Iwata (磐田) is a city in Shizuoka. Home to J1 soccer team Jubilo Iwata.

Understand

Tourist information site

The local tourist association has a Japanese-only guide site.

Get in

By train

• JR Tokai line
• The nearest Shinkansen stops are at Kakegawa, if you're coming in from the direction of Tokyo, or Hamamatsu if you're coming from the Nagoya area. From either, you can catch a regular JR train the rest of the way to Iwata Station.

See

• Iwata Museum of Fragrance (磐田香りの博物館, Iwata Kaori no Hakubutsukan), Tatsuno 2019-15, ☏ +81 53 836-8891. 09:30-17:00, closed Mondays. This unique museum explores the history and culture associated with fragrances in a variety of exhibits, including the "Experience Fragrance" exhibit which, for an additional fee of ¥2100, allows visitors to create and bottle their own fragrance. A café allows visitors to try out various fragrant herbal teas. Adults ¥300, students ¥200, children ¥100. 
• Okegaya Marsh (桶ケ谷沼, Okegaya Numa), Iwai 315, ☏ +81 53 839-3022. 09:00-17:00, closed Mondays. An almost 2-km-long marsh and the surrounding park has abundant wildlife, including 67 species of dragonfly. 
• Toyooka Plum Park (豊岡梅公園, Toyooka Ume Kouen), Uenobu 1989-1, ☏ +81 53 962-2666. 09:00-17:00. Over 4000 plums trees blossom in a beautiful valley here every spring. Adults ¥500, children ¥100. 
• Yuya Long Wisteria (熊野の長藤, Yuya no Nagafuji), Ikeda 330, ☏ +81 53 836-9600. Meter-long arms of wisteria hang from a frame which covers almost 600 m². Great picnic spot during the April-May bloom. A wisteria festival is held here during Golden Week as well. Free. 

Buy

• LaLa Port Iwata (ららぽーと磐田), 1200 Takamigaoka (off the Tomei Expressway north of the Iwata Interchange), ☏ +81 538-59-0100. 10:00-21:00. Opened in 2009, the largest western-style mall in the area, with a wide variety of shops, restaurants, and a Toho Cinema. 

Eat

Mid-range

• Unagi no Tanaka (うなぎのたなか), Shirabane 147, ☏ +81 53 866-5252. Eel from Hamamatsu's Lake Hamana is the Enshu region's most famous regional dish. Check out their take-away menu. 

Splurge

• Ajishou Tenhiro (味匠天宏), Mitsuke 3884-5 (about 2 km north of JR Iwata station), ☏ +81 53-832-7078. 11:00-14:00, 17:00-21:00. Tempura served in an old-style Japanese atmosphere. The restaurant is installed in a historic house once lived in by the head of the Akamatsu clan. Beyond tempura, the restaurant also specializes in the local "three-color curry" (miiro kare). Dinner for around ¥5000. 

Go next

• Fukuroi
• Mori
• Kakegawa
• Kikugawa
• Hamamatsu
• Arai
• Kosai
• Omaezaki
• Makinohara

Routes through Iwata

Nagoya ← Hamamatsu ←	W  E	→ Fukuroi → Shizuoka
Nagoya ← Hamamatsu ←	W  E	→ Fukuroi → Shizuoka
Nagoya ← Hamamatsu ←	W  E	→ Fukuroi → Shizuoka