The Places in Japan You Should Visit Once in Your Life
What cities in Japan have you been to? Tokyo, Osaka or Hokkaido? Do you know there is an area called Chugoku region, also known as San’in-san’yo? It is the westernmost region of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It consists of 5 prefectures, which are Hiroshima, Okayama, Tottori, Shimane and Yamaguchi. In 2017, my boyfriend and I went there and it has become my most favorite place in Japan until now. Here, I would like to share two prefectures: Hiroshima and Tottori.
In Hiroshima. There weren’t many foreign tourists, so we could stroll on the streets. There wasn’t much noisy sound, so we could quietly enjoy the beauty of the city. Furthermore, before I went there I found streetcars still operated in Hiroshima. I felt very excited because I had been looking forward to seeing it for about 10 years (I knew it from a Japanese cartoon). While I was sitting in the streetcar, it seemed like I was in Showa Era.
When it comes to Hiroshima, people usually think of atomic bombing incident. When we arrived at the Atomic Bomb Dome, we were immediately stunned by the scenery. The building was like a thick historical book, the broken windows, dilapidated walls, shattered dome… every thing you saw was reminding you the horrible World War II. We chose to sit beside the river and watching people walking around the building to remember the importance of peace.
If you come to Hiroshima, you must go to Itsukushima, a small island normally known as Miyajima outside the city. It is famous for Itsukushima Shrine that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The temple and giant torii gate are built on the sea, so when it is at high tide, it seems like they are floating on the water.
Tottori may be less famous than Hiroshima, but the Tottori Sand Dunes is definitely my most favorite place. It a little bit complicated to go there from Hiroshima if you would like to take public transportation. You need to transfer it in JR Okayama Station. If you choose Express Super Inaba, there is an interesting thing. When the train arrives at Kamigori Station, it would change the moving direction, so every passengers would also stand up and change the direction of seats.
I heard of Tottori Sand Dunes from a Japanese animation. I had thought it was just a small sand hill, but actually it was really wide. I stopped at the entrance for several minutes because I couldn’t believe what I had seen. It was spectacular, breathtaking and amazing. If you see at far side, it looks like a desert. But when you walk closer, you will find it faces Japan Sea, which creates a very interesting scenery. Most of the tourists were Japanese, which made me happy, because I found a place that was almost only known by the local residents. We stayed there for around three hours, I used every minute to look around and try to draw it in my brain. Before we left there, I promised I would go back again in different seasons in the future.
If you love Japan and prefer countryside rather than cities, you should go Chugoku region. You can wander joyfully, enjoy your trip without too much noise or crowd.
