Walk around old towns
The heart of the San’in region is known for its famous touristic places Matsue and Sakaiminato but it is also home to multiple quaint and historic towns.
Some of them, called Jokamachi, developed around castles, others around harbors and are called Minatomachi. Furthermore, there are Post towns with staging posts called Shukuba where travelers could stay or rest in the middle of the Kaido which were important transport routes of people and goods.
Our first stop from Yonago Airport is Neu, a post town along the Izumo Kaido road that connects Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture, and Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture. This town flourished during the Edo period (1603-1868), and remnants of that time can still be seen today. One of these is the Kondo Family Residence, which prospered through the iron industry. Another is the Honjin no Mon, where feudal lords stayed during their alternate attendance trips to Edo.
The soba restaurant "Tatara-ya" has distinctive lattice doors that blend into the townscape. The soba noodles are made using locally produced soba from Hino-cho, and are freshly ground, kneaded, and boiled, giving off an elegant aroma that will whet your appetite. Soba is harvested in December, when it is at its most delicious.
If traveling between November and March, you could make a side trip to the Hino River which runs near this Shukuba. At this time of the year colorful Mandarin ducks rest along the river. It is said that the number of these birds reaches a thousand between January and February. It is best to watch these vigilant birds at dawn and late afternoon from dedicated birding huts.
You can enjoy staying at “Kominka Sasaki” which is a five-minute walk from the town center. Kominka are traditional Japanese folk houses. The house was built in 1829 and its main building, outbuilding and storehouse are registered as cultural properties. It is limited to one single group up to five people to stay. There is a kitchen to cook by yourself, but you can request a stay including two meals (13,000 yen) as well. Mr. Yoshio Sasaki, the owner of the place, organizes guided tours around the town and events in the kominka.
The dinner is an experience only a kominka can offer. It is a hot pot cooked over the glowing red charcoal of the traditional irori hearth. The hot pot comes with various ingredients including a lot of vegetables. The bath water is heated by firewood and it warms up your body.
Behind the pass to Shimane prefecture lies the destination of the following day; Mori, a small Jokamachi between the mountains. A subsidiary domain of Matsue ruled here, however no castle was built back then. Houses built a hundred years ago line the street, at the start of which lies a wooden yagura, which tells the time.
Walking down the street between a waterway and storehouses with white walls, you will find “Bettei Mori”, a restaurant in a renovated samurai residence. Its stately columns, ceiling and beams remain in the same condition as when it was built. Through the windows you can admire a traditional Japanese garden. There is a tea room next to the main building as well. The hosts accept guests to stay overnight, but it is limited to one group a day.
They serve a French course lunch combined with the Japanese-style cuisine (reservation required, 4800 yen). The course meal changes every month but the main ingredients are locally farmed, caught and cultivated free-range chicken, fish, and vegetables.
Following the south bank of Shinji lake to the west, you will arrive at Hirata. The town used to be by the lake and thrived as a distribution and trading center of cotton during the Edo and Meiji era. Along the L-shaped street, you will see storehouses with white walls and narrow buildings which stretch out to the back. Many businesses are situated here such as breweries of soy sauce and sake, as well as eateries and hotels renovated from vacant houses.
Some of them offer experience tours. For example, there is a tour at “Kurumaya Shogato Honpo” to package the products, and another at “Oka Moichiro Shoten” to visit their soy sauce brewery.
“Kurumaya Shogato Honpo” was established in 1715 and produces confectioneries. Their product shogato is sugar candy made from Shussai ginger (shoga) harvested in the Shussai area, around Izumo city. It develops the sweetness of the sugar in your mouth and at the same time a spicy kick of ginger. On this experience tour, you will first need to break a plate of shogato into bite-sized pieces, wrap each piece with a small piece of paper, and package the pieces into a box in the end.
“Oka Moichiro Shoten” was established in 1897 and produces the double-fermented soy sauce. In the process the soy sauce is fermented twice in wooden barrels, each time for one and a half years. The double-fermented soy sauce contains high concentration of salt but it does not taste so salty thanks to a double umami that it has. On the tour, you can try four kinds of soy sauce and will be surprised by the differences. In addition, you will learn the characteristics of soy sauce made in different areas of Japan, and you will look inside the barrels where the soy sauce is fermenting.
>cotton roadJust a 5-minute walk from the hotel is the day-trip hot spring facility "Izumo Enmusubi Onsen Yurari." This hot spring is perfect for soothing your tired body after a long day of travel. It has an open-air bath of about 160 square meters, an indoor bath made of cypress wood, a sauna, and a restaurant. The hot spring facilities and sauna are all separate for men and women.
The hot spring has a slight sulfur scent. It is alkaline and leaves your skin feeling smooth. This is one of the few facilities where you can enjoy natural hot springs without adding water or adjusting the temperature.
On the next day, after staying in Izumo city, you can visit Izumo Oyashiro. There are gift shops and restaurants on both sides of the Shinmon street (Shinmondori) which runs straight to the torii, a gate of Shinto shrine.
If you go north from Izumo Taisha Shrine along a narrow mountain pass for about 4 kilometers,SagiuraWe arrive at a port town called "Sekishu-gawara no Kiseki." It is currently a small town with a population of about 180 people, but it once had a copper mine nearby and was a bustling port of call. Ships on the "Kitamaebune" trade route in the Sea of Japan stopped at this port. Houses with Sekishu-gawara tile roofs line the shore of the port.
Walking through the town, you will see only older people walking around. There is only one grocery store in the town. It may seem outdated, but this gives the town a special charm and keeps the old atmosphere of over 1 years ago.
From spring to autumn, when the weather is fine, small boat cruise tours around the harbor are available (from 3000 yen). You can enjoy the magnificent view of the sparkling, clear water that can only be seen in the narrow caves that can only be accessed by boat.
