A Walking Tour of Aizuwakamatsu Japan in Fukushima Prefecture

A Walking Tour of Aizuwakamatsu Japan in Fukushima Prefecture

I’m exploring Fukushima today and my first mission is to to visit this beautiful castle famous for its traditional samurai history wow isn’t that beautiful [Music] [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] la [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] I am in a town called ISO wakamatsu in Fukushima prefecture and this town is famous for a very very beautiful castle that I would like to go and visit but first I need to buy a ticket for the day pass for the bus system here in this beautiful town that will take me from one part of the city to the next so let’s go and explore that beautiful [Music] castle foreign fore spee [Music] [Music] [Music] all right the Bots just dropped me off here to visit the castle and it’s called suru castle and it’s famous for its uh Samurai uh history and the bus um pass that I got is only 600 Yen for the entire day and I am staying here for about uh 5 days I am based in uh a town called ISO wakamatsu and I chose this town because um it’s a good location to explore the uh the surrounding uh the surrounding areas and the first mission is to visit of course the uh the castle and then there is a beautiful Village um nearby that requires um almost a full day um full day uh trip day trip from here it will take about an hour to get there and that will be for another for another day here is the the entrance and it looks like uh the uh the walk is beautiful and this is uh in a prefecture called uh Fukushima and Fukushima um I the prefecture was affected by the nuclear accident back in 2011 um caused by the earthquake and the tsunami but this particular town uh ISO escaped the U the contamination from the uh nuclear accident so I was a little bit uh hesitant to uh to visit the the town due to the radiation levels but uh people are assured me that the levels the radiation levels uh are back to U the pre uh 2011 accident so I guess I am uh safe but there are some zones in Fukushima that are still not open to the uh to the public because they are still contaminated from my understanding and that is a little bit on the Eastern side of Fukushima I am now in the in in the central um Central uh section of uh Fukushima and that is the uh the tle that I am trying to get to but it’s a lot of uh School groups are out and about maybe they are on a school field trips so let them go first while they uh they leave I will just uh walk around uh here and uh see what the free section of this Castle offers I’m sure there is a beautiful uh Garden uh but that is requires a ticket that I will buy in a minute just uh just want to wait for those kids to leave and here is what are they doing oh boy they’re practicing what yeah I don’t want to uh I don’t want to make them com uncomfortable when they see the camera and there is a public uh toilet right there so I will stop uh filming until they uh leave and I will resume um after the area gets cleared okay I waited for the school kids to to leave and there’s still small group leaving as I am walking uh toward the the castle and I am sure you have seen uh the image of that beautiful castle on the internet if you have done any kind of research around the Japan in Fukushima and I chose to stay in Fukushima because I’m trying to take a rest uh trying to take a break um from my trip my longterm trip I’ve been jumping from one place to the next and Fukushima is a good area to uh to base myself before reaching another section of Japan toward the North and wow so beautiful right there but I’m not sure where the uh the entrance is but I see a lot of uh groups out and about and it’s a beautiful cafeteria here trying to find out where they buy the ticket castle ticket yeah ticket ticket over there okay okay so she wants me to go that way to buy the um the the ticket but the walk is uh is also beautiful up ahead it was built in uh 133 84 and then it got destroyed completely during the bushan war in 1868 and they decided to do the uh to rebuild it in the 1960s and finally was open to the public in 2011 so it took them long long time to to rebuild it that is the ticket office right there look at that so beautiful so a lot of history behind it and it’s one of the last strongholds of the uh of the Samurai that were loyal to the uh Shogun rulers let’s get a ticket first all right I got the ticket that includes the uh castle building and the tea house but I’m not sure if they allow cameras inside so I might not be able to film the whole thing inside but I’m sure the garden outside will be much better so I will definitely film that part [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] see I’m trying to go to the last floor it gives me a a view of ISO from the top floor observation deck and photo is okay that is a good good news but the first floor um they don’t allow cameras for some reason but the second floor and up then they’re okay [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] n all right I got to the top but it’s a little bit a little bit uh crowded here because it’s very very popular destination to visit and this is the observation deck gives a beautiful view of the garden downstair all the way