Sights in Yamaguchi Ken
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Hino-yama
About 5km northeast of JR Shimonoseki Station there are superb views over the Kanmon-kaikyō from the top of 268m-high Hino-yama. Walk or drive to the top, as the ropeway is closed. Take a Ropeway-mae bus (¥360) to the Mimosusōgawa bus stop and walk up to the ropeway station, or take a Kokuminshukusha-mae bus straight to the bottom of the ropeway.
By the Mimosusōgawa-kōen bus stop are lifts that take you down to a free cross-strait walker's tunnel, popular with local joggers, for a 780-metre submarine walk to Kyūshū. It's a nice stroll around the seaside promenade on the Kyūshū side, but there are no restaurants.
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Karato Ichiba Fish Markets
A highlight of any trip to Shimonoseki is an early rise and a visit to the Karato Ichiba fish markets. The interesting stuff is on show from 04:00 to 08:00, so if you like to sleep in, forget it. The markets kick off at 02:00 for those in the industry, but the public is welcome from 04:00 - the earlier you get there the better. It's a great opportunity to try sashimi for breakfast or lunch, and the fish doesn't get any fresher - a fair bit will still be moving.
People-watching is almost as much fun as goggling at the many different sea creatures.
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Akama-jingū shrine
Bright vermilion, this postwar Akama-jingū shrine is dedicated to the 8-year-old emperor Antoku, who died in 1185 in the naval battle of Dan-no-ura. In the Hōichi Hall stands a statue of the splendidly monikered Earless Hōichi, the hero of a traditional ghost story retold by Japanophile Lafcadio Hearn. The shrine is between Karato and Hino-yama. Get off the bus (¥230, 10 minutes) at the Akama-jingū-mae bus stop.
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Dan-no-ura Memorial
The Dan-no-ura Memorial marks the spot where the decisive clash between the Minamoto and Taira clans took place in 1185. This is where one of the ladies of the House of Taira plunged into the sea with the infant emperor Antoku in her arms instead of surrendering to the enemy.
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Kōzan-ji
Chōfu is the old castle town area and, while little remains of the coastal castle itself, there are earth walls and samurai gates, along with a museum and some important temples and shrines. National treasure Kōzan-ji has a Zen-style hall dating from 1327.
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Sentei Festival
The Sentei Festival is held at Akama-Jingū Shrine from 2 May to 4 May to remember the Heike women who worked as prostitutes to pay for rites for their fallen kin. On 3 May women dressed as Heian-era courtesans form a colourful procession at the shrine.
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Former British Consulate
The Meiji-era former British Consulate building of 1906 has an interesting façade, and there's a small museum inside with the consul's desk still in place. There's a unique coffee house at the rear.
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Kaikyō-kan aquarium
In Karato, the Kaikyō-kan aquarium has stacks of impressive fish, shows, displays, a huge blue-whale skeleton and a special tank of fugu.
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Shimonoseki City Art Museum
Shimonoseki City Art Museum features contemporary Japanese artists. It is in Chōfu, the old castle town area.
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Yamaguchi Furusato Heritage Centre
The ground floor of the 1886 sake merchant building (the Manabi-kan; まなび館) has a small display of local crafts, including some Ōuchi dolls, but the building itself is interesting. Go upstairs to get a closer look at the large dark-wood beams, and don't miss the delightful tea-ceremony room made from old sake-brewing barrels – it's in the garden. The modern learning centre is behind the old building, where you can see lacquer ware being made, or make your own lacquer-ware chopsticks (¥840) – reservation required.
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Tōkō-ji
East of the river, near Shōin-jinja, stands pretty Zen Tōkō-ji, built in 1691 and home to the tombs of five Mōri lords. The stone walkways on the hillside behind the temple are flanked by almost 500 stone lanterns, which were erected by the lords' servants.
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St Francis Xavier Memorial Church
Yamaguchi was a major centre of Christian missionary activity before the religion was outlawed in 1589. The church has the look of a large tent, and sits above the town in Kameyama-kōen. Built in 1952 in honour of St Francis Xavier, it burned down in 1991 and was rebuilt in 1998. The ground-floor Christian museum contains exhibits on the life of Xavier and the early history of Christianity in Japan, most of it in Japanese only. Steps opposite the church lead up the hill to views of Yamaguchi.
