Aizu is 300 km north of Tokyo: two hours by high speed Shinkansen and then a scenic hour on a local railway. The train winds through high mountain passes and follows the foot of 5,968’ high Mt. Bandai. Skiing in winter is superb, as are the soba noodles and sake from the many Aizu breweries that benefit from the pristine mountain water and plentiful rice. Lake Inawashiro, fourth largest in Japan, is a few miles away.
This is the land of the real-life last samurai, upon which themes in the Ken Watanabe-Tom Cruise film were loosely derived.
But we’re not in Aizu merely to learn about Samurai, Sake and Soba noodles. We’re here to visit the SIGMA Corporation factory and see how they are enter the cinema market with SIGMA CINE LENSES.
