The cave was discovered on August 15, 1969, northeast of the city of Tamura and was originally named Kamayama Shonyu-do (釜山鍾乳洞).

[1] Visitors can traverse a 600-metre-long path inside the cave as well as a 120-metre-long exploration course to view the stalactites and stalagmites.

Abukuma-do was discovered in September 1969 from the present Busan quarry site in an area called Abukuma Highlands (阿武隈高地), or Harachitai highlands (原地帯), in the middle of a geologic plateau formation of irregular limestone deposits, on the western slope of Mt.

Otakine to the Ogoe district of Tamura city, a limestone layer called the Takine Formation runs about 4km vertically on the longitude and between 0.5 and 1 km horizontally on the latitude.

This limestone was formed by depositing the remains of organisms such as foraminifera on the seabed from the Carboniferous to the Permian about 300 million years ago.

It is presumed that the limestone layer emerged on the surface of the earth due to the widespread uplift, and the erosion by groundwater began and the cave was formed, probably from the end of the Tertiary to the Quaternary period.

The total length of the cave, including routes not open to the public, is approximately 3,300m, which may be further extended depending on future explorations.

The Christmas Tree is a stalagmite and The Silver Frost meets dripstones on the roof of the cave resulting in an impressive column.

The inside of the cave is lit up for ornamental use of stalactites and for ensuring safety, bryophytes and algae adhere to the wall surface as lampenflora and grow.

Limestone dew rocks called pinnacles can be seen everywhere in Sendaidaira, forming a landscape similar to the karst terrain.

Inside large sinkholes, woody plants like Quercus crispula and Acer mono grow while bryophytes spread on the forest floor.

Red pine dominates most of the vegetation in the Abukuma plateau area but deciduous trees such as zelkova can also be spotted around Sendaidaira.

These areas are inhabited by small to medium sized mammals such as wild boars, raccoons and foxes.

In 2004 a door was installed on the Oniana hole to protect the Japanese Hilgendorf's bat that inhabits the Abukuma Cave.

Ota Onimaru was then buried in a hill located in Sendaidaira but left his name retained in the largest hall of the Oniana sinkhole.

The area was designed to be a national natural monument in December of 1934, and is under the jurisdiction of an office different than the one that manages the Abukuma Caves.

Near the Abukuma Cave is Hoshinumura Observatory equipped with a reflection telescope having a diameter of 65cm and a planetarium in the building.