Yamaguchi: Intro

April 2009

So, vacation has ended, and now my house is a mess again, swamped with old maps, information pamphlets, and souvenir food stuff for my schools. I’ve been trying to sort out all my pictures and memories. I have a few interesting stories to talk about, but for now, I just want to show you a few pictures and give you a general idea of how my vacation went.

I began my trip on Sunday, March 29th. I took the bullet train (and later the plain old express train) to Kitakyushu, a city at the very top of Fukuoka Prefecture, on the island of Kyushu. I stayed the night in Moji Port, a pretty old section of Kitakyushu City, with several bricked buildings hailing from the Taisho era (the era between the Meiji era and World War II; the 1920s). The next morning, bright and early, I walked to Shimonoseki, the southernmost city in Yamaguchi Prefecture, on the main island of Honshu. Yes, I walked between islands, in a pedestrian tunnel under the ocean, and it was the first time I crossed the prefectural boundaries by foot. Shimonoseki is the largest city in Yamaguchi Prefecture. It’s famous for pufferfish and the home of many naval battles. I spent most of the day sightseeing, and then I hopped on a train to Hagi.

I spent that Monday night in Hagi, and I would spend Tuesday night as well. Hagi was my main reason for going to Yamaguchi Prefecture. It’s a coastal town toward the north of the prefecture, which birthed many heroes and revolutionaries. There was so much history to be enjoyed. I spent all Tuesday on a rented bicycle pedaling from shrine to grave to temple to museum to old samurai houses, while above me the sakura cherry blossoms were in full white bloom. Wednesday morning I saw the ruins of the castle before departing to Tsuwano.

Technically Tsuwano is not in Yamaguchi Prefecture. It’s in Shimane Prefecture, which is just west of Yamaguchi, only a couple hours from Hagi. It’s a small town buried in the mountains, and when I came that Wednesday, it was rainy and cold. The weather being too horrendous to do much sightseeing, I spent the rest of the day huddled under the kotatsu (the heated table) in my Japanese hotel. Tsuwano is so small, however, I found I could hit all the major sights on Thursday without even having to rush. On Friday I went to Yamaguchi City, the capital of Yamaguchi Prefecture, but a rather unremarkable city nonetheless, neither big nor small. By Saturday, I was back on my bullet train and I made it home by 6:00.

That, my friends, is the short and sweet version of my trip to Yamaguchi Prefecture. But you should know by now, I won’t leave it at that.