Japan by region

Sample texts
from the book

"I didn't know that"

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Many visitors to Japan take the shinkansen west along the Sanyo coast from Osaka to Hiroshima, perhaps en route to Kyushu. But western Honshu, also known as Chugoku (the 'middle lands'), has much more to offer than a hurried stop in Hiroshima. The Sanyo coast may have the fastest rail connections and the best-known sights but the less developed San-in coast provides a complete change of pace.

The journey from the Sanyo to the San-in coast offers yet another perspective, with spectacular mountain and river scenery and the chance to see a part of Japan that has not been bulldozed into the industrial revolution. The route along the San-in coast leads to Matsue, justly famous for its splendid lake, Shinji-ko, and for being the former home of Irish writer, Lafcadio Hearn.
Two stations on this route are connection points for other rail journeys: Okayama is the starting point for the Shikoku route guide and from Ogori it's only 20 minutes by shinkansen to Kokura, the starting point for the Kyushu route guide.