Abukuma Highlands · TamuraNo.551★★Open in map →
Abukuma Cave
A limestone cave under the highlands of inland Fukushima, walked on a lit one-way route. Its reputation rests on the range of formations packed into a short stretch of passage rather than on sheer size.
- FromKoriyama Station
- ~1 hr 10 minJR local, then a taxi
- Get off atKammata Station (JR Ban'etsu East Line)
- From there
- Abukuma Cave
The sweet spot
This is a signposted, ticketed attraction, not a secret. What keeps it uncrowded is where it sits — a rural line with sparse service, no bus from the station, and most visitors arriving by car around midday. The first hour after opening is the quiet one.
Where it is
20 more notes in Fukushima · open the map →What to look for — in walking order
- Takine Gotenthe largest chamber on the route, a high hall walled with stalactites and stalagmites
- Juhyo, the Silver Frosta pale giant column where a stalagmite has fused with the stalactite above it
- Ryugu-dena second hall, named after the undersea palace of Japanese folklore
- The Crystal Curtaina calcite sheet thin enough for light to pass through and show its banding
- Tsuki no Sekai, the Moon Worldthe closing chamber, where most of the cave's formation types stand together
How to actually get there
- Koriyama Station → Kammata Station (JR Ban'etsu East Line, local trains only).
- Kammata Station → Abukuma Cave (taxi, about 5 min).
- Walk the one-way route from Takine Goten through to the Moon World.
- Taxi back to Kammata Station for the train to Koriyama.
- JR Ban'etsu East Line from Koriyama
- Koriyama Station →(JR Ban'etsu East Line, local trains only)→ Kammata Station, then about five minutes by taxi to the cave. Departures are roughly hourly and thin out between the peaks, so look up your train before you set out. Kammata has been unstaffed since 2024, so buy your ticket at Koriyama before boarding.
- Return from Kammata Station
- Taxi back down to Kammata Station and take the Ban'etsu East Line toward Koriyama. There is no bus on this route, and taxis do not sit waiting at the cave, so ask the ticket desk to call one before you finish looking round. Evening departures are few — fix your return train when you arrive.
About the place
Abukuma Cave lies under the Abukuma Highlands in Tamura, in the hill country between Koriyama and the Pacific coast. Surveyed passages run 4,218.3 metres in total, of which 600 metres are open as a lit, one-way walking route. The draw is variety rather than distance. Stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone, rimstone pools, crystal curtains and rare cave shields all stand inside that short stretch, together with boxwork, a lattice-like formation few caves in Japan show at all. The route climbs and drops through a series of chambers, so expect stairs rather than a level corridor.
How to enjoy it
Inside, the air stays cool the year round, which makes the cave a relief in August and the warmer half of a January day out. Bring a layer either way, and shoes that grip, because the stone underfoot is wet in places. Doors open at 8:30, and the adventure course — a tighter branch off the main route — stops taking entries well before the cave closes.
Background & history
Limestone had been worked at the Kamayama quarry for years before anyone knew what lay behind the rock face. Blasting in September 1969 opened a gap, and the following March a survey party from Nihon University pushed through into the main passage. Lighting and walkways went in, and the cave opened to visitors in 1973. It has been run since by a local public-interest foundation in Takine, and the entrance still stands on the old quarry ground.
Before you go
- Cash
- Admission is charged. The standard adult ticket is 1,200 yen, with lower rates for junior-high and elementary pupils, and the adventure course costs extra on top of that. Tickets are sold at the desk and online through the official site. Car parking is free.
- Good to know
- The opening time is the same all year, but closing shifts with the season — later in midsummer, earlier in deep winter. There is no regular closing day, though the operator does post occasional one-day closures for electrical and lighting work, so check the official site the week before you go. Winters here are deep-snow winters, which affects the roads and the taxi rather than the cave itself.
- Another way
- By car, the cave is about fifteen minutes from the Ono interchange on the Ban'etsu Expressway, and roughly the same from the ETC-only Tamura smart interchange. Parking is free and there is plenty of it.
- After you get off
- Kammata Station sits down in the valley; the cave is uphill to the northeast, a few kilometres away, with no bus service on the road. A taxi covers it in about five minutes. Arrange one ahead if you can, because the station is unstaffed and cars are not always standing there.
Nearby notes
Distances are straight lines on the map, not travel times.