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HAGI |
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Heading east from Shimonoseki along the San'in coast, you'll
immediately notice how much more rugged and sparsely populated the
landscape becomes. Here the savage Sea of Japan has eroded the rocks
into jagged shapes and, if you take the train, you'll see some
marvellously bleak shorelines. The next town of any consequence is HAGI
, some 70km northeast of Shimonoseki, which dates back to 1604 when
warlord Mori Terumoto built his castle at the tip of an island between
the Hashimoto and Matsumoto rivers.
Hagi's castle is long ruined, but the atmospheric graveyards of the Mori
daimyo and the layouts of the samurai and merchants' quarters ( Horiuchi
and Jokamachi ), and the temple district of Teramachi still remain, with
several significant buildings intact. These attractive plaster-walled
streets are the town's main attraction, together with its renowned
pottery, Hagi-yaki , considered Japan's next best style of ceramics
after Kyoto's Raku-yaki. You can hardly move around Hagi without coming
across a shop selling the pastel-glazed wares. The town is also famous
for the role that some of its citizens played in the Meiji Restoration,
such as Yoshida Shoin , enshrined at Shoin-jinja , who was executed by
the Tokugawa Shogunate for his radical beliefs.
Sharing the relaxed, friendly atmosphere of other Yamaguchi-ken towns,
Hagi is certainly worth visiting. If you rent a bike , you can easily
take in the most important sights in a day and still have time to lay
back on Kikugahama , a fine stretch of beach beside the castle ruins.
The Town
Much of Hagi's charm lies in its suitability for meandering strolls and
bike rides. The tourist map suggests several cycling routes varying from
two to six hours, but if you set off early the main sights can be seen
in a day. There are frequent direction signs in English around the town,
and at each of the sights you'll usually find an English explanation,
too.
If time is limited, head first to the scenic Jokamachi district, where
the narrow streets are often overrun by tour groups. If you're starting
from Higashi-Hagi Station, you'd be wise first to check out the temples
and shrines in the hills to the south or the coastal routes, leaving
Jokamachi as the final stop, to be enjoyed once most of the day-trippers
have gone home.
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