30/07/2023 / Last updated : 30/07/2023 d.d Hiking / Walking

Sandankyo Hiking　三段峡

April 22nd. 2023 Michi no eki San Eight Mito Michi no eki San Eight Mito provides us with a good night. There are no other guests, and the facilities are reasonable. Although very close to the road, there is no traffic so this is not an issue. It is not a popular shachuhaku (sleep in a car) spot but it is a possibility. Sandankyo From the michi no eki we set off for Sandankyo. This gorge has been a very famous tourist attraction from perhaps Taisho times. We were debating whether to climb Mt. Shinnyu or walk the gorge, both start from essentially the same place. The weather is bright […]

02/02/2023 / Last updated : 08/02/2023 d.d Hiking / Walking

Tsuyama, old castle town　　津山

November 2018, Hirafuku　平福 Michi no eki Syukuba Machi Hirafuku was busy with trucks pulling in and out during the night. However, the truck parking is a little separate so no real problem. In the morning we wander around Hirafuku. The town is set in a picturesque spot and has castle ruins, visible on the top of a hill. The occasional ray of sunshine catches the autumn colours on the hillside, but it is a cold, grey morning for the most part. Our circuit of Hirafuku complete, we head off to Tsuyama. Tsuyama In Tsuyama we walk around the Joto area with its preserved, traditional buildings. There is an old merchant’s […]

13/07/2022 / Last updated : 18/02/2023 d.d Hiking / Walking

Omijima to Akiyoshidai　青海島、秋吉台

April 2022, Michi no eki Senza Kitchen proves to be an OK place to stay. Even on a wet night the distance from the parking to the covered roofing is not so far. We leave and take a short drive to Omijima island. Omijima Omijima is very popular with scuba divers and when we arrive, in the 300-yen car park, there are various dive school groups preparing to take to the water. We are here to ramble along the Omijima nature coast path. This is an easy (approx. 3.5kilo) walk on a concrete path along the fabulous cliff tops. You can stop at the various viewing points to take stereotypical […]

13/07/2022 / Last updated : 18/02/2023 d.d Hiking / Walking

Tsuwano to Hagi　津和野、萩

April 2022, From michi no eki Goutsu we drive to Tsuwano. Even on a weekend, these Shimanae/Yamaguchi roads winding through mountains are an empty delight. Tsuwano Tsuwano, we wander without real enthusiasm. Years ago, I was impressed by this place with its whitewashed buildings and carp filled drains but now it just seems lifeless. Perhaps I am just jaded. We find ourselves eating a convenience store lunch a railway bridge close-by on our right. There is another person hanging around, whom we suspect to be a railway buff, waiting for a train to cross the perhaps Meiji era bridge. D. checks the timetable, but the next train is not due […]

13/07/2022 / Last updated : 18/02/2023 d.d Hiking / Walking

Cape Izumo-Hinomisaki　出雲日御碕

April 2022, Izumo-Hinomisaki Lighthouse　出雲日御碕灯台 The morning is bright and clear as we wander the beach at michi no eki Kirara Taki before taking the coast road up towards Izumo Taisha. Having visited this major shrine before we have no intention of going there again. We do make a second visit to Izumo Hino Misaki lighthouse on Cape Izumo-Hinomisaki. This place has been upgraded since we were last here. There are flashy new toilets in the car park. Already appropriated by enterprising swallows. The red rumped variety. There are helpful signposts and a new concrete footpath around the cape, past the lighthouse and down to the Hinomisaki shrine. The cape and […]

10/07/2022 / Last updated : 30/01/2023 d.d Hiking / Walking

Kurayoshi-White wall warehouse　倉吉

April 2022, The morning in Nishi Inaba Kirari is overcast with the sun trying to break through the clouds but it has abandoned the project by 9am. Kurayoshi We had planned to hike on Daisen, but the rain is forecast to begin before we reach the mountain, so we wander around Kurayoshi. This has an area of preserved houses and white plaster walled warehouses (Kura). These run along a shallow canal crossed by stone slab bridges. It is not as picturesque as Hida Furukawa nor as interesting a place in itself but pleasant enough for a wander. By the time we leave Kurayoshi and head towards Daisen, the weather is […]

27/08/2019 / Last updated : 02/02/2023 d.d Hiking / Walking

Takehara to Shimanami Kaido　竹原、しまなみ海道

October 2018, A little rain in the night at Mito SA. The morning is aglow with misty sunshine that rapidly becomes more shine than mist. The cleaners are abroad in the car park with their yellow balloons attached to their helmets. We follow the Chugoku Expressway but, sadly, only as far as Ogori where we pick up the Sanyo Expressway. This is not such a good road as far as I am concerned, more traffic, more tunnels, less undulation and fewer curves. Takehara – Taketsuru Masataka Coming off the Sanyo, we take Route 185 to Takehara. This town has an area of Meiji era houses; just one street really, overlooked […]

12/05/2019 / Last updated : 11/02/2023 d.d Hiking / Walking

Kurashiki and Hiruzen Highlands　倉敷、蒜山高原

Day 90, December 2016, A blustery morning with leaves flying everywhere, the michi no eki Ipponmatsu Tenboen is busy with trucks coming and going but not much other activity until a JA market opens selling vegetables, mikan and kaki (persimmon). Behind the michi no eki building there is a view down over a wide, flat valley and beyond to a wider flatter sea. The shining fields stretching to the far hills appear to be salt beds and there are clearly canals running from the sea. Some fields are flooded but others appear black. I thought, at first, they were solar panels but there are no connecting power lines so they […]