folk house fukushima

The sunny autumn days have luckily still been holding up since the beginning of November, and I’ve been enjoying the last bits of the remaining autumn leaves as they slowly start to fall. Last weekend I went on a weekend trip to neighboring Fukushima with my colleagues Nisa and Nonchan to stay a night in one of the traditional folk houses in Ouchi-juku, a preserved village from the Edo period. It’s only 2 hours away from Nasushiobara so we drove around the area to explore the surroundings as well. Here’s a few snippets of what I enjoyed most that I’d recommend to you:)

1. Fulfill your appetite with Wappa-meshi

This rice bowl is a must when you visit the Aizu area! It’s made in a wooden round basket with fish or meat toppings of all kinds. I got the one with salmon and salmon roe which was very tasty. It looks like a sushi bowl at first glance but the seasoning of the rice is different from that of a regular sushi bowl. We stopped by a well known restaurant in Koriyama called Masugen, a place just a few minutes from the Tohoku Expressway Koriyama IC just to try this dish! On top of the amazing food and their rich array of dishes to choose from, the staff were very friendly and welcoming. The one down side is that the parking lot is proportionally smaller to how popular the restaurant is so you may want to avoid peak hours!

2. Mini break @ Lake Inawashiro

I had no idea until looking it up but this lake is the 4th largest in Japan! The size was impressive; we almost thought it was an ocean when we first saw its presence from afar. The lake is also known for being the trademark of Hideo Noguchi’s hometown, the face of the 1000 yen bill . It’s about a 40 minute drive from Koriyama to this lake, and it’s home to flocks of birds we encountered during our visit. The shore is covered in sand and some little ones were feeding the birds bread crumbs:) The view was beautiful with Mr. Bandai in the back landscape, and there are a couple of places you can park around the lake to take in the amazing view. It’s a place that shows different faces depending on the season so it’s worth a stop if you drive by!

3. Time slip back to Edo @ Ouchi-juku

This was the main attraction of our trip, known to be resting area for travelers during the Edo period. We stayed in one of the houses in the preserved area for the night which was a rare experience I thought I’d never have in my life! We stayed in a place called Minshuku Iseya, a house right about in the middle of the preserved village. The room we stayed in was a small tatami room with a mini oil stove and kotatsu to keep warm. And boy was it freezing at night! It’s hard to imagine how travelers back then kept warm in these houses during the winter, but we enjoyed the stay despite the cold. Curfew was early so unfortunately we didn’t get to go out at night, but when we arrived we could vividly see the starry sky since there’s close to zero man-made light in the area. We also spent the next morning walking around the village for some sweets and souvenirs. If you’re keen to experiencing the traditional ways of living, this place is for you :)

That’s all I got for today, I hope you enjoyed reading my weekend trip in Fukushima. There’s not many days left to go till the year ends, but I hope to take mini trips even when the winter hits!