Events & Gatherings

Festival Chugoku I

Daily

Iwami Kagura

Across the Iwami region of western Shimane (Hamada, Masuda, Oda and others)

Serpents writhe across the entire stage. In the Iwami region of western Shimane, performers in dazzling masks and embroi

Market Chugoku K

Every 1th Sun

Kurashiki Tenryo Morning Market

Around the Kurashiki Bikan Historical Quarter, Honmachi, Kurashiki, Okayama

In a town of white walls, a morning market sets up. Kurashiki in Okayama prospered in the Edo period as a tenryo, a terr

Workshop Chugoku H

Daily

Hagi Ware Climbing Kiln Experience

Hagi, Yamaguchi

One of the vessels most loved by tea masters. Hagi in Yamaguchi is the home of Hagi ware, long held in high regard in th

Festival Chugoku T

毎年7月

Tsuwano Sagi-mai: The Heron Dance

Yasaka Shrine, Tsuwano, Kanoashi, Shimane

Two men dressed as white herons enter the stream that runs through the center of Tsuwano. Their wings open slowly as the

Market Chugoku D

毎朝（通年）

Dogo Onsen Morning Market

Dogo Yunomachi, Matsuyama, Ehime

Dogo Onsen is one of the oldest hot springs in Japan — old enough to appear in the Man'yoshu poetry anthology, old enoug

Market Chugoku M

4月〜11月の毎週日曜（早朝）

Matsue Morning Market: Mist on the Canal

Along Fukuro River, Matsue City, Shimane

The mist from Lake Shinji moves through Matsue before the city wakes. Matsue is built on water — canals, the Ōhashi Rive

Market Chugoku K

毎月第1日曜

Kurashiki Bikan Quarter Craft Market

Honmachi, Kurashiki City, Okayama

Kurashiki's Bikan district is one of Japan's most photographed historic streetscapes — white-walled warehouses reflected

Market Chugoku H

不定期（月1〜2回）

Hiroshima Asagiri Bridge Flea Market

Along Motoyasu River, Naka-ku, Hiroshima City

The market runs along the Motoyasu River, within sight of the Atomic Bomb Dome. This proximity is not ironic; it is simp

Gathering Chugoku I

通年（2〜4月初旬に架け替えあり）

Iya Kazurabashi: The Vine Bridge of the Hidden Valley

162-2 Zentoku, Nishi-Iyayama, Miyoshi City, Tokushima

The bridge is made entirely of mountain vines, woven and suspended over a gorge that drops fourteen meters to the river

Gathering Chugoku I

例年11月下旬〜12月上旬

Izumo Taisha: The Month When All Gods Arrive

195 Kizukihigashi, Taisha-cho, Izumo City, Shimane

In the tenth month of the lunar calendar, Japan's eight million gods converge on Izumo. The rest of the country calls th

Gathering Chugoku M

例年7月中旬〜8月上旬

Miyajima Kangen-sai: Court Music on the Sea

Itsukushima Shrine, Miyajima, Hatsukaichi City, Hiroshima

The deity of Itsukushima Shrine travels by boat. On the evening of the Kangen-sai, a procession of vessels carrying musi

Workshop Chugoku I

通年（各体験施設による）

Imabari Towel: Dyeing at the Source of Japan's Finest Cotton

Imabari City, Ehime

Imabari produces more towels than anywhere else in Japan, and has been producing them since the late nineteenth century

Residency Chugoku O

通年

Ohnan: Where Japan's Countryside Is Trying Something New

Ohnan Town, Ochi-gun, Shimane

Ohnan Town in the mountains of Shimane has a population under ten thousand and a food-based regeneration strategy that h

Residency Chugoku H

通年

Hagi: Living in the Town That Made Modern Japan

Hagi City, Yamaguchi

The men who made the Meiji Restoration were disproportionately from Hagi. Yoshida Shoin, whose private academy produced

Festival Chugoku M

例年8月中旬

Matsuyama Festival Fireworks

Shigenobu River, Matsuyama, Ehime

In the town of the Dogo hot spring, you watch the fireworks. Matsuyama, the largest city on Shikoku, is home to Dogo Ons

craft Chugoku K

通年（要予約・筆の里工房）

Kumano Fude Brush-Making Experience

Fude no Sato Kobo, Kumano, Hiroshima

These are the brushes that touch the world's faces. Kumano, a small town in the hills of Hiroshima, produces eighty perc

Gathering Chugoku I

神社の祭礼・定期公演で上演

Iwami Kagura Regular Performances

They dance all night. Iwami Kagura comes from the western end of Shimane, and it is at once a sacred rite and pure ente

Festival Chugoku S

例年4月中旬〜下旬（約2週間）

Shikoku Konpira Kabuki

Kanamaru-za (Old Konpira Grand Theatre), 1241 Otsu, Kotohira, Kagawa

Once a year, the oldest playhouse in Japan is used for what it was built for. Kotohira, in Kagawa, at the foot of the l

Festival Chugoku I

例年10月上旬〜中旬が見頃

Ishizuchisan

Nishinokawa, Saijo, Ehime

Ishizuchi is the highest mountain in western Japan, at 1,982 metres, and it has been climbed as a religious act for far

Festival Chugoku D

例年10月下旬〜11月上旬が見頃

Daisen

Daisenji, Daisen, Tottori

Around Daisenji the peak falls between late October and early November. Daisen is the high mountain of western Honshu's

