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a scenic bay festooned with islands and inlets. Kashikojima, the main island in the bay, is the terminus of the Kintetsu line. From Ise-shi Station, a futsū costs ¥1170 and takes about 50 minutes. There is no JR service. Kashikojima itself is probably of little interest to foreign travellers as it is dominated by large resort hotels, but it’s the jumping-off point for exploration of the bay.

Those in search of peace and quiet might want to take a ferry to Goza on the other side of the bay (¥600, 25 minutes). The ferry terminal is right outside Kashikojima Station (buy your tickets from the Kinki Kankōsen office near the terminal). The ride is a good way to see the sights in the bay. There are also sightseeing boats that do a loop around the bay for ¥1500.

Goza is a sleepy fishing community with a fine white-sand beach, Goza Shirahama. There are small signs in English from the ferry pier to the beach; just follow the main road over the hill and across the peninsula. The beach is mobbed in late July and early August but almost deserted at other times.

If you’d like to stay in Goza, there are plenty of minshuku, some of which close down outside of summer. Shiojisō (; 0599-88-3232; r per person with 2 meals from ¥7875, single travellers not accepted), just off the beach (look for the sign reading ‘Marine Lodge Shiojisō’ in English), is one of the better minshuku.

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SOUTH OF KASHIKOJIMA

If you want to continue down the Kii-hantō from here, backtrack to Ise-shi and take the JR line to Taki, then switch to the JR Kisei main line. This line crosses from Mie-ken into Wakayama-ken and continues down to Shingū on its way round Kii-hantō, finally ending up in Osaka’s Tennō-ji Station.

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Western Honshū

* * *

OKAYAMA-KEN

OKAYAMA

BIZEN

HATTŌJI

KURASHIKI

HIROSHIMA-KEN

SOUTHERN HIROSHIMA-KEN

NORTHERN HIROSHIMA-KEN

HIROSHIMA

MIYAJIMA

INLAND SEA

SHŌDO-SHIMA

NAOSHIMA

KASAOKA ISLANDS

SETO-UCHI SHIMANAMI KAIDŌ

INNO-SHIMA

IKUCHI-JIMA

ŌMI-SHIMA

YAMAGUCHI-KEN

IWAKUNI

YAMAGUCHI

AKIYOSHI-DAI

SHIMONOSEKI

TAWARAYAMA ONSEN

HAGI

SHIMANE-KEN

TSUWANO

ŌDA

IZUMO

MATSUE

AROUND MATSUE & IZUMO

OKI-SHOTŌ

TOTTORI-KEN

DAISEN

ALONG THE COAST TO TOTTORI

TOTTORI

SAN-IN COAST NATIONAL PARK

* * *

A land of ceramics and mountain villages, Western Honshū has much to offer the traveller. The Inland Sea coasts of Okayama-ken and Hiroshima-Ken are dotted with charming villages, attractive islands, and cities with room to breathe. In Kurashiki, elegant 18th-century warehouses line a shady canal. Down the road, Bizen is the proud heir of one of the oldest ceramics traditions in Japan. In Yamaguchi-ken, Shimonoseki is a prime destination for any fan of fresh seafood. The Inland Sea, meanwhile, contains a galaxy of little islands, ringed by the twinkling lights of Honshū and Shikoku.

Shimane and Tottori prefectures, once disparaged as ‘the back of Japan’, are especially welcoming. Although former gateways for continental culture, they now enjoy a slower pace of life, marked by onsen (hot spring) villages and mountain towns. Highlights of this area include Matsue (the castle town that was Lafcadio Hearn’s first home in Japan), and Izumo Taisha, one of the oldest and most important shrines in Japan, where the Shintō gods get together to discuss the state of the world once a year.

The Chũgoku mountain range divides Western Honshũ. On the southern San-yō coast (literally, ‘the sunny side of the mountains’), the mild Inland Sea weather supports populous cities; to the north, the San-in coast (literally, ‘in the shade of the mountains’) is on the cooler Sea of Japan, and is much less densely populated.

* * *

HIGHLIGHTS

Enjoy a night out in cosmopolitan Hiroshima, and visit the floating Itsukushima-jinja (Itsukushima Shrine) on nearby Miyajima

Admire stunning sea views from the ancient fishing port of Tomo-no-ura

Slow down and listen to the waves on Manabe-shima (Manabe Island;) in the Inland Sea

Explore the village of Ōmori and the historic Iwami