sake and soba (noodles) are made using this high-quality water. The local climate’s extremes of temperature have also earned the area quite a reputation.

Since Aizuwakamatu City is in an inland area removed from the ocean, a number of its traditional dishes contain dried seafood. Kozuyu is a traditional dish often served on festive occasions consisting of a soup made from dried scallops with vegetables and ofu (dried wheat gluten) added to it. In recent years, original local specialities, such as “sauce katsudon,” (a pork cutlet on a bed of rice topped off with a special sauce), and “curry yakisoba,” (stir-fried noodles with curry on top), have been gaining popularity.

It’s also a good idea to go on a short trip from Aizuwakamatsu City to Lake Inawashiro, which takes 30 minutes on the JR Banetsusai Line. Lake Inawashiro is a place where you can play various outdoor sports in summer or watch white swans in winter, thereby enjoying Aizu’s natural beauty all year around. Another popular tourist spot in the town of Inawashiro is a memorial hall to honor NOGUCHI Hideyo, a famous bacteriologist whose likeness is printed on 1,000 yen bills.

North of Mount Bandai stretches a plateau called ura (rear) Bandai, where Goshiki Numa (a cluster of lakes) is located. A 3.6 kilometer hiking trail through the area offers views of ten large and small lakes showing different colors, such as cobalt blue, red and emerald green, depending on the minerals contained within them.

“The three tears of Aizu,” is an Aizu expression describing the way visitors there typically behave. This expression means: visitors to Aizu first cry over the difficulty of fitting in with the people there, then when they are accepted they are moved to tears by how compassionate the people are, and finally, they shed tears of sadness when they leave the city.

To get to Aizuwakamatsu City from Tokyo, travel on the Tohoku Shinkansen Line for roughly one hour and 20 minutes to JR Koriyama Station. There, transfer to the JR Banetsusai Line and travel for about one hour and five minutes to Aizuwakamatsu Station. An expressway bus, which takes approximately four hours and 30 minutes, is also available from Shinjuku.

Photos courtesy by: Aizuwakamatsu City
Aizuwakamatsu Sightseeing and Product Association
Inawashiro Town
Kitashiobara Village

Text: SHIBATA Rie

[2011年10月号掲載記事]

会津若松市は福島県の西に位置し、古くから城下町として発展してきました。その歴史、そして豊かな自然が有名です。会津盆地と呼ばれる盆地に位置し、冬は雪がたくさん積もり、夏は非常に暑い地域です。市の東側は日本で4番目に大きい湖、猪苗代湖に面し、北には雄大な会津磐梯山がそびえます。

会津若松といえば、多くの日本人は白虎隊を思い出します。白虎隊は会津藩が招集した少年部隊です。1868～1869年の戊辰戦争で白虎隊は徳川将軍の体制維持のために会津で戦い、19人が忠義のために飯盛山で自害しました。飯盛山の中腹には白虎隊十九士の墓があり多くの人が訪れます。この悲しい話は有名で、よくテレビドラマの題材になります。

これら白虎隊の史跡などを訪れる市内観光には、周遊バス「ハイカラさん」や「あかべぇ」を利用すると便利です。30分毎に運行し、市内の主な観光スポットを回ります。一日切符は500円で買うことができます。カラフルなバスで市内を巡るのも楽しいでしょう。

観光バスでまず行きたい場所は城下町の中心、鶴ヶ城でしょう。鶴ヶ城は昨年、幕末に使用されたものと同じ、赤瓦にリニューアルされました。訪れる人は城の当時の姿を見ることができます。また鶴ヶ城は多くの人が花見の時期に桜を見に訪れる場所です。

毎年秋には会津まつりが行われます。行事の目玉である会津藩公行列は歴代の会津藩主に扮した人々、幕末の侍の扮装をした人々、総勢500人が町を練り歩きます。この期間は、街全体が会津の歴史をテーマにしたお祭りでわき立ちます。

レトロな建物を見て回るのも市内観光の魅力の一つです。会津若松市内には江戸から大正時代の建物が多く残っています。日本と西洋が入り混じったスタイルの建物で、レストランや雑貨店などに利用されています。特に趣向をこらしたカフェが人気です。この街並みはJR会津若松駅から南に進んだ、七日町通りと野口英世青春通りにあります。

風変わりな建物を見たい人には、飯盛山の中腹にある、さざえ堂がお勧めです。高さ16.5メートルという、とても小さな建物ですが、内部は一風変わった造りになっています。入口から、らせん状の狭い通路を一回転半上ります。そのままＵターンすることなく、一回転半下ると、いつの間にか入口の隣にある出口にたどり着くようになっています。

さざえ堂は1796年に建てられました。もともとは仏堂として建てられ、内部には西国三十三観音像が置かれていました。ここを訪ねる人はさざえ堂の内部を通るだけで33箇所の観音様に巡礼したことになるのです。観音像は明治時代に取り外されました。現在は全国でも珍しい木造の二重らせん構造のさざえ堂として、1995年に国の重要文化財に指定されています。

会津若松市の魅力は歴史的建造物や情緒あふれる街並みだけではありません。会津盆地がはぐくむ自然の恵みを利用した食べ物も大きな魅力です。会津若松には豊かで澄んだ地下水がもたらされています。この良質の水と寒暖の差が激しい気候を利用して作られる清酒やそばは定評があります。

会津若松市は内陸にあるため、乾物を利用した伝統的な食べ物が多くあります。こづゆは、干し貝柱などで作られたスープに野菜とお麩を入れたもので、祝いの席でよく食べられる伝統食です。近年、とんかつにその店独自のソースをかけて食べるソースかつ丼、焼そばにカレーをかけて食べるカレー焼そばなど、少し変わったご当地グルメも人気があります。

会津若松市から猪苗代湖へJR磐越西線で30分の小旅行を楽しむのもいいでしょう。猪苗代湖は夏には様々なアウトドアスポーツ、冬には白鳥を見ることができるなど、一年を通して会津の自然を満喫できる場所です。千円札に描かれていることでも有名な細菌学者、野口英世の記念館も猪苗代町にある人気の観光スポットです。

会津磐梯山の北には裏磐梯と呼ばれる高原が広がっていて、五色沼と呼ばれる場所があります。全長3.6キロのハイキングコースになっており、含まれる鉱物の違いによって作られるコバルトブルー、赤やエメラルドグリーンなど大小10個の沼を見ることができます。

会津には人々の特徴を表す「会津の三泣き」という言葉があります。会津に来た人は会津の人々に溶け込む難しさにまず泣き、受け入れられたときにその情の深さに泣き、最後に去るときに悲しみに涙するという意味です。

会津若松市へは東京から東北新幹線でJR郡山駅へ約1時間20分、JR郡山駅でJR磐越西線に乗り換えて約1時間5分。高速バスでは新宿から約4時間30分で行くことができます。

写真提供：会津若松市
会津若松観光物産協会
猪苗代町
北塩原村

文：柴田理恵