Tottori Prefecture offers tourist attractions such as Tottori Sand Dunes, Kokubunji Temple, and Kaike Onsen Hot Springs; sightseeing events such as the Cherry Blossom Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, and Tottori Shanshan Festival; and local delicacies such as ozoni and white rose coffee.
Tottori Prefecture belongs to the Chugoku region, bordered on the north by the Sea of Japan, on the east by Hyogo Prefecture, on the west by Shimane Prefecture, and on the south by Okayama and Hiroshima Prefectures, and is known as one of the snowiest areas in western Japan.
Tottori Prefecture, once known as Inaba-kuni and Hoki-kuni, is home to such tourist attractions as Yonago City, which was once known as the Osaka of the San'in region; Sakaiminato City, known for its beautiful scenery and the birthplace of cartoonist Shigeru Mizuki; and Kurayoshi City, with its rows of white-walled storehouses.
Tottori Prefecture is home to Mt. Daisen, one of Japan's 100 most famous mountains. Daisen is also called Hoki-Fuji (伯耆富士) because of its resemblance to Mt.
Daisen is surrounded by the densest primeval beech forest in western Japan, which changes its color from season to season, creating a beautiful landscape. The foot of Mt. Daisen is a popular resort area, with ski resorts, campgrounds, and other leisure facilities.
The Tottori Sand Dunes are a representative tourist attraction of Tottori Prefecture, and are a sand and gravel area stretching along the Japan Sea coast. Famous for the patterns created by the wind, called wind ripples, the Tottori Sand Dunes are one of the three major sand dunes in Japan and are designated as a national natural monument.
The Tottori Sand Dunes are also a place for sky sports such as hang gliding and paragliding. Furthermore, there are restaurant houses and other facilities around the dunes where visitors can enjoy themselves for a day.
In addition, camels and horses are kept here, and visitors can interact with the animals. In summer, the lights of squid fishing boats can be seen from the dunes, which is a summer tradition in Tottori Sand Dunes.
The Tottori Sand Dunes are not the only tourist attraction. The 800-meter-long Mizuki Shigeru Road, featuring the manga "Gegege no Kitaro" and other yokai depicted by Shigeru Mizuki, is not only home to yokai objet d'art, but also a large number of stores and facilities, making it a very lively place.
Mizuki Shigeru Road has attracted attention as a good example of a shuttered shopping street that has been revitalized and is currently being extended further.
Tottori Prefecture is a major producer of Matsuba crab, a large crab that lives in the deep sea, as well as vegetables and fruits such as watermelon and rakkyo, and is nationally famous for its 20th Century Pear, which accounts for 13% of the total production of Japanese pears.
One of the largest sand dunes in Japan, the Tottori Sand Dunes were created over a period of 100,000 years.They stretch 16 km from east to west and 2 km from north to south. Depending on the topography and weather conditions such as wind, you can see various expressions such as wind ripples and sand...»
Mt. Mitoku is 900 meters above sea level and is a nature-rich mountain for ascetic practices, dotted with precipitous cliffs and large rock caves. It is surrounded by high mountains with beautiful valleys that change with the seasons. Santokuji Temple stands at the foot of the mountain and houses t...»
The street is lined with 177 bronze statues of yokai, including Kitaro, along an approximately 800 meter stretch of road from Sakaiminato Station to the Mizuki Shigeru Memorial Museum. There are also many stores selling food and goods related to yokai, and even costumed yokai make daily appearances...»
Built in 1995 as a symbol of friendship between Tottori Prefecture and Hebei Province, China, the Yancho Garden is a Chinese garden in the imperial garden forest style, which successive Chinese emperors were familiar with. The building was temporarily constructed in China, disassembled, and transpor...»
Misasa Onsen, a famous hot spring in the San'in region, stretches along the banks of the Misasa River and is known as one of the best radium hot springs in the world. There are 22 of 27 inns suitable for hot-spring cures and recreation, as well as for sightseeing and excursions. The abundant amount...»
The coastline from the eastern tip of Tottori Prefecture is a 15-km-long rias coastline with granite cliffs, strange rocks, caves, and caves caused by the erosion of sea water, and islands and rocks of various sizes are scattered throughout the sea surface. The beautiful ocean spreads out right in f...»
The ruins of Yonago Castle, a National Historic Site, are valuable as a castle ruins where visitors can learn about the structure of the castle, as the stonewalls and foundation stones retain their original form. In addition, many documents and pictorial materials related to Yonago Castle have been ...»
