Places to Explore

• Hagi

  Hagi is virtually surrounded by two branches of the Abu-gawa—the river's south channel, Hashimoto-gawa, and the river's northeast fork, Matsumoto-gawa. Rising in great semi-circles behind the sleepy... (more)

• Hiroshima

  On August 6, 1945, at 8:15 am, a massive chunk of metal known as "Little Boy" fell from an American plane, and the sky ignited and glowed for an instant. In that brief moment, however, it became as hot... (more)

• Izumo Taisha

  Oldest of all Japan's Shinto shrines, this site has been of tremendous cultural significance—second only to the great shrine at Ise—since the 6th century. The main building was last rebuilt... (more)

• Kurashiki

  From the 17th through the 19th centuries, this vital shipping port supplied Osaka with cotton, textiles, sugar, reeds, and rice. Today Kurashiki thrives on income from tourism. If your view were limited... (more)

• Matsue

  Matsue is a city blessed with so much overwhelming beauty and good food that you will wonder what to look at, what to eat, and what to do first. It's where the lake named Shinji-ko empties into the lagoon... (more)

• Miyajima

  Miyajima's majestic orange O-torii, or big gate, is made of several stout, rot-resistant camphor-tree trunks, and is famed for the illusion it gives of "floating" over the water. The torii is one of Japan's... (more)

• Okayama

  The city of Okayama claims to have the most sunny days in Japan, and the disposition of the locals tends to reflect this. A beautiful black castle is set amid a spacious and luxuriant garden, justly rated... (more)

• Tsuwano

  This hauntingly beautiful town, tucked into a narrow north-south valley at the foot of conical Aono-yama and its attendant dormant volcanic mountain friends, may be the most picturesque hamlet in all Japan... (more)

• Yamaguchi

  Convenient access to the Shinkansen at nearby Shin-Yamaguchi (which itself has no notable attractions), unbeatable connections to territory's most remote hinterlands, and some disarmingly nice hospitality... (more)