One sweep west, no backtracking: in at Okayama, up to the Sea of Japan coast, down to Hiroshima and out from Shin-Yamaguchi.
Korakuen and Okayama Castle, then a day in Kurashiki's canal quarter, 15 min away by train. Okayama is about 45 min from Osaka and 3h15 from Tokyo by Shinkansen.
🚃1h50Limited express Super Inaba, Okayama → Tottori · only about 6 a day, so check timesThe dunes and the Sand Museum, a morning kayaking at Uradome, and a detour to the yokai statues of Sakaiminato on the way west.
🚃1h30Limited express, Tottori → MatsueMatsue Castle and a Lake Shinji sunset, Izumo Taisha on the Ichibata line, and the Adachi Museum garden. Add Iwami Ginzan [UNESCO] with a car or an extra day.
🚌3h15Highway bus, Matsue → Hiroshima Station · direct; by train you change at OkayamaThe Atomic Bomb Dome [UNESCO] and Peace Memorial Museum, a full day on Miyajima for Itsukushima Shrine [UNESCO], and a day trip to Onomichi or Ōkunoshima.
🚄~35 minSanyo Shinkansen, Hiroshima → Shin-Yamaguchi · stop at Shin-Iwakuni on the way for KintaikyoKintaikyo on the way in, then Akiyoshido Cave, about 45 min by bus from Shin-Yamaguchi, and Hagi [UNESCO], about an hour. Motonosumi and Tsunoshima are easiest by car.
🚄HomeShinkansen from Shin-Yamaguchi · Hakata ~35 min · Osaka ~2h · Tokyo ~4h30
Only have 7 days? Okayama and Kurashiki for a day, then three days in Hiroshima and Miyajima with a side trip to Kintaikyo. Take the bus to Matsue for Izumo Taisha and leave on the Yakumo train to Okayama.
Times are typical. Trains and buses on the Sea of Japan side run only a few times a day, so check timetables before you book.
Chugoku has two sides. San'yō, "the sunny side of the mountains", faces the Seto Inland Sea: Okayama, Hiroshima and southern Yamaguchi, dry, mild and on the Shinkansen. San'in, "the shady side", faces the Sea of Japan: Tottori, Shimane and Yamaguchi's north coast around Hagi, greyer in winter and slower to reach, which is why they stay quiet.
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Atomic Bomb DomeAtomic Bomb DomeBuilt in 1915 as the Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall. On August 6, 1945 the bomb exploded about 600 m up and some 160 m from the building; because the blast came from almost directly above, part of the walls and the steel frame of the dome stayed standing. World Heritage since 1996. [UNESCO]The ruin at the edge of Peace Memorial Park. Visit quietly.📍 Google Maps
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Peace Memorial MuseumPeace Memorial MuseumThe main building reopened in 2019 after a full renovation, with the belongings and stories of individual victims at its centre. Allow 2–3 hours, and go early: it gets crowded by late morning.Allow 2–3 hours. Go early; it gets crowded by late morning.📍 Google Maps
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Itsukushima ShrineItsukushima ShrineShrine halls built over the tidal flats of Miyajima. The great torii dates from 1875; its main pillars are camphor trunks, and it stands by its own weight rather than being sunk into the seabed. Walk out to it at low tide. Since 2023, visitors pay a 100-yen island visitor tax. [UNESCO]Walk out to the torii at low tide; check tide times. Small island visitor tax.📍 Google Maps
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OkonomimuraOkonomimuraAbout two dozen okonomiyaki counters across several floors of one building near Hondori. Hiroshima-style is layered, not mixed: a thin crepe, a heap of cabbage, noodles and egg, cooked in front of you.Floors of Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki counters, all cooking it layered with noodles.📍 Google Maps
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Onomichi & Shimanami KaidoOnomichi & Shimanami KaidoOnomichi is a hillside port town of temples and narrow lanes. The Shimanami Kaido starts here: a cycling route of about 70 km over bridges and islands to Imabari on Shikoku. Rent a bike near the station.Hillside temple town and start of the island-hopping cycle route.📍 Google Maps
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ŌkunoshimaŌkunoshimaFrom 1929 to 1945 the island secretly made poison gas for the army and was left off maps. Today it is known for hundreds of free-roaming rabbits. The ferry from Tadanoumi takes about 15 minutes."Rabbit Island" by 15-min ferry; its Poison Gas Museum tells the wartime story.📍 Google Maps
Korakuen: One of Japan's Three Great Gardens. Construction started 1687, took 14 years, and the design has changed relatively little since. The black-walled "Crow Castle" rises just across the Asahi River — its keep a 1966 reconstruction of the original lost in 1945.
