Minamisōma: Culture, Coast and Hotels

Minamisōma brings together the history of Soma Nomaoi, impressive stone Buddhas, archaeological evidence of the Jōmon period, and activities along the coast. When choosing a hotel for your stay, these themes can help you decide: would you like to learn more about the festival, view ancient sculptures, or spend time by the Pacific? The different highlights offer guidance for planning your trip.

Soma Nomaoi and historic buildings

Soma Nomaoi is designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan and takes place annually. A permanent exhibition about the festival features a diorama of the flag-capturing competition, armor, and other festival equipment. It also includes the Edo-period folding screen “相馬野馬追図屏風,” which depicts Soma Nomaoi. Individual exhibits may change.

The Nomaoidori Meijōkan offers another way to explore architectural history. Former sake warehouses and Western-style buildings from the Meiji, Taishō, and early Shōwa periods are preserved and restored there. The exhibition on Soma Nomaoi and the historic buildings represent different chapters of local culture: the annual festival on the one hand, and preserved buildings from several periods on the other.

Stone Buddhas: figures, sizes, and details

The Daibisan Stone Buddhas include the stone Buddhas of Yakushidō, Amidadō, and Kannondō. Together with the stone sculptures of Usuki in Ōita Prefecture and Ōya in Tochigi Prefecture, they are counted among Japan’s three major groups of Buddhas carved into rock. The details of the Yakushidō Stone Buddhas also offer a sense of their design: six Buddha figures are carved in relief into a rock cave about 15 meters wide, while two others are depicted with incised lines. The figures are about two to three meters tall; traces of red and yellow pigment remain in places.

Northeast of these is the Kannondō Stone Buddha, a partially destroyed depiction of the thousand-armed Kannon, about nine meters tall. It, too, is one of Japan’s largest stone Buddha figures. Comparing its size with the smaller figures in the Yakushidō cave, and the different techniques used—modeled in relief or depicted with incised lines—makes the variety of the stone sculptures especially vivid.

Jōmon period: settlement and shell mound

Urajiri Kaizuka was a settlement and shell mound covering approximately seven hectares about 5,700 to 3,000 years ago, from the early to the late Jōmon period. The long time span and estimated area offer two different points of reference for understanding the site: its presence across several phases of the Jōmon period and the size of the former settlement.

At the Urajiri Kaizuka Jōmon Park visitor center, you can touch the three-dimensional artwork “貝塚の樹” and view an exhibition about environmental changes around Urajiri Kaizuka during the Jōmon period. The observation building adds a shell-mound profile uncovered during excavations, which visitors can see in its original state. This places an engaging object alongside a preserved profile: one helps visitors explore environmental changes, while the other shows the excavated shell mound.

Walks, a cycling route, and surf spots

A park offers walks past a wall depicting the story of the great snake, a snake monument, the Daibisan Stone Buddhas, and a large cedar estimated to be about 1,000 years old. These stops bring together a story, a monument, the stone Buddhas, and an ancient tree for a walk with a variety of points of interest.

For a cycling trip, the approximately eleven-kilometer, mostly flat cycling route follows the Mano River from Sedette Kashima to Karasuzaki Seaside Park on the Pacific. Opened in 2021, the route is characterized by its length, mostly flat course, and two endpoints. If you’re more interested in water sports, the coasts of Kitaizumi and Karasuzaki in Minamisōma are considered surf spots; local conditions vary. Sun Marine offers surfing lessons for beginners and provides wetsuits and surfboards. Lessons are scheduled from June to October, and weather-related cancellations are possible. Check the current dates before making plans.

Discover more destinations: Yanaizu, Kitakata, Yama District, Nihonmatsu, Sōma, Tamura District, Date, Tomioka.

For the broader travel overview: Fukushima Prefecture.