Hi,

We are planning to spend 1 night in Nihonmatsu, in order to visit the Chouchin Lantern Festival. Any accomodation there that you can recommend?

Thank you!

Interestingly, Hyperdia does not even recognize Nihonmatsu as a destination although there IS a JR Nihonmatsu Station - strange. To get there by train, you would depart either Koriyama or Fukushima on the JR Tohoku line local train.

I can't actually recommend anything as I have never stayed there, but:

The only listings I found on my booking websites for Nihonmatsu were some VERY expensive, high-end resort/onsen/ryokan in the hills outside of the town. Most of those are 15 to 45 minutes by car or bus from the town.

If you are looking for something a bit more reasonable, I'd think you should look in either Fukushima or Koriyama, which are both around 20 minutes by local train from Nihonmatsu. One example of a recent search:

http://www.japanhotel.net/data/pref/...Area=FUKUSHIMA .

Another:

http://www.japanhotel.net/data/pref/...&Area=KORIYAMA .

That is just one booking site. There are others.

JR

Also be aware that local accommodations tend to be booked up early in towns that have famous festivals.

http://urban-hn.com/

I saw that one but was hesitant to link a site all in Japanese for a first timer. You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din.

The person typing the station in engrish made a typo and is in the system as nihommatsu

Aah! Didn't think to check that. Thanks.

Well, that's actually how 二本松　is pronounced, so whether it's a typo or not is a bit debatable...

Well, I guess it is a mistake if the town transliterates its name as Nihonmatsu.

See also Shimbashi v Shinbashi.

Or, rather more obscurely, 東京海上日動 (who insure my car) who transliterate themselves as Tokio Marine Nichido.

Same thing going on in many Asian countries. New systems of romanization are developed to meet various needs.

Korea - Pusan / Busan, Kimpo / Gimpo etc.
China - Beijing / Peking etc.
India - Bombay / Mumbai etc.

English speakers are really the least qualified people to tell Asians how to use the alphabet. We can't even decide how to spell our own language - or how to pronouce it. Truth be told, we haven't got a clue:
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=7JEgJjz3Oz4

That's one of the shortcomings of the English side of Hyperdia unfortunately, you never know how the station is going to be rendered into English. Usually better to use the Japanese side if you can.

Not to mention the pronunciation differences out in "Inaka".....
(I would post a few but the computer I am on doesn't do kanji)

Sorry, I forgot that I clicked the english version of hyperdia and that it's written as english speakers pronounce it/hear it. My mistake, thinking in several languages makes me overlook those kind of things.

The sounds that ん makes in combination with the syllable after in some situation is very natural to adapt and imitate for some speakers (spanish-natives like me) that I had never realized the small variations that sometimes made it sound like an m or the other variations (for example, the way we move our lips to pronounce sanpo does make me pronounce it as sampo). I hadn't even realized that they romanize 新橋 as shimbashi! I guess you learn something everyday.

Further reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepburn_romanization

Spelling things as "-mp-" is traditional Hepburn (Nihommatsu, Gumma, Asahi Shimbun, etc), while "-np-" is revised Hepburn (Nihonmatsu, Gunma, Asahi Shinbun).

I know "The Asahi" will be surprised by this....