Festival Chugoku M

例年10月下旬〜11月中旬が見頃

Mitokusan

Sanbutsu-ji, Misasa, Tottori

The peak on Mitokusan runs late October to mid-November. The mountain rises to 899.7 metres on the border between Misasa

Festival Chugoku O

例年10月下旬〜11月中旬が見頃

Oni-no-Shitaburui

Oni-no-Shitaburui, Okuizumo, Shimane

The colour at Oni-no-Shitaburui runs late October to mid-November. Oni-no-Shitaburui is a V-shaped gorge about two kilom

Festival Chugoku O

例年10月下旬〜11月中旬が見頃

Okutsu-kei

Okutsu-kei, Kagamino, Okayama

Okutsu-kei carries its colour from late October to mid-November. The gorge runs about three kilometres near the village

Festival Chugoku C

例年10月下旬〜11月中旬が見頃

Chomon-kyo

Chomon-kyo, Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi

The season at Chomon-kyo runs late October to mid-November. Chomon-kyo is the middle stretch of the Abu river, a gorge s

Festival Chugoku T

例年10月下旬〜11月中旬が見頃

Tachikuekyo Gorge

Tachikuekyo Gorge, Ottachicho, Izumo, Shimane

At Tachikuekyo the rock turns before your eyes have adjusted to it. The colour comes early for a gorge — late October to

Festival Chugoku J

例年10月下旬〜11月下旬が見頃

Joeiji Sesshu Garden

Joeiji, 2001-1 Miyanoshimo, Yamaguchi

A painter laid out this garden, or so the tradition holds, and in November the garden repays the attribution. The Sesshu

Festival Chugoku K

例年11月中旬〜下旬が見頃

Kanba Falls

Kanba Falls, Kanba, Maniwa, Okayama

Kanba Falls does one thing, and does it vertically. The water drops a hundred and ten metres down a single rock face, tw

Festival Chugoku M

例年11月中旬〜下旬が見頃

Momijidani Park

Momijidani Park, Miyajimacho, Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima

The autumn at Momijidani begins with a ferry. The park lies on Miyajima, in the valley that runs down from Mount Misen t

Festival Chugoku O

例年11月中旬〜下旬が見頃

Oboke Gorge

Oboke Gorge, Yamashirocho Kamyo, Miyoshi, Tokushima

The rock gets your attention before the leaves do. Oboke sits on the middle reaches of the Yoshino river, with thousand-

Festival Chugoku T

例年10月下旬〜11月上旬が見頃

Taishakukyo Gorge

Shinryuko, Taishakukyo Gorge, Shobara and Jinsekikogen, Hiroshima

There are two kinds of bridge in this gorge, and the difference between them is the whole visit. The first was cut by wa

Festival Chugoku U

例年4月上旬が見頃

Utsubuki Park Cherry Blossoms

Utsubuki Park, 722 Aoicho, Kurayoshi, Tottori

This park was built to commemorate a royal visit. Kurayoshi city records that Utsubuki Park was laid out in 1904 to mark

Festival Chugoku M

例年3月下旬〜4月上旬が見頃

Matsue Castle Cherry Blossoms

Matsue Jozan Park, Tonomachi, Matsue, Shimane

Only a hundred and ninety trees. Shimane prefecture gives the count for Matsue Jozan Park as about a hundred and ninety

Festival Chugoku H

例年3月下旬〜4月上旬が見頃

Hiikawa Embankment Cherry Avenue

Hiikawa embankment, Kisuki, Unnan, Shimane

The Hiikawa is the river of the Yamata-no-Orochi story. Along its embankment at Kisuki there are about eight hundred Som

Festival Chugoku S

例年3月下旬〜4月上旬が見頃

Senkoji Park Cherry Blossoms

Senkoji Park, 19 Nishitsuchidocho, Onomichi, Hiroshima

Fifteen hundred cherry trees on a slope above the sea. Senkoji Park climbs the side of Senkojiyama at Onomichi, and the

Festival Chugoku S

例年4月が見頃

Shobara Ueno Park Cherry Blossoms

Ueno Park, 1-chome Higashihonmachi, Shobara, Hiroshima

The circuit round the pond is two kilometres. That is about half an hour at a walking pace. Shobara's tourism site descr

Festival Chugoku T

例年3月下旬〜4月中旬が見頃

Tokiwa Park Cherry Blossoms

Tokiwa Park, 254 Okiube, Ube, Yamaguchi

There is a variety here of which the park has exactly six. Tokiwa Park gives its cherry total as about 3,500 and then br

Festival Chugoku K

例年4月上旬が見頃

Kikko Park and Kintaikyo Cherry Blossoms

Kikko Park, Yokoyama, Iwakuni, Yamaguchi

The trees stand differently on the two sides of the bridge. The Kintaikyo is a wooden arched bridge over the Nishiki riv

Festival Chugoku K

例年4月上旬が見頃

Kotohiki Park Cherry Blossoms

Kotohiki Park, Ariakecho, Kanonji, Kagawa

There is an enormous drawing in the sand here. The Zenigata at Kotohiki Park measures 122 metres east to west, 90 north

Festival Chugoku M

例年4月上旬が見頃

Matsuyama Castle Cherry Blossoms

Matsuyama Castle, Marunouchi, Matsuyama, Ehime

Two hundred trees, with the early and the late ones deliberately mixed in. Most of the cherries at Matsuyama Castle are