【ひとり旅】雪降る喜多方を散策するVlog。喜多方ラーメン以外にも魅力あふれるレトロな蔵の町でした。/ Japan travel, Walking in Kitakata, Fukushima.

【ひとり旅】雪降る喜多方を散策するVlog。喜多方ラーメン以外にも魅力あふれるレトロな蔵の町でした。/ Japan travel, Walking in Kitakata, Fukushima.

February 2025. I came to Kitakata in search of old townscapes. The snow is amazing 😶 It was forecasted to snow a little, but when I arrived, it was a heavy snowfall. The scenery is very fantastic, but it’s quite difficult to walk 😌 I came upon a road lined with storehouses. This area is a preservation district for groups of important traditional buildings, and retro storehouses are densely packed. As far as the eye can see, there are charming houses, it’s amazing… The real charm of storehouses is the massive windows. I love how they seem to have high defensive power. Kitakata is famous for its ramen, but it also has a reputation as a town of storehouses. Storehouses are known for their resistance to fire and wind, and their ability to maintain constant temperature and humidity, so they are often thought of as storage facilities, but in Kitakata, they are also used as residences and shops, with more than 4,000 storehouses in the city. That’s amazing… Let’s explore another street. As I walk, I am surprised to find retro buildings everywhere. Just the sight of the townscape we saw earlier is already satisfying enough, but knowing there are still more wonderful views to come, this town is incredible 😶 This is the center of Kitakata, a shopping district with many storehouses. The snow, which had weakened earlier, has started to get heavy again. The world seen through a curtain of snow is faint and ephemeral, creating the illusion of stepping into an ink painting. Storehouses seem to cost a lot to build. In Kitakata, it was considered a mark of maturity to build a storehouse by the age of 40, so I can imagine people in the past went through a lot of effort to show off. I’m not the type to care much about others’ opinions, but that’s a value unique to the free modern era I live in, and in the past, in towns where people were close to each other, such thinking wouldn’t have been possible. Even in such heavy snow, transportation doesn’t stop. Just imagining driving a truck on a snowy day is terrifying. We really owe a lot of gratitude to those in the transport industry. This Fureai Street continues for just under a kilometer, with around 100 storehouses lining both sides of the road. Each storehouse is luxurious, but they all have different appearances, which makes it awe-inspiring to look at them. Not only the houses, but even the bonsai trees are completely white. If you step a little away from the main street, you can see old-fashioned residential streets. Even in such places, retro houses stand in a row, making me realize that the storehouses were not just renovated for tourism. I found a chic storehouse with a deep green color theme. My favorite color is deep green, so seeing something like this gets me excited. It’s currently closed, but I want to visit it someday. I saw a sign saying “Kitakata Histrical Street,” so I decided to walk along it. This path is maintained as a space where local residents and travelers can experience the history and materials of Kitakata. A brick-built post office. It’s very cute 😙 There were many sake breweries. Since Kitakata is a thriving rice-producing area, it’s only natural that sake production is also thriving. I’m more of a highball fan, so I don’t drink much sake, but I’d like to drink good sake when I eat delicious fish. There was a small shrine on the side. The snow-covered lanterns give it a unique atmosphere. The shrine itself is also mystical. As I moved forward, I found eaves. Seeing the snow through the eaves makes me feel Japan. This seems to be another sake shop. Plants buried in the snow. Warm spring is just around the corner. Stay strong and thrive. I finished walking through the historical route. It was a nice path where I could feel the life and specialties of Kitakata 😌 There are many narrow paths, and all of them have a retro atmosphere. It’s almost 11 o’clock. I want to have lunch before it gets crowded. I didn’t do any prior research, so I’ll look for a place while wandering around. Speaking of Kitakata, it has to be ramen. I ordered miso chashu ramen. The deep cloudy color typical of miso. Looks delicious 🤤 Let’s eat. Contrary to its appearance, it tasted quite light. The chashu pork is so tender, it almost loses its shape when you grab it. The firm and chewy curly noodles are well coated with the soup, warming up my cold body. In Kitakata, there’s a culture of eating ramen in the morning, so maybe that’s why the flavor isn’t too heavy? Personally, the flavor’s intensity was just right, and it was very delicious. Now that I’m full, I think I’ll explore one more area today. This place seems to be a collection of several storehouses in the city, and there are also houses designated as important cultural properties by the prefecture. Beautiful storehouses line up surrounding a courtyard buried in snow. Both the snow and the storehouses are white, and if I zone out, I might lose sight of them. There are a few storehouses you can enter, and they have a retro charm 😌 Living with sliding doors and tatami mats, it’s something to aspire to. Further back, there was another house buried in snow. It seems to be a L-shaped house. In some snowy regions, to protect horses from the cold, L-shaped houses that integrate stables and residences can be seen. The interior of the residence reminded me of a life where people kept warm by smoking fire here. This might be my first time coming to a L-shaped house in winter. Let’s enjoy the architectural style made for winter. It seems there is another L-shaped house here. This one is also large, like the previous one. The light entering through the window illuminates the interior in a mysterious way. This L-shaped house is slightly different from the typical L-shaped ones and is built like a key. The layout is quite complex, maybe it was designed by a well-known designer at the time? The kettle placed in the center of the tatami mats looked cool and stylish. I’ve been walking on snowy roads all day, and I’m exhausted. Although there’s still some daylight left, it’s time to wrap up this trip. I’ve driven through Kitakata before but never walked around, so I didn’t realize how retro the townscape with storehouses is. Although the heavy snow drained my energy and I couldn’t visit all the places I wanted, I’m very satisfied with walking through the fantastically monochrome town on a snowy day 😊 If I have another chance to visit, I’d like to go to the places I couldn’t this time. That’s it for now. Bye-bye.

福島県会津若松市から車で30分の距離にある蔵の町、喜多方を散策してきました。
市内に4000以上の蔵を保有する喜多方市、その圧倒的にレトロな通りには感激せずにはいられませんでした。
もちろん喜多方ラーメンも食べました😌
雪の降りしきる中の撮影でしたのでぶれの目立つ映像にはなってしまいましたが、昔ながらの素晴らしい景観が伝わりましたら幸いです。

0:00 オープニング / Opening
1:07 おだづき蔵通り / Odaduki Storehouse Street
3:49 ふれあい通り / Fureai Street
7:15 歴史的道すじ / Kitakata Histrical Street
11:20 麺や玄(お昼ご飯) / Ramen Shop Gen (Lunch)
13:01 喜多方蔵の里 / Kitakata Storehouse Village

#喜多方 #喜多方観光 #福島観光 #福島 #一人旅 #ひとり旅 #vlog #蔵の町 #japantrip #japantravel