Another option for visitors to southern Kyushu is a stay in Kobayashi City. Located southwest of Miyazaki City in the Kyushu highlands, Kobayashi is a wonderful place to relax and fall into rhythm with the seasonal cycles of Japanese rural life. The town and the surrounding area are well known for grapes and pears, and in late summer many of the orchards offer visitors the chance to pick their own fruit at the very peak of ripeness, to be eaten on the spot or brought back to the inn or hotel...

Rich in history, legend and dramatic natural scenery, Miyazaki Prefecture’s Saito City is one possibility for travelers to Japan looking to stray from the beaten path. Set at the edge of the Kirishima Mountains, the city lies along a river valley surrounded by hills and forest. Through the town, the riverbanks are lined with cherry trees that burst into bloom in the spring. The Saito City Flower Festival in late March and early April marks this seasonal feast of color, and this is an excell...

French TV Show "Nolife"-"Japan in Motion #9"

French TV Show "Nolife"-"Japan in Motion #8"

French TV Show "Nolife" - "Japan in Motion #7"

French TV Show "Nolife" - Japan in Motion #6

French TV Show "Nolife" - "Japan in Motion"

Now broadcasting in France!

Now broadcasting in France!

Now broadcasting in France!

The beautiful town of Uchiko, its nostalgic lanes set in a stunning landscape of green hills and valleys, is located in the southwest of Shikoku, Ehime Prefecture. From the picturesque rice terraces and waterways to the excellent local cuisine and carefully preserved historic houses, Uchiko showcases the best of Japan in a compact package. Today the main industries are farming and tourism, but from the late Edo to the Meiji period, the town flourished as a center for Japanese paper and wax ...

Now broadcasting in France!

The Chugoku region's largest aquarium is the Shimane Aquarium Aquas, at the Iwami Seaside Park just a short stroll from the Japan Sea coast. The aquarium has a wonderful collection, including a huge shark tank with a glass tunnel running through it. An artificial tide pool is a favorite with children, letting them reach into the water and pick up starfish and other odd creatures. But the biggest draw here is the show put on by the aquarium's beluga whales. These wonderful animals seem to smi...

The architecture, gardens and exhibits of the world famous Adachi Art Museum offer an aesthetic banquet to visitors. The building itself draws you on past a superb collection of modern Japanese art, including about 130 pieces by the Yokoyama Taikan, a pioneer in the Nihonga movement which sought to create a style that was simultaneously modern and fully Japanese, without simply imitating or adapting western subjects and methods. Also on hand is a wonderful collection of ceramics, notably by th...

Lake Shinji, or Shinji-ko, is Japan's seventh largest, and connected by a lagoon to the Japan sea. As a result, the lake hosts a bounty of marine life. In Matsue, Shimane's prefectural capital, travelers flock to sample Kyodo ryori, an assortment of seven dishes drawn from the waters of the lake. Best in winter, these include moroge-ebi, a small steamed prawn, grilled unagi, or eel, shijimi clams served in a miso broth, suzuki, or sea bass, shirauo, a delicate white fish offered as either tem...

On July 2nd, 2007, UNESCO formally granted World Heritage Site status to the Iwami-Ginzan Silver Mine near Ooda city in central Shimane prefecture. From its opening in 1526, Iwami Ginzan was one of the world’s most productive silver mines for 400 years. It's believed that at the mine’s peak Japanese silver amounted to one third of the world’s production, with the bulk of that coming from this single mine. The site includes over 600 mineshafts, called mabu, both large and small. Presently,...

Only twelve of Japan's feudal era castles have survived intact to the present day, and in Matsue you can see the largest of these. Matsue Castle was completed in 1611 for the use of the local lord Horio Yoshiharu. The castle is also called the Plover Castle for its color and proximity to water. The castle's construction incorporates several interesting architectural features. The foundation is unusual in being built from irregularly shaped blocks of stone, held in place by smaller stones f...

For 1,300 years, both locals and visitors have enjoyed the Iwai Hot Springs, located on Tottori's Gamo River. Among onsen aficionados, Iwai is known both for its special bathing song and for the custom called "yukamuri," in which hot water is ladled up and poured over the bather's towel-covered head. Several pleasant inns grace this slightly drowsy hot springs town, and the water is said to leave your skin smooth and beautiful. More Info.(Tottori): Tottori Sand Dunes Uradome Coast Iwa...

Near Tottori's famous dune fields lies the Uradome coastline, part of the Sanin Coast National Park. The area is celebrated for the fantastic shapes created by wind and water, including cliffs, beckoning caves, and strange, twisted islets bristling with windswept pine trees. The blue-green water is clear and welcoming, making the coastline popular with swimmers and divers who pick their ways down numerous footpaths from coastal Route 178 to one of the many little bays and sandy stretches adorn...

