Getting around Fukushima

Getting inHow you arrive in Fukushima

Fukushima Airport · Koriyama or Fukushima Station (shinkansen, 1h 20m–1h 40m from Tokyo)

Confirmed journey times

Fastest services, checked on the date shown.

Pick your station before you buy: Koriyama is the gateway to the samurai town and the lakes; Fukushima station is for the hot springs. They are 13 to 14 minutes apart on the shinkansen, but going to the wrong one costs you an hour.
Checked 2026-08-16
Tokyo to Koriyama: About 1 hour 20 minutes on the Tohoku shinkansen (the slower stopping runs take up to about 1 hour 40). Fukushima station is 13 to 14 minutes further on.
Checked 2026-08-16
Koriyama to Aizu-Wakamatsu: Change at Koriyama for the Banetsu-West line, about 1 hour 5 minutes to 1 hour 15. This is a local line with gaps of an hour or more between trains — look up the return departure before you leave the station.
Checked 2026-08-16
About rail passes: All of the above is JR, so a Japan Rail Pass covers the whole journey, shinkansen included. Fukushima is good value on a pass because you are using it twice in one day.
Checked 2026-08-16

A Japan Rail Pass does not cover Nozomi or Mizuho. What a rail pass covers

An IC card works on most of them. Signs and station names are in English.

Worth it the moment you leave the main city. What you need to drive here

Permit neededDrive left

Clean, safe and metered. Show the address on your phone rather than saying it. Doors are often opened for you.

Show the address

City: Usually around midnight
Country: Far earlier — sometimes mid-afternoon. Ask at the stop when you arrive, not when you want to leave
If you miss it: Ask your inn to call a taxi before the last bus goes, not after

ATMs: Use 7-Eleven or Japan Post for a foreign card. Bank ATMs are hit and miss
Carry: ¥10,000–20,000 on a day out of the city. Rural areas have very little
Small places: Cash only is common. Ask “Card OK?” before you order

Lockers: At the main station, paid by IC card. They fill by mid-morning
Send it: Any convenience store will deliver it to your next hotel, usually next day. Cheaper than carrying it up stairs
At your inn: They will hold it before check-in and after check-out