Aizu-Takada station (会津高田駅 Aizu-takada-eki) is in the Takada area, the town of Aizu-misato.
Isasumi shrine (伊佐須美神社 Isasumi-jinja) is located in the area and it is the largest shrine in Aizu.
They say that the shrine has a very long history, starting more than two thousand years ago, and has been in the current place since A.D.552.
They say that the shrine has a very long history, starting more than two thousand years ago, and has been in the current place since A.D.552.
The shrine was listed as a high ranked shrine in an old book written about shrines in Japan over a thousand years ago, but there don’t seem to be any documents that have detailed records because there have often been fires from long ago.
Even so, some people in the Aizu visit the shrine to hold a Shinto-style wedding and ward off bad luck, moreover, a great number of worshippers visit there on new year’s day.
The Iris flower festival (あやめ祭り Ayame-matsuri) is held from late June to early July there.
It is counted as one of the three biggest Iris festivals in the Tōhoku region.
A lot of splendid Iris flowers are in full bloom around a pond in precincts of the shrine
You can enjoy seeing various kinds of Irises.
misatono.jp
In addition, the area has traditional festivals that are representative of the Aizu.
The rice-planting festival (御田植祭 Otaue-matsuri) is held July 12.
misatono.jp
misatono.jp
Rice growing associates a Japanese religion, Shinto (神道), and various events related to rice cultivation are held at the festival.
They say that the festival is one of the big three rice-planting festivals in Japan.
For more information, please check this video.
Besides, a festival of tugging a huge straw sack (大俵引き Ōtawarahiki) is held in second Saturday, January.
misatono.jp
misatono.jp
In the festival, people play at a tug of war with the straw sack and foretell the town’s thriving business and a good crop fortune of the year.
The festival will be filled with excitement despite in a cold winter day.