Far and away the most famous sight in Tottori are its sand dunes, stretching across 16 kilometers east to west at the prefecture's easternmost end. Reaching as high as 90 meters, the dunes are an instantly recognizable symbol of Tottori for Japanese visitors, who arrive in droves to disappear among the huge hills of sand, pay for dune buggy excursions and even pose atop camels. Though the dune fields are heavily geared for tourism, it's still possible to get away from the crowds and feel, albe...

800 years ago, according to legend, a samurai named Okubo Samanosuke was traveling through modern day Tottori prefecture. In return for his having spared the life of a white wolf, Myoken, god of the North Star, appeared in his dreams and directed him to a steaming hot spring, the origin for the famous onsens of Misasa. Today people come from all across Japan to soak in the radium-rich waters, which are said to treat a wide variety of ailments. For those of a more intrepid stripe, the town als...

Just north of the quaint city of Kurayoshi, visitors will find Lake Togo, with Hawai Onsen on the western shore and Togo Onsen on the east. At Hawai, the hot water gushes from the floor of the lake, and some of the hotels are built to look as though they rise straight from the water. At Togo, orchards of Tottori’s famous 20th Century Pears surround the springs. Whichever you choose, you'll enjoy both the views of the lake and surrounding country, as well as various foot baths named after the ...

So named because they were first discovered growing wild by a 13 year old boy near the turn of the last century, Tottori's 20th Century Pears are one of the prefecture's most successful exports. Round and delicately green or golden, the juicy pears are usually served chilled and cut, and are a favorite both inside and outside of Japan. The pears are exported to the U.S., Australia, Europe and Southeast Asia, and in Tottori have even won the distinction of their own museum. At the 20th Century...

The city of Kurayoshi is located in central Tottori prefecture, and must be one of the most charming spots in Japan. The old Edo period grid of streets is lined with picturesque buildings, including many with the handsome whitewash "soil-lacquered" walls and rich red roof tiles that are an emblem of the town. For craft lovers, especially, the town is a real find, with dozens of small shops scattered about the town center devoted to traditional local crafts and antiques. More Info.(Kurayoshi...

In addition to being Tottori's leading port city, Sakaiminato is the birthplace of Mizuki Shigeru, one of Japan's best-loved manga artists. Born left-handed, Mizuki lost his left arm in New Guinea during the Second World War, teaching himself to write and draw with his right hand after his return. Drawing on ghost stories he had heard as a child, he is best known for the horror manga GeGeGe no Kitaro. In Sakaiminato, one hundred whimsical bronze statues of the characters from this hugely po...

A wonderful combination of hot spring and beach resort, Kaike Onsen is located in Tottori's Yonago city, next to Shimane and within view of Mt. Daisen. The white beach has been voted one of Japan's hundred best, and the hot springs were discovered in 1890 when a local fisherman found hot water gushing from the sea floor. With accommodation available for as many as 5,000 visitors at a time in its many hotels and inns, Kaike is the Sanin region's largest onsen. The calcium and salt content ar...

Opened in 1999, Tottori Hanakairo Park, or simply Flower Park, is an immense flower garden spreading across 50 hectares within view of Mt. Daisen. Flowers are in bloom all year round, including lilies, orchids, hibiscus and a rose garden. Near the center of the park, you can stroll through the main greenhouse and the large glass hothouse dome. Special attention is given as well to the conservation of wildflowers on and around Mt. Daisen. Well worth the admission fee, the park is a sure hit f...

Rising from the Japan Sea coast, Daisen is both the Chugoku region's highest mountain and, from ancient times, a vital part of the area's spiritual culture. The Izumo Kokudo Fudoki, an early 8th century document chronicling features of the Izumo area, referred to the volcano as Ōkami-take, the Mountain of the Great God, and the Shinto shrine that has stood since the Heian era more than 3,000 feet up the mountain's slope is still called Ōgamiyama Shrine. The mountain held a special place, p...

Lake Shinji, or Shinji-ko, is Japan's seventh largest, and connected by a lagoon to the Japan sea. As a result, the lake hosts a bounty of marine life. In Matsue, Shimane's prefectural capital, travelers flock to sample Kyodo ryori, an assortment of seven dishes drawn from the waters of the lake. Best in winter, these include moroge-ebi, a small steamed prawn, grilled unagi, or eel, shijimi clams served in a miso broth, suzuki, or sea bass, shirauo, a delicate white fish offered as either tem...

One of Japan's most famous hot springs, Tamatsukuri Onsen is an assortment of modern and traditional resort inns lining the Tamayu River about two kilometers from Shimane Prefecture's Lake Shinji. The hot springs here have been valued for their therapeutic effects for at least 1,600 years. The town appears in ancient records, when it was also a center for the production of agate jewels. Modern visitors can drop in on the site of an ancient factory and try their own hand at forming the comma-s...