Hadaka Matsuri: The Naked Truth about Okayama's Strangest Festival
Five hundred years ago, priests of Saidaiji Temple in Okayama Prefecture regularly undertook ascetic training around the time of the New Year. When finished, they would receive paper talismans, called Go-o, as proof that they had co...
This video focuses on people, culture, and industry in the Chugoku District (Hiroshima, Okayama, Yamaguchi, Shimane, and Tottori Prefectures). The region boasts a world famous sporting goods company, superb brush makers, and a jeans manufacturer. The daily life of Japanese around the World Heritage ...
Okayama Prefecture's most famous festival is its Naked Festival. But for those with a taste for the slightly odd, there is a lesser known festival in Okayama that you should probably consider attending.
Aida-cho is a beautiful little town, set among the green hills of eastern Okayama, one of severa...
This video looks at both popular foods and subcultures in the Chugoku District (Hiroshima, Okayama, Yamaguchi, Shimane, and Tottori Prefectures). Popular local cuisine from the traditional to the modern are introduced in this video, along with the Daiso 100 yen shop and Maid Cafes.
Portal gui...
Sankin-kotai was a curious but effective government policy enforced through most of the Edo period. It was both a form of military service and a way to curb possible aggression on the part of the hundreds of local daimyo, or feudal lords, who served the Tokugawa shogunate in the capital of Edo, pr...
Another popular attraction in the Kintaikyo area is ukai, or cormorant fishing. A cormorant, for the uninitiated, is a large diving bird. As early as the 8th century, river fishermen in Japan began training the birds to help catch small freshwater fish. Though the practice has largely died out, it i...
The west bank of the Nishiki River, adjacent to the bridge, is thickly planted with thousands of cherry trees and about 200 plum trees. Unsurprisingly, then, this is a popular spot in spring for hanami, the wonderful Japanese custom of gathering beneath blossoming trees with family and friends and...
Iwaukuni’s most famous local dish goes by a number of names. Called Iwakuni-zushi, oshizushi, and even tonosamazushi (lord's sushi), the dish is well worth seeking out if you visit Kintaikyo. According to locals, Kikkawa Hiroie, builder of the original Iwakuni castle, is said to have ordered his m...
45 kilometers west of Hiroshima city, visitors to Japan will find Iwakuni city, a town of about 150,000 people at the eastern edge of Yamaguchi prefecture. The modern city center is largely nondescript, looking much like any other Japanese city of this size. Those passing through on one of JR West’s...
One of the loveliest sights in western Japan must surely be Kintaikyo bridge in the city of Iwakuni. Built in five graceful arches over the Nishiki River, the bridge seems to hang in the air like the skipping flight of a swallow. It’s a masterpiece of traditional Japanese carpentry, made without a s...
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 hea...
The Chugoku district includes Hiroshima, on the beautiful, island-studded Seto Inland Sea, Shimane and Tottori on the Japan Sea coast with rich seafood, the old streets of Kurashiki in Okayama, and Yamaguchi’s Kintaikyo bridge. The region is a treasure trove of historical sites and natural scenery, ...
Japan's Mixed-Sex Baths
“Excuse me, Miss, may I borrow your towel?”
Want to get up close and personal with the natives? What better than to join the ‘skinship’ of one of Japan’s mixed-bathing onsen? Men and women relax togetherin the baths, keeping alive a social tradition with ancient roots. Just...
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. ...
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.
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