Japan (Lonely Planet, 11th Edition) - Chris Rowthorn [379]
Hagi is served by Iwami airport, an hour to the northeast near Masuda in Shimane-ken. There are daily flights to/from Tokyo (¥35,800, one hour and 20 minutes, two daily) and Osaka (¥25,800, one hour, one daily). A bus (¥1560, one hour and 10 minutes) from in front of Higashi-Hagi Station or the Hagi bus centre connects Hagi with all flights.
If you’re going to Tsuwano, there’s a direct bus from Hagi (¥2080, one hour and 45 minutes, five daily), but if you’ve got a JR pass you’ll want to go by train up the coast to Masuda, then change to the JR Yamaguchi line for Tsuwano.
Getting Around
Hagi is a good place to explore by bicycle and there are plenty of hire places, including one at the youth hostel and several around the castle and JR Higashi-Hagi Station. To the left as you exit the station is Hagi Rainbow Cycles (25-0067; 2960-19 Chintō; hire per hr/day ¥150/1000; 8am-5pm).
The handy māru basu (; circle bus) takes in Hagi’s main attractions. There are east- () and west-bound () loops, with two services per hour at each stop. One trip costs ¥100, and one-/two-day passes cost ¥500/700.
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SHIMANE-KEN
Along the northern San-in coastline on the Sea of Japan, Shimane-ken may be off the beaten track, but there is no shortage of reasons to visit. Cities are few and far between, the pace of life is decidedly slower than on the San-yō coast, and the people are particularly friendly towards visitors. Highlights include Tsuwano, a quiet mountain town; the great shrine at Izumo; and Matsue, where the writer Lafcadio Hearn lived.
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TSUWANO
0856 / pop 9,500
Tsuwano is a relaxing, 700-year-old mountain town with an important shrine, a ruined castle, and an evocative samurai quarter. It’s in the far west of, about 60km by road east of Hagi, and has a wonderful collection of carp swimming in the roadside water channels – in fact, there are far more carp here than people!
Orientation & Information
Tsuwano is a long, narrow town wedged into a deep north–south valley. Tsuwano-kawa, the JR Yamaguchi line and the main road all run down the middle of the valley. The tourist information office (72-1771; Ekimae; 9am-5pm) is immediately to the right as you exit the station.
Sights & Activities
TSUWANO-JŌ
The broken walls of Tsuwano-jō brood over the valley. The castle was originally constructed in 1295 and remained in use until the Meiji Restoration. An old single-seater chairlift takes you up the hillside for ¥450, and there’s a further 15-minute walk to the castle ruins. There’s nothing here but the walls, but there are good views over the town and the valleys.
TAIKODANI-INARI-JINJA
Just above the castle chairlift station, thriving Taikodani-Inari-jinja (72-0219; Tsuwano; 8am-4.30pm), built in 1773 by the seventh lord Kamei Norisada, is one of the five major Inari shrines in Japan. You can walk up to it from the main road through a tunnel created by hundreds of torii (lit up beautifully at night). Inari is the god of rice and prosperity in business, and festivals are held here on 15 May and 15 November.
TONOMACHI DISTRICT
Only the walls and some fine old gates from the former samurai quarter of Tonomachi remain. The water channels that run alongside the picturesque Tonomachi road are home to numerous carp, bred to provide food in the case of emergency.
The Tsuwano Catholic Church (72-0251; Tonomachi; 8am-5.30pm Apr-Nov, to 5pm Dec-Mar) is a reminder of the town’s Christian history. Hidden Christians from Nagasaki were exiled here in the early Meiji period. Instead of pews, the church has tatami mats. Just north of the river is the Yōrō-kan, a school for young samurai originally dating from 1786 and rebuilt on this site after a fire in 1855. The building houses the Folk Museum (72-1000; Tonomachi; admission ¥250; 8.30am-5pm Mar-Nov), a small folk-art museum with all sorts of farming and cooking equipment.
Near the post office, the Katsushika Hokusai Museum (72-1850; 254 Ushiroda-guchi;