Japan (Lonely Planet, 11th Edition) - Chris Rowthorn [381]
Kankō Hotel Wataya (72-0333; fax 72-1543; www.tsuwano.jp, in Japanese; 82-3 Ushiroda-guchi; per person with 2 meals ¥13,650; ) The Wataya is a modern, sophisticated onsen complex with Western- and Japanese-style rooms and some very stylish bathing facilities.
Eating & Drinking
Tsurube (72-2098; 384-1 Ushoroda-guchi; dishes ¥520-840; 11am-6.30pm) The speciality here is fresh wheat noodles handmade on the premises, like sansai zaru udon (noodles with wild vegetables; ¥840) and kitsune udon (noodles in broth with fried tofu; ¥630). The menu is Japanese only. It’s the brown-and-white building by the graveyard.
Pommes Soufflées (72-2778; 284 Ushiroda; lunch ¥1200, dinner courses ¥2000-3000; 10am-9pm Fri-Wed, bar to midnight Fri & Sat, closed Thu) Set menu options at Tsuwano’s only European restaurant include pasta, pizzas, and risotto. Look for the white building with a green awning.
Yūki (72-0162; 271-4 Ushiroda; meals ¥1300-3000; 10.30am-7pm, closed Thu) The Tsuwano teishoku (a sampler of local dishes; ¥2300) is recommended at this elegantly rustic restaurant, which has wooden tables and the sound of running water. There are koi (carp) in a pool in the floor here, and more on the menu. Look for the old-fashioned building with a brown noren and small pine tree outside.
Sakagura Bar Azul (72-3355; Tsuwano Honmachi 1-chōme; 5pm-2am, to 4am Fri & Sat, closed Sun) This cosy little bar attached to the Furuhashi Uijin sake brewery is an ideal spot to while away a few hours tasting freshly brewed sakes from ¥400. Sake-based cocktails are available, as well as a simple menu of snacks and light meals.
Getting There & Away
The JR Yamaguchi line runs from Shin-Yamaguchi on the south coast through Yamaguchi to Tsuwano and onto Masuda on the north coast. There are connections from Tsuwano to Yamaguchi (¥950, one hour and 10 minutes, 13 daily), Shin-Yamaguchi (¥1150, 1¾ hours, five daily) and Masuda (¥570, 35 minutes, 12 daily). Five buses a day (¥2080, one hour and 40 minutes, 8.07am to 5.07pm) run from Tsuwano to Hagi.
From mid-March to late November there’s a steam locomotive service (SL Yamaguchi-gō) from Shin-Yamaguchi to Tsuwano. It runs on weekends, the Golden Week holiday (late April to early May) and from late July to late August. The trip costs ¥1620 and takes two hours. Ask for up-to-date details and book well ahead at JR and tourist information offices.
Getting Around
Rental bicycles are available at Kamai-shōten (72-0342; 8am-7pm), in front of the station. Rates are ¥500 per two hours, ¥800 per day.
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ŌDA
0854 / pop 41,000
Ōda itself is an unremarkable city, but there are several interesting attractions within the city limits, notably the mining village of Iwami Ginzan, which became a World Heritage Site in 2007.
Three stops south of Ōda is Nima Station (), where the Jōfuku-ji Youth House (; 88-2233; www14.plala.or.jp/joufukuji/, in Japanese; 1114 Nima-machi Nima-chō; r per person ¥3000; ) is the best place in the area to base yourself. Accommodation is in comfortable tatami rooms in a Buddhist temple. Meals are available, and, given a bit of notice, the owners will collect you from the station. There is a computer with free internet access. Down the road from the temple is Nima Sand Museum (; 88-3776; 975Amagōchi Nima-chō; admission ¥700; 9am-5pm, closed 1st Wed of each month). Here you can gaze up into the roof of a huge glass pyramid and behold the world’s largest hourglass, a computer-calibrated monster that contains enough sand to count a whole year and is flipped every New Year’s Eve. There are also displays on the region’s singing sands, and meticulously labelled jars of sand from deserts and beaches all over the world.
Three stations further south of Nima is the coastal onsen town of Yunotsu (), one of the ports,