down I might go there later and walk it’s a beautiful uh it’s going to be a beautiful walk a good afternoon walk and let’s keep going it’s like uh to see the the other side downstairs is that’s the I think where I got the ticket or maybe the that’s where the cafeteria is [Music] [Music] he [Music] [Music] there is a beautiful tea house that I am trying to uh to go the ticket that I got is a combo ticket that includes the um the castle the beautiful castle right there it gives you access to go all the way to the top I’m not sure if that was worth it or not but you get you you saw it and you can judge for yourself and but the tea house I got it because I want to go uh take a break for the better part part of 5 minutes and and relax there but I do see a beautiful river right there and the ticket I think I got got it for 520 Yen it looks like this uh region is a little bit cheaper uh than uh than Nico I was in Nico prior to my visit uh to Fukushima I stayed there for for 5 days you can check out my uh my videos I have uh I have some videos for Nico and uh the National Park it’s a beautiful National Park um I highly recommend you consider it if you happen to visit um Japan in the future it’s such a beautiful uh season right now we we are at the uh in late April right now and I do I still see some uh cherry blossom trees are still blooming so let’s go to that uh beautiful uh Tea House some people have uh allergies to u to this uh cherry blossom uh trees and I think this is is the uh the entrance to the uh to uh to this beautiful uh house but I already have a ticket I don’t know if I need to wait in line or not I just uh I have I already have a ticket good oh you need to tear it [Music] okay if you don’t get the uh the combo ticket you end up uh paying more so it’s better to have the combo ticket at the entrance when you get the uh the ticket for the for the castle otherwise you’re going to pay a little bit uh you end up a little bit more so I’m I’m very a Frugal guy so I like to to find economical ways to to to get a more bang for you for my buck I think the route goes this way I need to follow the [Music] rules my camera is acting a little bit weird today as far as the stabilization feature for some reason it’s not working today I see a lot of shaky footage do they actually give uh tea or what I don’t see um I only see people walk but I don’t see them sit down and uh drink tea I have no idea maybe that office is uh where they get the tea from see a bunch of uh rest areas but they don’t serve tea here we go she’s serving tea maybe I need to sit down and and order a let’s sit down uh inside I sit down here or where do I sit down there anywhere you want yeah I have a ticket I go there any seat you want okay any seat I want okay thank you all right let’s go let’s go sit here [Music] [Applause] [Music] I found a quiet area here to to walk and hike I guess the uh the tea house was um right there down there but it turned out that the ticket that I have only gives me access to enter the area The Tea House section but does not give me access to actually drink uh the the tea and that cost about um 600 yen to drink um the their tea but because it’s already lunchtime so I say why not just go grab uh something to eat and then drink coffee after lunch but it’s not a good idea to drink tea when my stomach is empty and I see a beautiful um view of the of the castle from this uh beautiful uh Trail and there is another section of this town that I am trying to visit today and I will try to uh squeeze it in this video if not then uh if I don’t have time I will probably visit it tomorrow but most likely L I still have time it’s still uh 12:00 p.m. so and plus I already got the day pass for the bus uh ticket so I need to make good use of it so let’s go grab something to eat first all right on my way out I see this beautiful Shrine and as usual I’m not sure if I should keep on the left or right I’m still confused um some places they say keep uh walk on the left side and the other places say walk on the right side so it’s not really a set rule but uh all right there is one gentleman right here maybe he’s a a tourist just like me no a visitor and uh wow that’s the view of the of the river or lake not quite sure if that’s a lake or a River man-made lake I have no idea but uh this corner offers another beautiful view of the castle right there wow isn’t that beautiful [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] I [Music] I I I [Music] okay I had lunch delicious lunch for about 1, 500 yen and then coffee for 500 yen total about 2,000 Yen and I took a bus for about 30 minutes to get to this uh place and this is historic place called Li moriyama so it’s pretty much is a site where they have 20 tombs of uh solders young soldiers soldiers uh age 14 to 16 who committed uh ritual suicide here when they saw their Castle burning during the Civil War in 1868 when they saw the castle that uh that I just visited were burning and uh it turned out that the castle actually did not fall they actually made an error so they died for nothing and uh there were like 20 boys one of them survived did not his uh suicide attempt was not successful you can read up more about this story it’s a true story you can Google it it’s a big