Iwaki

Iwaki (いわき市) is a city in Fukushima. It is a regional city surrounded by mountains and the Pacific Ocean. It is nicknamed "Sunshine Iwaki" due to its high number of hours of bright sunshine compared to other areas of Japan, and it is said to be one of the most temperate cities in the country.

Understand
Iwaki has a population of 345,000. It’s Japan’s 10th largest and 72nd most populous city.

Iwaki was formed in 1966 by incorporating many smaller towns, including Taira (the central area with the main train station), Uchigō, Yumoto, Izumi, Onahama (the port town), Ueda and many other smaller areas. They were amalgamated a few decades ago in order to boost its status due to a receding population. The name Iwaki had been used for a long time to refer to the general area however it had many different Kanji depictions, so to remove any confusion the name Iwaki is officially written in the hiragana syllabary (いわき).

Formerly, coal mining formed the core of its economy, but in the face of advancing technology, turned to tourism, the Spa Resort Hawaiians being one of its biggest attractions.

The main foundation of economy is industry and agriculture. The industrial production of Iwaki City is no.1 in Tōhoku region. Iwaki is rich in sightseeing resources and 7.64 million tourists visit a year. Within Fukushima prefecture, the industrial and sightseeing center is Iwaki, while the political center is Fukushima city.

Tourist information site
The local tourist association has a Japanese-only guide site with integrated Google Translate.

By train
Iwaki is on the JR Joban Line from Tokyo, between Mito and Sendai.

By road
Iwaki is at the junction of the Joban (Tokyo-Sendai) and Ban'etsu (Iwaki-Niigata) Expressways. Highway buses travel to Sendai and Tokyo for around ¥3000-4000.

Buy
Iwaki Tengu - a guardian angel who protects people from misfortune

Iwaki Tono-washi - traditional Japanese paper

Tono, which is close to the mountain region, has been well known as a place for producing Japanese paper to this day. This Japanese paper is made from mulberry and paperbush, is very sturdy.

Go next

 * Hirono
 * Naraha
 * Tomioka
 * Kawauchi
 * Ono
 * Tamura
 * Furudono
 * Samegawa
 * Kitaibaraki