Hagi is a coastal castle town, which used to be the capital of the Mori Clan, one of the most powerful clans during the feudal age. The city has been spared by major disasters and has many beautiful old buildings, streets, shrines and residences, some of which are open to the public. Due to its importance in Japanese history, the town is bustling with Japanese tourists and very few international ones.
There are many sights to visit, so we spent an entire day riding around on our bikes. Our favourite was definitely Tokoji Temple, a 1691 Zen Buddhist Temple, with a graveyard behind it of some of the Mori warlords. The tombs are located in a beautiful forest and fronted by stone torii and rows of hundreds of moss-covered stone lanterns. Imagine this place when all the lanterns are lit up with candles!
The Yukawa residence is an old Samurai house on the Aibagawa waterway, a small man-made canal bringing river water to all the homes. The kitchen and bathroom have direct access to the water in full privacy. Very clever!
The residence of the Kikuya family has a stunning garden and large rooms to sit on tatami mats and enjoy a cup of tea.
The castle is gone, but the moat and walls still exist.
Hagi is also famous for pottery, hence we visited the pottery museum (which is the first place we found to be over-priced museum).
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