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Shōin-jinja
This shrine, with a garden and small complex, was founded in 1890 and is dedicated to Meiji Restoration movement leader Yoshida Shōin. His old house and the school where he agitated against the shogunate in the years leading up to the revolution are also here, as well as a treasure house (宝物館). The shrine is located southeast of Higashi-Hagi Station, about 500m from the east end of Matsumoto bridge, over the train tracks. The circle bus drops you out the front.
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Shizuki-kōen
There's not much of the old Hagi-jō to see, apart from the typically imposing outer walls and the surrounding moat. The castle was built in 1604 and dismantled in 1874 following the Meiji Restoration. But the grounds are a pleasant park, with the Shizukiyama-jinja (志都岐山神社), the Hanano-e Tea House (花江茶亭) from the mid-19th century, and other buildings. From the castle ruins you can climb the hillside to the 143m peak of Shizuki-yama.
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Shimonoseki Kaikyō-kan
In Karato, a short walk from the market, Shimonoseki's aquarium has penguins, dolphins, and sea-lion shows, plus a blue-whale skeleton and tanks of fugu.
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Kubota House
Across the street from Kikuya House is Kubota House, a renovated residence from the late Edo period that served as a clothing store and sake brewery.
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Kōzan-kōen
North of the town centre is Kōzan Park , where the five-storey pagoda of Rurikō-ji (瑠璃光寺), a National Treasure dating from 1404, is picturesquely situated beside a small lake. The park is also the site of the Tōshun-ji (洞春寺) and the graves of the Mōri lords.
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Kikuya House
The Kikuya family were merchants rather than samurai. As official merchants to the daimyō their wealth and connections allowed them to build a house well above their station. This house dates from 1604 and has a fine gate and attractive gardens, as well as numerous construction details and materials that would normally have been forbidden to the merchant class.
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Kasa-yama
About 5km east of the town is the 112m dormant volcano Kasa-yama(笠山). The pond at the mountain's base, Myōjin-ike (明神池), is connected to the sea, and shelters a variety of saltwater fish.
Further up the mountain from the pond is Hagi Glass Associates, where quartz basalt from the volcano is used to make extremely tough Hagi glassware. There is a showroom and a shop, and visitors can make their own piece of glassware (glass-blowing classes ¥3150). Next door is Hagi's own beer and citrus-juice factory, Yuzuya Honten.
The road continues to the top of Kasa-yama, from where there are fine views along the coast and a tiny 30m-deep crater, and there is a walking track …
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Karato Ichiba
A highlight of a trip to Shimonoseki is an early-morning visit to the Karato fish market. It's a great opportunity to try sashimi for breakfast or lunch, and the fish doesn't get any fresher – a fair bit of it will still be moving. Note that the market is occasionally closed on Wednesday.
Buses to Karato (¥190) leave from outside the station, the earliest at 6.27am, and take about seven minutes.
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Kanmon Tunnel
This is where you come to get that picture of yourself with one foot in Honshū and the other in Kyūshū. For the 780m submarine walk to Kyūshū, head down to the tunnel via the lifts by the Mimosusōgawa bus stop.
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Jōei-ji
About 4km northeast of the JR station, Jōei-ji is notable for its Zen garden, Sesshutei, designed by the painter Sesshū. From the garden, a trail leads uphill through the woods to several more shrines.
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Itō Hirobumi House
About 200m from Shōin-jinja is the thatched early home of the four-term prime minister, who was a follower of Yoshida Shōin, and who later drafted the Meiji Constitution. It's interesting to see the contrast between this humble place and the impressive mansion he lived in during his years in Tokyo, which is next door, having been moved to Hagi after his death.
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Hagi Uragami Museum
Here you'll find a superb collection of ceramics and wood-block prints. There are fine works by Katsushika Hokusai and Utamaro Kitagawa.
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