climb you see and there is an elevator um lift I think or foric foric I think down there but I would like to exercise and keep [Music] going and along the way I see a small souvenir shop so pretty much The Climb continues but I can see that it’s beautiful nature up ahead that will be a beautiful afternoon hike wow you look behind me it’s beautiful so where are those tombs this is one of the uh top uh sites to visit in this uh in the city called ISO wakamatsu I think those are the the the 20 tombs of the solders who were loyal to the Shogun regime who resisted the uh the new government after 1868 wow I am uh using a website called japang guide.com and uh just in case you are curious uh let me show you this is the website Japan DG guide.com and I like to use this website not to get information but to uh to get help as far as uh what bus I should take to to visit a specific site and it’s really helpful they tell you the cost of the bus uh or the cost of the train and that this is what I I use the site for so in case you are reading uh I mean you’re doing your research uh you want to visit Japan this should be at the top of your uh uh websites that you that you might need to keep as a reference I don’t get anything out of them I’m not promoting their their website nothing I get nothing out of them I’m not collaborating with them or nothing like that I’m just telling you that this is the site that I use in addition to Wikipedia uh Wikipedia and what else I use um Reddit forum and Trip Advisor forum and chat GPT the those are the top uh websites that I use in all my travel uh by the way not only in Japan but japan-guide.com that’s only applies to Japan and I found it very very helpful they also have uh a YouTube channel that might be uh helpful it’s different Channel than mine I mean they just give uh like um a travel guide it’s totally different style from mine mine is a vlog so but if you want something uh very quick as opposed to my long boring videos where I just blah blah blah you know you want something quick and more useful and uh more educational go to their website it’s very I find it very helpful I myself watch their their their channel uh when I have uh time to uh to get information like for example uh I just watched one of their videos last night to get an idea of what uh that Village that I am trying to to visit is about an hour away from uh from here here and I found their video to be very uh useful and uh let’s go uh let’s go up ahead and see where uh where I’m going to what I’m going to come across but I also do I am very active uh on Reddit forum and uh Trip Advisor Forum um but I never uh I never um promote my channels there I just uh provide information I uh answer Travelers questions and just I just volunteer to to answer people’s questions because I also use that uh the the subreddits and the forums also to get information from from The Travelers if if I do have a question because I know that who whoever is answering my question has no incentives whatsoever to sell me anything so I know that they are providing information without expecting anything uh out of me you know so that is why I like uh I like to use the forums and uh it doesn’t go any further I also read that there are two statues uh one was given by uh by the Italian uh dictator at the time before World War II and by the Nazi there are two statues somewhere here but I don’t know where and unfortunately they don’t have um uh I think I can just walk down um I don’t like to walk through two but uh but let’s uh let’s keep going the the problem is that they have science in Japanese I have no um I don’t understand Japanese and I am so lazy to just use Google Translate all the time just to CU Google translator app has the camera feature where you just point a camera at the Japanese character and then it will translate uh that to English but it becomes uh a project in itself to do to do this all the time I get tired after a while you know I use it only when I go to the restaurant um when the menu is all in Japanese and by the way eating at the restaurants is a project in itself I mean uh as far as ordering stuff and because they don’t speak any English and the menu is not in English and um especially if you are in U away from the uh major cities such as this one you know uh away from Tokyo so you will find more people who are who don’t speak English at all and I don’t blame them I am in their country I’m supposed to learn English I mean um Japanese and I do my best I to help them I use my Google Translate to to help them uh understand what I am trying to order and uh the trail I guess ends here and I do see uh this beautiful view right right here and uh this area is actually is beautiful if you um rent a car which I am really tempted by the way to rent a car but uh but I’m not sure because uh there is a beautiful mountain around this region that I don’t think a train will um will be a good idea to let’s go walk I mean it’s beautiful beautiful uh walk up up there but the only thing that bothers me um that uh that keeps me from U renting a car here in Japan they they they drive on the left side of the road which is totally different from what I am accustom too I am uh I came from the US and I grew up uh in a country that also