Tottori Prefecture Specialties, Souvenirs, Shrines, Temples, and Travel | 47 Prefecture Guide

Tottori is the prefecture with the smallest population in Japan. Perhaps for that reason, each production area has a clear identity.

Specialties

Nijisseiki Pear is, It is not a variety that originated in Tottori. A seedling found in Chiba Prefecture was carried on here. It became a specialty not of the place where it was first found, but of the place that kept cultivating it.

Matsuba Crab refers to male snow crab. Sakaiminato in Sakaiminato City is one of Japan’s leading ports for landings of snow crab. The crabs are tagged to show the fisherman and port. Making it possible to trace who caught it and where became the brand itself.

Rakkyo scallions, crab, white squid, Daisen chicken, and white green onions.

Souvenirs

Sweets made with Nijisseiki pears, tofu chikuwa, and honey. And Inshu washi letter paper.

Sakaiminato is the hometown of Shigeru Mizuki, and souvenir shops line up goods featuring yokai motifs.

Shrines and Temples

Hakuto Shrine in Tottori City is the setting of the “White Rabbit of Inaba” episode in the Kojiki shrine.

Okuninushi no Mikoto saves a rabbit whose skin had been stripped off by sharks. The story says that the rabbit then helps bring Okuninushi no Mikoto and Yagami-hime together. For this reason, it is considered one of Japan’s oldest shrines for matchmaking. A mythic setting exists just as it is on the map. This is one of the defining features of the Sanin region.

Mitokusan Sanbutsuji Nageiredo in Misasa Town is a National Treasure. A hall said to be impossible to know how it was built is fitted into a hollow in a sheer cliff. Visiting requires a mountain climb while holding chains, and entering the mountain alone is not permitted.

The inner shrine of Ogamiyama Shrine (Daisen Town) is has an approach paved with natural stones extending about 700 meters, said to be the longest in Japan. It is a place of mountain worship centered on Mount Daisen itself.

Sightseeing

Tottori Sand Dunes is, A landform created when winds from the Sea of Japan pushed back sand carried by the Chiyogawa River from the Chugoku Mountains. Its shape is still continuing to change.

Mount Daisen and the white-walled storehouse district of Kurayoshi.

Traditional Crafts

Nationally designated items are Inshu washi, Yumihama kasuri, and Izumo stone lanterns: three designated items.

Inshu washi is said to rank among Japan’s top producers of gasenshi calligraphy paper. Izumo stone lanterns are a designation spanning both Tottori and Shimane prefectures. They are defined not by a prefectural border, but by the stone-producing area.

For details, see [VILLAGE Report vol.17] A Stone-Producing Area That Crosses Prefectural Borders

Articles About This Prefecture

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References: Tottori Prefecture, Tottori City, Sakaiminato City, Misasa Town, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Association for the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries — Value Village Editorial Team