YAMAGUCHI: Exploring the Entrance
to the Mountain Forest
A version of this article first appears in Steve’s column in www.travelindustrytoday.com (April 19, 2013)
Yamaguchi prefecture is tucked away in the
north-east corner of Honshu Island, in the
Chugoku region of Japan. It’s an area in which
one can absolutely fascinate over the small
towns, history, nature and ambiance, before
continuing eastward toward Kyushu to explore
its own bounties of pottery, fugu snacks and the
fiery attractions of volcanoes, mud baths and
shochu (Kyushu’s home grown alcoholic
beverage of choice).
The historical translation of “Yamaguchi” is the
“entrance to the mountain forest’, but literally
the name means Mountain (Yama) Mouth
(Guchi) and refers to the Chugoku mountains
and the ancient volcanoes in the region. For
travellers looking to go beyond the standard
tour itineraries and discover Japan from a
different perspective, Yamaguchi is a real gem.
My friend and I took the train from Shinjuku
Station to Shinagawa Station and then switched
to the monorail to Haneda airport. On the way
we caught a glimpse of Mt. Fuji’s snow covered
peak, emerging from a pre-dawn greyness into
the first light of the morning. The total travel
time was under one hour.
The flight to Ube airport was about 90 minutes
and then we took the bus to Shin-Yamaguchi
and a final bus to the former castle town of
Hagi. We went there for three reasons.
Hagi-ware - Sake Cups
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