Although I had never heard of Yamaguchi-ken before my Japanese sensei suggested it as a possible place to request on my JET application, I am extremely glad I got the chance to live there for a year. It may be quite far from Tokyo, but it's a great place! I had asked my sensei to help me think of some places to request, and I told her I wanted to live somewhere not-too-cold, somewhat urban, with plenty of art historical points of interest. Yamaguchi-ken turned out to be perfect! It's a mostly rural prefecture, so even though I was in a small city, the beautiful countryside was never very far away. The scenery in Yamaguchi-ken (and actually, the entire Chugoku region) is truly some of the most beautiful I saw in my travels through Japan. The name Yamaguchi means "Mountain Entrance," so you can guess that the landscape in this area is rather mountainous. Indeed, the mountains often seem to rise suddenly from out of nowhere, interspersed with brilliantly green rice fields. It's exactly the kind of scenery I always pictured when I tried to imagine what Japan would look like, but actually, not all of the country looks this way, so I felt very fortunate every time I took a car ride through the windy mountain roads and was able to take in the beauty around me.  

Yamaguchi was also perfect for me because it's rich in culture and history. As an art history major who studied as much Japanese art history as I could, I was eager to live in a place where I could really see what I had studied. Yamaguchi-ken is famous for Hagi-yaki pottery, which is ranked as one of the three best types of pottery in the nation. I had actually learned about it in an art history class, so I was thrilled to get to visit Hagi, a charming old castle town on the Japan Sea coast, and actually buy some of the pottery ware for myself!

Another city with significant historical interest in the prefectural capital, Yamaguchi City. It was settled by Lord Ouchi, and was once called the Kyoto of the West. The city is famous for its laquerware dolls, referred to as Ouchi Ningyo. These beautiful dolls come in pairs, a man and a woman, and resemble courtly figures from the time of Lord Ouchi. The story goes that when he moved to Yamaguchi, his wife became homesick for the court society of Kyoto, so he had these dolls made for her to cheer her up. They have been a well-known local craft ever since. I bought several pairs as gifts for friends and families, and before I left, I made sure to purchase a set for myself and my husband (then fiancé). They dolls are so irresistable! Yamaguchi City is also known for its five-story pagoda, pictured at the bottom of the page. It was built in the 15th century, and is said to be rather unusual in Japan because all five stories are the same width, whereas most pagodas get progressively smaller with each ascending tier.  

The third major point of historical interest in Yamaguchi-ken is Iwakuni’s Kintaikyo bridge, in the far eastern part of the prefecture. The bridge is quite stunning with its five arches, and attracts many visitors. In the summertime, they have displays of old-fashioned cormorant fishing in the river near the bridge. It’s also an excellent spot for viewing cherry blossoms (hanami), although I didn’t experience it at that time of year, preferring to experience hanami with my local blossom-viewing spot, Tokiwa Park in Ube.

One of my favourite places in Yamaguchi for stunning scenery is Nagato, on the Japan Sea coast. My supevisor graciously took me up there one day in late June, and I just loved it. First, we ate a delicious lunch of sushi and sashimi at a restaurant on a floating pier over the water, with gorgeous views of the sea and the mountainous coast. After eating, we bought some fish food to toss to some very eager fish near the restaurant, and then we went for a walk on a beautiful island, Omijima, which means “Blue sea island.” It was stunning! The coast is rugged, with pine trees, rocky cliffs, and views of fascinating rock formations jutting up from the sea. The day we went, the weather was cool and misty, casting a mysterious and pensive feel over the dramatic scenery... it was just perfect! 

Another point of interest in Yamaguchi-ken is Shimonoseki, the western-most city on Japan’s main island of Honshu. In addition to great fugu (the city’s local speciality cuisine!) and good shopping, the city offers an interesting view from Mt. Hinoyama, where you can see Kyuushu, which is the southern-most of Japan’s four big islands. It’s just a neat feeling to stand on one island and see another island across such a narrow strait of water.


I hope I’ll be able to visit Yamaguchi-ken again someday. I have wonderful memories of my year there. It's out of the way of most travel itineraries, but I would absolutely go out of my way to see the beautiful sites of this prefecture again, given the chance. The friendly locals with their boisterous dialect, the breathtaking scenery, and the wealth of art and history truly make it a special place that I will never forget.