Kasumigajo Park

Little knownBarely documented in English. This is the kind of place the site exists for.

Researched and written by Hinato

Nihonmatsu CastleKasumigajochrysanthemum dollsBoshin WarAdatara

Photo: くろふね / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0) · original

Fukushima has plenty of scenery; Kasumigajo Park is the kind that's worth planning a whole day around.

Nihonmatsu Castle was the seat of the Niwa clan and is one of Japan's hundred fine castles, listed alongside Tsuruga and Shirakawa Komine as one of Fukushima's three. It fell in the Boshin War of 1868, and the boy soldiers of the Nihonmatsu Shotai who died defending it are commemorated at the gate — a story that runs parallel to the better-known Byakkotai of Aizu.

What stands today is the restored main gate and stone walls, on a hillside laid out as a park. Cherry trees fill it in April, the maples turn in autumn, and every October the castle grounds host the Nihonmatsu Chrysanthemum Doll Festival, in which life-size figures are dressed entirely in living chrysanthemums. The park is free and open, and the walk to the top of the honmaru gives a view over the town and out to Mt. Adatara.

Visiting essentials

Best season

Late April for cherry blossom | October–November for chrysanthemum dolls and autumn colour

How long to allow

60–90 minutes

Hours

Park open at all times

Closed: Open year-round

Entry fee

Free | Chrysanthemum Doll Festival charged separately

Getting out there

Access notes

Kakunai, Nihonmatsu, on the hillside above the town. About a short walk or by car from JR Nihonmatsu Station. The park is free and open, with parking. The Nihonmatsu Chrysanthemum Doll Festival is held in the grounds in autumn and is charged separately; the Nihonmatsu Lantern Festival takes place in the town in early October. Climbing to the honmaru gives a view over the town toward Mt. Adatara.

Beyond the guidebook

**Walk up to the honmaru.** The restored gate at the bottom is the photograph, but the stone walls and the view over the town toward Adatara are at the top. **The chrysanthemum dolls are in autumn.** Life-size figures clothed in living flowers, in the castle grounds, charged separately from the park. It has run for decades and is the town's main event. **The Shotai were boys.** Nihonmatsu sent teenagers to defend the castle in 1868 and they are remembered at the gate. It is the same year and the same war as the Byakkotai at Aizu, less known outside the prefecture. **Cherry blossom is late April.** Nihonmatsu sits inland and higher than the coast, so the season runs behind Iwaki by a clear margin. **The lantern festival is in the town.** Early October, with large drum floats hung with lanterns. It is separate from the castle but the same trip.

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