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

Yamaguchi is at the western end of Honshu. Surrounded by sea on three sides, it faces Kyushu across the Kanmon Strait.

Specialties

Fugu is, Haedomari Market in Shimonoseki City is known nationwide as a trading hub for fugu. Locally, it is called fuku because the word is associated with good fortune.

Fugu is a poisonous fish. For that reason, a prefectural license or certification is required to prepare fugu. The places where a knife may be used and the parts that must be discarded are precisely defined. When people say “fugu is a local specialty,” it actually means “people with that skill gather here.”

Natsumikan oranges (originating in Senzaki, Nagato City), Mishima beef, Iwakuni lotus root, and Yamaguchi sake. This prefecture is home to brewers who have helped drive the export of Japanese sake.

Souvenirs

overnight-dried fuku, summer mandarin sweets, and Yamaguchi uiro. And a Hagi ware tea bowl.

Yamaguchi uiro is a famous sweet from Yamaguchi City. It is a sweet with a springy texture, made by kneading bracken starch and steaming it.

Shrines and Temples

Motonosumi Shrine (Nagato City) is a shrine where 123 torii gates line up for about 100 meters toward the sea.

built in 1955 based on a story that a white fox appeared in a local fisherman’s dream, a relatively new shrine. The torii gates continued to be dedicated over more than 10 years. This means that the same structure as Fushimi Inari and the stone lanterns of Kasuga Taisha was still active in postwar Japan. Forms of faith are not only things of the past.

Hofu Tenmangu Shrine (Hofu City) is said to be among the earliest Tenmangu shrines dedicated to Sugawara no Michizane, and is counted among Japan’s three great Tenjin shrines alongside Kitano and Dazaifu.

The Heron Dance at Yasaka Shrine (Yamaguchi City), Akama Shrine (Shimonoseki City), and its red-and-white tower gate. The five-story pagoda of Rurikoji Temple (Yamaguchi City) is a National Treasure and one of Japan’s three great pagodas, alongside those of Daigoji and Horyuji according to estimates.

Sightseeing

Kintai Bridge (Iwakuni City) is a five-span wooden arch bridge assembled without using nails. First built in 1673, it is still regularly rebuilt today.

Akiyoshidai and Akiyoshido Cave (one of Japan’s largest karst plateaus and limestone caves), Hagi’s castle town (including component assets of the World Cultural Heritage “Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution”), Tsunoshima, and Suo-Oshima.

Traditional Crafts

Nationally designated items are Hagi ware, Ouchi lacquerware, and Akama inkstones.

In the world of tea ceremony, there is a saying: “First Raku, second Hagi, third Karatsu.”. With Hagi ware, tea gradually seeps into the cracks in the glaze as it is used, changing the color over time. This is called the “seven transformations of Hagi.” It is said to have begun with potters who came from the Korean Peninsula after the Bunroku and Keicho campaigns.

For details, see [VILLAGE Report vol.14] The More You Use It, the More the Color Changes

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References: Yamaguchi Prefecture, Shimonoseki City, Hagi City, Nagato City, Iwakuni City, Hofu City, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Association for the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries — Value Village Editorial Team