drives on the right side of the road like the US system so it’s very hard for me to switch now to drive on the left side of the road and that is what makes me a little bit nervous but if they drive on the right side of the road like uh the way they drive in the US then definitely without a doubt I would be renting a car by now I have uh everything set up I already have the uh the international uh driver license um in addition to the US driver license because they don’t recognize your country driver license without the uh the they call it International Drive driving permit not driver license driving permit and if you are from the US you get that from trible a um agency that’s the only agency that issues um an international driving permit if you are from the US but your us driver license by itself is not going to it’s not going to cut it so you have to uh to get that if you are if you’re planning on driving in Japan and if uh driving on the left side of the road doesn’t bother you then it’s fine so if you are from the UK or if you are from uh Australia or New Zealand or any country like for example Thailand also they drive on the left side of the road then uh Driving in Japan will not be something new to you so uh I guess the trail goes all the way down but uh I guess I’m going to head back and see what else I’m I’m going to explore let’s go see I said earlier that they have a funicular actually it’s not a funicular it’s an escalator I’m not sure if it’s free or not but instead of going down now I’m going to go to a beautiful uh uh Pagoda and Shrine around this area the lady at the uh coffee shop told me go this way she was trying to help me she was a little bit struggling with her explanation but uh but I really uh appreciate their efforts no matter how much uh they they’re they struggle as far as uh speaking English uh I do understand them completely and I guess this is the first uh Shrine along the way and there is no shortage of uh of what of coffee shops in case uh you want to drink coffee shop I mean drink coffee not coffee shop you go to the coffee shop to drink coffee you don’t drink coffee shop so I myself struggle with English but anyway it is what it is this is the pagod um pagod three story Pagoda but it looks like I I can I can climb I can go uh inside but I have no desire to go inside because I can uh get a nice view from down there you see it’s a beautiful uh beautiful site and also there is a some kind of a lake with a small waterfall uh right uh right there so it’s almost uh 3:30 p.m. almost 4:00 p.m. I’m not sure why it took me so long today I mean I woke up early 8:00 in the morning and the reason I wake I wake up early cuz I’m not a morning guy but I wake up early because the hotel includes uh breakfast very nice breakfast free and they only have it from 7 7 to 9 so not uh from 7 to 10 like the usual hotels in Europe but uh in Japan they close at 9:00 in the morning and that’s a little bit uh early for me because I like to sleep in the morning I like to sleep in and uh what a beautiful view look at that it’s beautiful uh it’s a beautiful view I can get uh a nice view later ask somebody to give me a photo so I wake up early to get the uh free breakfast because I already uh paid for the hotel and the hotels for some reason are very uh cheap I’m paying for that hotel I’m staying at ISO wakamatsu I’m paying for about five $57 per night and that includes uh breakfast and uh everything good Wi-Fi speed and uh I’m able to upload uh a long video yesterday uh last night when I got in the when I arrived but the check in um uh at 4:00 p.m. and that is something else that I want to mention is that um the journey to Fukushima took me about 4 hours uh train ride from a city a town called niik and Nico is really beautiful town but I always when I travel in Japan this is something that I want to tell whoever is watching whoever is planning to do slow travel in Japan is that I always choose the slow route I don’t like to take the Shen Canon I like to take the small the slow the slow Journey it took almost 4 hours but there is another option that will take only 2 hours to get here but the reason I took the slow Journey because I enjoy the the the the the Landscapes along the way is very Scenic uh train ride and I captured some of some of it and also there is no rush I mean to to arrive in in whatever City I am planning to go because the checkin time for the hotel is at 4:00 p.m. so doesn’t make sense to arrive early and then uh put my stuff at the hotel uh in the luggage storage and then come back uh to check in and all that kind of stuff it’s it’s better to arrive um later at 3:00 p.m. at my destination so that I check in directly without waiting until 300 p.m. so my point is that if I take the shenon train it will take only two hours and then and then what I arrive at 12: uh noon and then I have to go to the hotel they they’re going to say it’s too early now to check in so I have to give them my backpack and my suitcase and I don’t like to give them my avilable stuff I have the laptop in it I have everything so I don’t like to to um to to leave my stuff at the lobby the hotel lobby it’s not safe and it’s not all always safe I mean it is actually safe in Japan but it’s always better to air