Chugoku

The five prefectures at the western end of Honshu: the Sanyo side faces the Seto Inland Sea and the San'in side faces the Sea of Japan, with Miyajima, the Atomic Bomb Dome, Kurashiki and Izumo Taisha.

This region is Japan's “Chugoku region” (the name is unrelated to China) and is defined by whole prefectures: Okayama, Hiroshima and Yamaguchi (Sanyo, facing the Seto Inland Sea), and Tottori and Shimane (San'in, facing the Sea of Japan). The Oki Islands of Shimane are also included. Onomichi, the starting point of the Shimanami Kaido, is in Hiroshima Prefecture, while its end point, Imabari, is in Ehime Prefecture on Shikoku.

Highlights: Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and the Atomic Bomb Dome, and the floating torii gate of Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima (both UNESCO World Heritage Sites); the hillside town of Onomichi and cycling the Shimanami Kaido; Okayama's Korakuen Garden and the white-walled old streets of Kurashiki's Bikan Historical Quarter; in Yamaguchi, Iwakuni's Kintai Bridge, the Akiyoshidai karst plateau, and the castle towns of Hagi and Tsuwano; on the San'in side, Izumo Taisha, Matsue Castle, sunsets over Lake Shinji, the UNESCO-listed Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine, the Tottori Sand Dunes, and Kitaro Road in Sakaiminato.

Classic itinerary: along the Sanyo line, Okayama–Kurashiki–Onomichi–Hiroshima–Miyajima, 4–5 days; cycling the full Shimanami Kaido, about 70 km, takes 1–2 days; add the San'in line, Izumo–Matsue–Tottori, for another 3–4 days, making about 8–10 days for the whole region.

Getting around: airports at Hiroshima, Okayama, Yonago and Izumo; the Sanyo Shinkansen connects Okayama, Hiroshima and Shin-Yamaguchi, and on the San'in side, take the Limited Express Yakumo from Okayama to Matsue and Izumo. The JR West San'yo-San'in Area Pass covers the whole region.

Good to know: trains on the San'in side are infrequent, so check timetables in advance; a visitor tax is charged for entering Miyajima; and views of the Itsukushima torii depend on the tide, with high tide and low tide offering different scenes.

Destinations

Itineraries