Kaike Onsen is a resort resort area facing the Sea of Japan, where modern hotels and ryokans (traditional Japanese-style inns) built in the traditional Sukiya style stand side by side in a pine forest. It is also called the "Okuza of Yonago" and "Atami of San'in", and has been selected as one of th...»
The Sand Museum, located in a corner of the Tottori Sand Dunes, exhibits the world's only sand sculptures, or "sand sculptures," created using only sand and water. Changing themes each year, the world's top sand sculptors create delicate and powerful works of art. Visitors to this museum can fully ...»
Along the Tamagawa River, which runs along the foot of Mt. Uchibuki, are storehouses with red Ishizhu tiles, white plaster walls, and black grilled cedar slats. Many of the buildings date from the late Edo period to the early Showa period, and the townscape is divided into Honmachi-dori, mainly con...»
Located in the setting of the myth "Inaba no Shirohagi (White Hare of Inaba)," Shirohagi Shrine is dedicated to the White Hare God. The shrine is said to be beneficial for curing skin diseases and for matchmaking, and there is also a "Goshimiaraike Pond" where the hare is said to have washed its bod...»
Located on Mizuki Shigeru Road, which is lined with 177 bronze statues of yokai, the shrine is built in the world of the manga "Gegege no Kitaro". Welcome to the amazing shrine of yokai! The shrine's sacred body is a black granite stone about 10 feet (about 3 meters) high. The shrine was visited b...»
The only exhibition facility in Japan dedicated to pears.It is an attractive tourist facility that provides information on pears from Japan and abroad, serves as a base for exchange between producers and consumers, and offers amusement....»
This hall, also called "kutsu-do" (cave hall), was built in a natural rock cave and is said to have been constructed during the Daido period (806~810). It is the architecture of a Shugendo temple. It is a National Important Cultural Property. It is said that this temple was part of Myokenzan Shinko...»
A machiya built in the early Taisho era (1912-1926) is used as a restaurant. The specialty is "Mochi Shabu," a rice cake dish made in the image of a junihitoe robe and dipped in bonito broth. The restaurant was established more than 100 years ago in a traditional machiya building.The atmosphere of ...»
Kurayoshi City in Tottori Prefecture retains a beautiful townscape of red tiles and white-walled storehouses.Here is the oldest circular school building in Japan, which has been loved as a symbol of the local community.The spiral staircase that echoed with the sound of children's energetic footsteps...»
This theme park opened adjacent to the Mizuki Shigeru Memorial Museum on Mizuki Shigeru Road, a famous sightseeing spot in Sakaiminato City, Tottori Prefecture, based on the theme of the world of yokai as depicted by the cartoonist Shigeru Mizuki.Upon entering the park, visitors are greeted by an ar...»
A soy sauce flavored ramen in a soup stock taken from beef bones. While this type of ramen is quite rare, locals and shops in Tottori think it is quite normal. The obstinacy of a cook gained through experience, without undue fastidiousness. People who care for quality possessions without having desi...»
A dish made by stuffing abura-age with raw rice and vegetables and boiling in dashi broth. This age old dish is a specialty of western Tottori, around the Yumigahama peninsular, and is often prepared as a packed lunch for farmers and fishermen. It looks like a large inari-zushi, but is prepared and ...»
Mature male snow crabs are known as ‘matsuba-gani’. Packed with exquisitely tasting meat, they are a classic Tottori delicacy in winter. Kani-jiru is a dish commonly eaten in winter, often using small and relatively cheap female ‘matsuba-gani’. These mother crabs can also be boiled and their roe eat...»
Thick and juicy taste with rich aroma. Okowa (steamed rice with azuki beans) flavored with soy sauce and ingredients from the base of Mt. Daisen is a traditional dish from western Tottori. There appears to be no set ingredients, and each household has its own variation, however some areas use wild p...»
Tottori sand dunes are a famous symbol of the prefecture. Sakyu rakkyo (sand dune Chinese onions) grown in this unique natural environment are white in color, and boast a crisp texture thanks to the minute fibers. Fundamentally, sand dunes are not suited to growing any crops, and people say that is ...»
This is a hot-pot with leeks, one of famous Tottori vegetables, also known as the ‘leek Shogun hot-pot’. A kombu and bonito stock is made in an earthenware pot, then flavored with soy sauce and mirin, and leeks are dipped into the hot stock briefly in shabu-shabu fashion. You can enjoy the rich swee...»