Kurashiki: The white-walled canal-side storehouses were preserved largely through local efforts led by the Ohara family. The Ohara Museum of Art (1930) was Japan's first private museum of Western art — its Monet Water Lilies was bought directly from the artist at Giverny.
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KorakuenOne of Japan's Three Great Gardens, with lawns, ponds and a borrowed castle view.📍 Google Maps
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Okayama Castle"Crow Castle" across the river from Korakuen; reconstructed keep with views.📍 Google Maps
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Kurashiki BikanWhite-walled storehouses along a willow-lined canal. Take the small boat ride.📍 Google Maps
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Ohara Museum of ArtJapan's first private Western art museum: Monet, El Greco and more, in Kurashiki.📍 Google Maps
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Bitchu Matsuyama CastleHighest of Japan's 12 original keeps. Short steep hike; "castle in the sky" mornings in autumn.📍 Google Maps
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Kibi Plain Cycling RouteFlat ride past ancient tombs to Kibitsu Shrine, home of the Momotaro legend.📍 Google Maps
Tottori Sakyu: 16km along the Japan Sea coast, 47m at the tallest ridge. The wind reshapes the surface daily, and volunteers pull invading plants to keep the dunes from shrinking. Japan's least-populous prefecture, and on a weekday in spring the main ridge is yours.
Sand Museum & Uradome: International sand sculptures around a new theme each year (closed for a few months while it's rebuilt). Uradome Coast runs sea kayaking through sea caves in water clear enough to track fish from the surface — a short bus ride east of the dunes.
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Tottori Sand DunesClimb the Uma-no-se ridge for Japan Sea views; best at sunrise or sunset.📍 Google Maps
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Sand MuseumGiant sand sculptures on a new theme each year. Check dates; it closes to rebuild.📍 Google Maps
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Mitokusan NageiredoTemple hall built into a cliff face. Steep, rough climb; proper shoes, no solo hikers.📍 Google Maps
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Hakuto ShrineMatchmaking shrine by Hakuto Beach, tied to the White Rabbit of Inaba legend.📍 Google Maps
Izumo Taisha: All eight million Shinto deities are said to gather here in the tenth month of the old lunar calendar (around November today) — the month Izumo calls "with gods." Dedicated to Ōkuninushi, god of marriage. The shimenawa rope at the Kaguraden is the largest in Japan.
Adachi Museum: Ranked first in the Journal of Japanese Gardening every year since the survey began in 2003. You view the garden rather than walk in it, often framed by the museum's windows — the building treats it as a living painting. In Yasugi, not Matsue.
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Izumo TaishaPray the Izumo way: two bows, four claps, one bow. See the giant rope at the Kaguraden.📍 Google Maps
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Matsue CastleNational Treasure and one of Japan's 12 original keeps; take the moat boat.📍 Google Maps
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Adachi Museum of ArtJapan's top-ranked garden, viewed from inside the museum. In Yasugi.📍 Google Maps
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Lake Shinji SunsetOne of Japan's classic sunsets, from the lakeshore by the Shimane Art Museum.📍 Google Maps
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Yuushien GardenPeony garden on Daikonshima island, reached by causeway; peak bloom late April–May.📍 Google Maps
Kintaikyo: First built 1673 — five wooden arches leaping between four stone river piers, strengthened after the first bridge washed away in 1674. It then stood until a 1950 typhoon, and was rebuilt in 1953 using traditional wooden joinery.
Hagi: Castle town that produced Itō Hirobumi (Japan's first Prime Minister), Yamagata Aritomo, and Kido Takayoshi — all from the same Edo-period streetscape you can still walk today. Its sites include Yoshida Shōin's Shōka Sonjuku school [UNESCO].
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Akiyoshido CaveOne of Japan's largest limestone caves, under the Akiyoshidai karst plateau.📍 Google Maps
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Motonosumi Shrine123 red torii down a cliff to the sea. Try landing a coin in the high offering box.📍 Google Maps
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Hagi & Shōka Sonjuku [UNESCO]Samurai lanes, Hagi pottery and the small school that shaped Meiji Japan.📍 Google Maps
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Karato MarketShimonoseki fish market; Friday-to-Sunday seafood stalls and fugu (pufferfish).📍 Google Maps