The enduring allure of Iwaki Japan

21.07.2023 - 07:46 / roughguides.com

Iwaki, a city on Japan's southeast end in Fukushima Prefecture, is hugged by the rugged Pacific shoreline to its east and the densely forested slopes of the Abukuma highlands to its west. Knitting together this hilly hinterland is a network of rivers fed by a constellation of distinctive mounds. Stretching for over 1230 square kilometres (475 sq. mi), Iwaki’s rambling land mass makes it one of the largest cities in Fukushima Prefecture.

The city is also among the most storied, as the location of the Nakoso Barrier – a defence gate built by the Yamato government around 708 AD, where the Yamato Imperial Court confronted indigenous Emishi peoples of the north. From ancient times to the Middle Ages, the area of Fukushima Prefecture was part of the historic Mutsu Province. After that, it came under the power of the Yamato Imperial Court.

In the early Heiin period, unable to control the more hostile iteki factions of the tribal group, whose habitation in the merciless mountains worked to their advantage, the samurai under the leadership of Emperor Kanmu (Kammu) subsumed their fighting style, enlisting members of the more trusting fushu and ifu Emishi circles to train them.

Iwaki ley lines, Fukushima, Japan © Cherise

The many relics that remain of Emishi culture suggest a lifestyle in harmony with the natural environment and changing seasons, showing how little modern Iwaki has changed. Over 500 shrines and temples persist across its craggy landscape, moulded by time.

It is thought that the city’s ley lines extend beyond its sacred sites to places that brought, or continue to bring, great wealth. One being the Joban Coal Fields, the beating heart of the city’s economy until the 1960s.

Another being Spa Resort Hawaiians, a sprawling theme park using hot springs, positioned next to Yumoto Onsen, which redefined the city as a prime tourism spot against the backdrop of the waning coal mining industry. Yumoto Onsen, thought to be one of the oldest hot springs in Japan, reportedly first piqued the interest of Iwaki’s human inhabitants around one thousand years ago.

The concept of ley lines was originally developed in early twentieth-century Europe – Stonehenge in the UK being a good case in point. In Japan, Issey Uchida, a Sacred Land Researcher, claims to have identified many different structures and networks linking the city’s shrines and temples, burial mounds, and archaeological sites, using digital maps and GPS.

These signposts, Uchida suggests, may prove useful in better understanding the cultural fabric of Japan, specifically ancient Emishi civilisation and their relationship with the mountain and oceanic vastness of Iwaki. In this article, we unravel the mysteries behind Iwaki’s fascinating past and present to