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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...