Japan. by Japanese.Japan, judged by a Japanese
Kintaikyo, a wooden bridge of steep arches on stone piers, crossing the wide Nishiki RiverTsunoshima Ohashi Bridge running low across blue-green sea past a small isletThe entrance to the Hagi Castle ruins: a gravel approach between stone walls, a carved stone marker, a wooded hill behind

Yamaguchi

Yamaguchi: Places to Visit

Food · Things to do · Where to stay

The places most visitors look for in Yamaguchi are Kintaikyo in Iwakuni, one of the best-known wooden bridges in Japan; the 123 red torii of Motonosumi Shrine in Nagato; the Akiyoshidai Plateau and Akiyoshido, the largest limestone cave in Japan; the castle town of Hagi; and the seafood of Shimonoseki.

The Sanyo Shinkansen between Osaka and Fukuoka stops at Shin-Yamaguchi and Shin-Shimonoseki. Iwakuni is close to Hiroshima: 16 minutes by Shinkansen to Shin-Iwakuni, or 50 minutes on the JR Sanyo Line to Iwakuni. Motonosumi Shrine has no bus from the nearest station; the Nagato tourism association gives about 20 minutes by taxi from JR Nagato-Furuichi.

Places in Yamaguchi

  • Iwakuni (Kintaikyo) — Kintaikyo, a wooden bridge over the Nishiki River; Shin-Iwakuni is 16 minutes from Hiroshima by Shinkansen.
  • Motonosumi Shrine (Nagato) — 123 red torii lined up for more than 100 m facing the sea; about 20 minutes by taxi from JR Nagato-Furuichi Station.
  • Akiyoshidai and Akiyoshido — A limestone plateau and Akiyoshido, the largest limestone cave in Japan.
  • Hagi — The capital of a major samurai domain, with a preserved castle town and Hagi ware pottery.
  • Shimonoseki — Known for seafood, blowfish above all, and Karato Ichiba market; Shin-Shimonoseki is on the Sanyo Shinkansen.