Aizu-Wakamatsu: The Samurai City of Fukushima

Aizu-Wakamatsu wears its history more openly than almost any city in Tohoku. In the mountains of western Fukushima, it was one of the great samurai strongholds of the north, loyal to the shogunate to the bitter end of Japan's civil war — and it paid for that loyalty in a way the city has never forgotten.

For the traveller, Aizu is a city of a red-tiled castle, a hilltop monument to a band of teenage warriors, a remarkable double-spiral pagoda, and living traditions of lacquer and sake. It is the cultural heart of the Aizu region, and one of the most rewarding stops in southern Tohoku.

Tsuruga Castle

The centre of the city, in every sense, is Tsuruga Castle — known locally as Tsurugajo. The keep that stands today is a reconstruction, but a faithful one, and it is distinguished by a detail found on no other Japanese castle: red roof tiles, restored to match the appearance the castle had in its final samurai-era form. The effect against a blue sky, or under snow, is striking. Inside, a museum tells the story of the Aizu domain, and the top floor offers a view across the city to the surrounding mountains.

The castle is the survivor of a month-long siege in 1868, during the Boshin War that ended samurai rule. Aizu fought for the old order and lost, and the castle held out under bombardment before finally surrendering. The grounds, with their stone walls and moats, are a fine place to walk, especially in cherry-blossom season.

The Byakkotai and Iimoriyama

The most affecting story in Aizu belongs to the Byakkotai — the "White Tiger Force," a unit of teenage samurai sons formed in the desperate final days of the siege. A group of around twenty of them, cut off and seeing smoke rising from the direction of the castle, believed it had fallen and that their lord and families were lost. On the hill of Iimoriyama, they took their own lives rather than face capture. One survived to tell the story.

Itinerary

Fukushima Travel Guide: The Region That Earned Its Second Chapter

Fukushima's story is now one of recovery, craft, food, and mountains. The parts open to visitors are exceptional, and the misconceptions keeping travelers away are, by and large, wrong.

→

Iimoriyama is now a place of pilgrimage, with the graves of the young warriors, a memorial, and a view down toward the castle that allows visitors to see what the boys saw. The story is taught to every Japanese schoolchild, and the hill draws visitors who come to pay quiet respect. Whatever one makes of the ideals involved, the human tragedy is undeniable.

Sazaedo and the Old Town

On the slope of Iimoriyama stands Sazaedo, one of the strangest and most ingenious wooden structures in Japan: an 18th-century hexagonal pagoda with a double-helix internal ramp, so that visitors ascending and descending never meet on the same path. Built so pilgrims could complete a circuit of Buddhist images in one continuous spiral, it is a feat of carpentry unlike anything else in the country.

Elsewhere, the Aizu Bukeyashiki preserves the grand residence of a senior Aizu retainer, a sprawling complex that shows how the upper samurai of the domain lived. Together with the castle and Iimoriyama, it completes the city's portrait of samurai Aizu.

Lacquer, Sake, and Local Craft

Aizu is one of Japan's historic centres of lacquerware, a craft introduced to the domain over four centuries ago and still practised in workshops around the city. It is also a notable sake region, its breweries drawing on clean mountain water and the rice of the surrounding valleys; several welcome visitors for tastings. The local cuisine, built around mountain vegetables, soba, and miso-grilled mochi (shingoro), rounds out a stay that engages more than the history books.

Getting to Aizu-Wakamatsu

Aizu-Wakamatsu sits in the mountains west of the main Tohoku Shinkansen line. The usual approach is to take the shinkansen to Koriyama and change to the JR Ban'etsu West Line, which winds scenically through the hills to the city in about an hour and a quarter. From Tokyo the full journey takes roughly three hours. A retro sightseeing loop bus circles the city's main sights, making the castle, Iimoriyama, and the samurai residence easy to visit without a car.

Aizu rewards an overnight stay, which allows time for the castle and Iimoriyama, a lacquer workshop or sake brewery, and the slower pleasures of a mountain castle town that most foreign visitors never reach.

Questions Travelers Ask About Aizu-Wakamatsu

What is Aizu-Wakamatsu known for?

Aizu-Wakamatsu is known for the red-roofed Tsuruga Castle, the tragic story of the teenage Byakkotai warriors on Iimoriyama, the double-helix Sazaedo pagoda, and its traditions of lacquerware and sake. It was a major samurai stronghold loyal to the shogunate.

How do you get to Aizu-Wakamatsu from Tokyo?

Take the Tohoku Shinkansen to Koriyama, then transfer to the JR Ban'etsu West Line to Aizu-Wakamatsu — about three hours in total. A sightseeing loop bus connects the city's main attractions.

Who were the Byakkotai?

The Byakkotai, or White Tiger Force, were a unit of teenage samurai who fought in the 1868 siege of Aizu. Believing the castle had fallen, a group of them took their own lives on Iimoriyama, where their graves and a memorial now stand.