on the side of caution you know so that is why I am not in rush but if you are uh traveling um on a very uh short trip and you want to jump from one city to the next and you only have one night to explore the city then my style my Approach will not work for you in this case you will have to to take the uh the shin Canen because you will arrive in Fukushima early in the morning and then you put your luggage at the storage or at the lobby for your hotel and then you go explore the town and then you come back to the hotel at night to check in and then uh you sleep one night at the hotel and then you leave the following day that is if you’re traveling um very fast uh jumping from one place to the next but that is not my style anymore I like to take my time I’m I’m staying here for 5 days I have I there is no rush to uh to uh to to seee so much stuff in one in one day [Music] all right I get to an area called higashiyama onen it’s a hot spring Resort that I have no idea what’s going to look like but I guess it offers beautiful view as I can see but I’m not sure if I if I have to be a hotel gust to be to be in this particular area what I’m trying to do is to walk along uh this uh Trail and see maybe they can uh allow me to go to go that way and it’s I saw it on the U on Google Images I just typed things to do in uh ISO wakamatsu and this place popped up so I’m trying to wrap up uh the video but I still the sun is still up I said okay I don’t want to to go to the hotels too early and uh and I said okay let’s check out this this place and I really like uh this uh season it’s really beautiful but the problem is the allergy if you have an allergy then uh spring allergy you might be sneezing a lot because a lot of people sneeze around this time I noticed I’m not the only one but the The View right here is such a stunning right here and I am uh it looks like I am by myself and I don’t have to be u a gust in any of this hotel it’s open I thought it’s only um it’s a reserved area private area or something like that but uh I was hoping that I would get uh I will see some um shops or coffee shops or restaurants cuz it’s already 5:00 p.m. it’s close to dinner time I take my dinner I eat dinner early as usual because I I came from the US and in the US we eat uh dinner around 6:00 p.m. but uh it’s really beautiful area it really is and let’s keep uh let’s keep going but the primary objective for visiting U ISO wakamatsu in Fukushima is actually to go to a beautiful Village that is a little bit far from here that is a little bit also challenging to get there and I will figure out how to get there tomorrow wow it’s uh it’s really beautiful it really is the uh the bus system that uh I am using the 600 Yen for the the day pass the uh they’re not frequent so it took me almost an hour just waiting for the bus because it was my mistake I took the wrong one and then I had to get off the bus and then I had to wait an hour just for the for the next for the correct bus to take me to this area so I’m supposed I was supposed to get to this area it it should take only 10 minutes but because of my stupid mistake it ended up an hour just to get here and now I’m not sure if there is still a bus to go back back to the hotel if not then I’ll have to either walk it walk or take the um take what take a taxi and obviously uh the the trail keeps uh keeps going uh right right there and I did see a lot of people people getting off the bus with their uh suitcase and bags so they’re staying in one of those uh hotels I guess but it’s not uh it’s not a good uh idea to stay here because it’s not close to the uh bus station to the to the main bus station and the train station so the location that I am staying at is actually better because it gives me access to whatever area I would like to go to I am in the center of the town and also gives me access to the train that will take me to that remote Village that you will see probably in one of the next videos so I’m really trying to go uh toward that direction there is a sign there says that I can go there let’s let’s figure out it’s really beautiful and uh I am trying to film this area before um I mean I was I was planning actually to come back tomorrow to film this area but tomorrow is going to be um it’s going to rain tomorrow so I said okay let’s finish this today before the rain uh starts and unfortunately it’s blocked I was hoping that I would get uh I would walk to that beautiful area right there but it looks like this is the area where the hotel residents probably have access to and uh that is my guess so all right for sure you will see beautiful things in the next uh videos for sure for now have a wonderful day and enjoy this View for the last for the last uh moment in this uh video wow [Music] [Music] [Music]

A fun day of exploring Aizu-Wakamatsu in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. It is a small town famous for its samurai history. You will see Tsuruga Castle (Tsurugajo), Iimoriyama, Higashiyama Onsen, and much more.

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✔️ Nikko Historic Town: https://youtu.be/plmYa2R6w84
✔️ Okunikko & Nikko National Park: https://youtu.be/CznATbes66o

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#japan #fukushima #aizu