Fukushima IV

The last day, I once again rethought my itinerary for the day and decided to skip out on the Goshikinuma Ponds. Realistically, it didn't seem possible to do everything in one day so I got to chill for a bit longer in my hotel room before checking out and making my way to Aizu Wakamatsu. First order of business was to get some lunch and I was really feeling up for a Kaisen don and luckily there was a restaurant specializing in just. I've only been eating convenience store food for the most part of the trip and so I thought to treat myself to the best dish they have available, the luxury seafood bowl.

After a satisfying lunch, I walked back to the station to catch a bus only to realize it was the wrong one. I even fumbled the payment as I inserted a 1,000 yen bill thinking that what came out was the change and as I got off the bus driver had to run back after me to tell me that it only converted my bill to coins and I still hadn't paid. Embarassing. Again, I had to walk back to the station but this time I was able to get on the right bus that took me to Iimori Hill.

I walked around the trail, finding an old residence house and hiked up towards the Sazaedo Pagoda, a shabby-looking but historically significant pagoda. It's wooden facade and strange structure didn't betray its interior which was also quite enigmatic. Higher above the mountain was the grave site of the Byakkotai, teenage samurais who committed ritual suicide when they mistakenly thought that the castle had fallen to avoid capture. It was a poignant tale that the Aizu people take great pride in.

From Iimori Hill, I took another bus to Aizu Bukeyashiki, a place where the samurai once lived. This place was also particularly impressive, especially the architectural style and the scope of the route which took me inside the main buildings, through museums, and secret shrines. There were also some sad stories here as one of the rooms here was where the women of the house also committed ritual suicide to avoid causing trouble to the head of the house.

My next stop was the Oyakuen Garden, a peaceful oasis in the middle of the city. The people back then really knew how to manicure a garden for viewing purposes. Every stone and position of the houses were done with precision, one spot at the end of the pond gave the best view where everything aligned perfectly.

From the gardens, I walked towards Tsuruga Castle, one of the finest castles I have seen so far in Japan. It was huge, to say the least, I also went up to its roof to catch some views of the town. I also walked around the nearby tea ceremony house and snagged some Zen shots of the enso on a piece of scroll hanging in one of the huts.

With my itinerary done for the day, I started to walk back to the station but not before stopping by the Showa Nostalgia Museum since it was on the way. Another interesting place that also functioned as a souvenir shop, but the items were displayed meticulously to give a retro and nostalgic vibe even though I had no part of this era at all. Another cheeky decision I made was to hit the sento, Fujinoyu, to take away all the fatigue of the day.

It was a great decision too because it was huge and they had a lot of baths! Indoors included a medicinal pool, cold pool, several jet pools. and two normal ones as well as a sauna. Outdoors had rotenburo, a relaxing area, more jet pools, and a marble jacuzzi. It was an amazing and very relaxing time despite it being summer. I even had enough time to get back to the station and catch my train going to Koriyama, and even got on an earlier Shinkansen going back to Tokyo! It was a lucky day.Læs mere