Japan (Lonely Planet, 11th Edition) - Chris Rowthorn [376]
The main road through central Hagi starts from JR Hagi Station in the south and runs north, past the bus centre in the middle of town. West of this central area is the jōkamachi (; old samurai quarter), with its picturesque streets and old buildings.
Hagi City Library (25-6355; 2nd fl, 552-26 Emukai; 9.30am-5.30pm Tue-Sun) Free internet access.
Tourist information office (25-3145; 2997-3 Chintō; 9am-5pm) Located inside Higashi-Hagi Station. There’s another near Hagi station.
Sights
HAGI POTTERY & KILNS
Connoisseurs of Japanese ceramics rank hagi-yaki as some of the best. As in other Japanese pottery centres, the craft came from Korea when Korean potters were abducted during Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s unsuccessful invasion in the late 1500s. At a number of shops and kilns you can see the pottery being made, and browse the finished products. Hagi-yaki is noted for its fine glazes and delicate pastel colours.
Hagi-jō Kiln (22-5226; 2-5 Horiuchi; 8am-5pm) in Horiuchi (within the walls of the old castle ruins) has some fine pieces. The western end of Hagi has several interesting pottery kilns near the park, Shizuki-kōen. You can also try your hand at making hagi-yaki at the crafts centre Jōzan (25-1666; 31-15 Horiuchi Nishi-no-hama; lessons ¥1680; 8am-4pm).
Swede Bertil Persson (25-2693), who has lived in Hagi for over 30 years, has his own kiln and is happy to meet anyone seriously interested in ceramics.
HAGI-JŌ RUINS & SHIZUKI-KŌEN
There’s not much of the old Hagi-jō to see, apart from the typically imposing outer walls and the surrounding moat. The castle (25-1826; Horiuchi Shizuki-kōen-nai; admission with Asa Mōri House ¥210; 8am-6.30pm Apr-Oct, to 4.30pm Nov-Feb, to 6pm March) was built in 1604 and dismantled in 1874 following the Meiji Restoration.
Now the grounds are a pleasant park, with the Shizukiyama-jinja, the Hanano-e Tea House (Hanano-e Chatei; tea ¥500) from the mid-19th century, and other buildings. From the castle ruins you can climb the hillside to the 143m peak of Shizuki-yama.
ASA MŌRI HOUSE
South of the park is Asa Mōri House (25-2304; Horiuchi Shizuki-Kōen; admission with Hagi-jō ruins ¥210; 8am-6.30pm Apr-Aug, 8.30am-4.30pm Nov-Feb, to 6pm Mar), a nagaya (type of Japanese long house) that belonged to a branch of the Mōri family, which ruled the region during the feudal period. There’s not a lot to see beyond a few pieces of old armour. To the south of the samurai house is the Catholic Martyrs’ Memorial Park. Here, a monument and graves commemorate 40 of the ‘hidden Christians’ who died for their faith when they were exiled in Hagi from Nagasaki in the early years of the Meiji period.
JŌKAMACHI, HORIUCHI & TERAMACHI AREAS ••
Between the town centre and the moat that separates western Hagi from central Hagi is the old samurai residential area, with many streets lined with whitewashed walls. This area is fascinating to wander around and has a number of interesting houses.
The Kikuya family were merchants rather than samurai, but they were the most important merchants in town. As official merchants to the daimyō their wealth and connections allowed them to build a house well above their station. Kikuya House (25-8282; 1-1 Gofuku-machi; admission ¥500; 9am-5.30pm) dates from 1604 and has a fine gate, attractive gardens and numerous construction details and materials that would normally have been forbidden to the merchant class. Across the street is Kubota House (25-3139; 1-3 Gofuku-machi; admission ¥100; 9am-5pm), a renovated residence from the late Edo period that served as a clothing store and sake brewery.
At the southern perimeter of the Jōkamachi district, before you reach the little canal, is the green tea–coloured Ishii Chawan Museum (22-1211; 33-3 Minamifuruhagi-machi; admission ¥500; 9am-noon, 1-4.45pm, closed Mon & Dec-Feb), which has an extensive collection of tea-ceremony bowls and utensils. From the museum, go east, cross the canal