02 May 2024

An action-packed day exploring Hagi

Our day in Hagi started with a Zodiac cruise from Heritage Adventurer into Hagi – the first Zodiac experience for several of us, and we split into groups with different itineraries.  

We boarded coaches for a busy day visiting a variety of iconic destinations, including the Akiyoshidai Plateau and Cave, a limestone area with a spectacular cave full of rock formations and a rushing river, and the 100 flavours of ice cream in the shops at the cave’s exit. Next was the Yoshika Taibi Museum and workshop to see examples of the finest Hagi pottery from the past, potters at the wheel and today’s finished products. Then to the Kikiuya family house, the well-preserved residence and garden of a wealthy merchant in the Samurai district with a variety of artefacts from the Edo period. We marvelled at the ruins of Hagi Castle, which for 250 years was the stronghold of the Mori family and, based on the ruins, was an impressive fortress. We then explored the Tokoji Temple, just around the corner from the castle ruins and holding the graves of half of the leaders of the Mori family with more than 500 stone lanterns erected by their descendants.

The remarkable variety of activities and the routes taken to arrive at our destinations gave us an amazing understanding and appreciation of this delightfully small city.

We arrived back aboard to clear customs out of Japan as we headed for our next destination, Ulsan, South Korea.

Images © C. Finch, Heritage Expeditions