Last fall, COVID-19 epidemic slowed down and domestic travel demand returned. Tourist spots were crowded again, especially on weekends. As I do not like crowds, I need to travel in search of hidden gems.
Hidden gems were likely found in Hokkaido and Tohoku, but November was too early for snowy landscapes. So, I needed to find hidden gems in another areas.
Theoretically, a hidden gem is a place that I know but is not generally known to the public. If I do not know the area, I cannot distinguish whether it is hidden gem or not. I only can assume that a place where I do not know is also not known to the public, or I focus on finding less crowded places and perceive the entire area as a hidden gem.
For me, western Japan along the Sea of Japan coast is not familiar at all. I have not visited west of Hyogo on that side of Japan. Therefore I thought the San’in region as a whole could be considered as a hidden gem.
I decided to take this opportunity to visit the San’in region. Perhaps my idea was not too bad because it was relatively easy to get a seat on frequent flyer award ticket to Izumo on Japan Airlines.
The return trip was a bit trickier. Yonago Airport was too close to Izumo City, and Hagi-Iwami Airport seemed too inconvenient. I decided to go to the Pacific Ocean side and use Ube Airport, even though it is out of the San’in region. From Ube, All Nippon Airways (operated by Star Flyer) had an award seat available. Then the trip was rather long from Shimane to Yamaguchi.
The most famous hot spring in the San’in region is probably Tamatsukuri Onsen. No matter how much I consider the whole San’in region to be a hidden gem, it would be unreasonable to call Tamatsukuri Onsen as a hidden gem hot spring resort. After searching for a while, I found Yunotsu Onsen at the west of Izumo City and Yuya Bay Onsen at the west of Nagato City in Yamaguchi Prefecture. These might be called hidden gems as I did not know these places.
Between Yunotsu Onsen and Yuya Bay Onsen, I traveled on the San’in Main Line. I thought it would be easy just sitting on the train, but the travel time was long. There were limited express trains on the San’in Main Line, but they did not fit to my schedule. I had to take local trains, and the journey took about five hours. As I was already a middle-aged man, I wondered if my back would be all right.
On the first day, I took Japan Airlines early morning flight to Izumo City. From Izumo Airport, I took a direct bus to Izumo-Taisha Shrine where was famous for god of marriage. It may sound too urgent or even ghastly that a single middle-aged man heading for Izumo-Taisha Shrine without a second glance. However, that was not the case. Izumo-Taisha is a major tourist attraction in the San’in region. The bus was packed with people of all ages and genders. On the other hand, Izumo-Taisha Shrine might not be called a hidden gem though it was not as crowded as I imagined.
The reason I headed to Izumo-Taisha early was that I wanted to take another bus from the Izumo-Taisha Bus Terminal to the Hinomisaki-jinja Shrine. This is a hidden-gem shrine with only a few bus services available per day. The shrine is said to be the place of god where the sun sets. I thought this god or the shrine somehow fit me well.
The second day was almost lost by train ride. I headed west, taking it easy and enjoying the view of the Sea of Japan. There were two train transfers along the way, which made the train rides easier than I had expected. They were not crowded, thus the San’in region must be a hidden gem.
On the last day, I spent the day in Yamaguchi Prefecture. The most famous sightseeing spot on the Sea of Japan coast was probably Hagi, although it was back east from Nagato City. Alternatively, I could head further west on the San’in Main Line via Shimonoseki and go all the way to Ube.
Since the weather was fine, I decided to visit Akiyoshidai and Shuhodo Cave. Akiyoshidai was a famous tourist attraction, but I decided to go there because it was in autumn leaves season.
I intended to take a short walk in Akiyoshidai, but it turned out to be quite a trekking. In the end, I was able to spend a beautiful autumn day. Because it was Monday, there were not many people in Akiyoshidai, so I was able to take enough time to take photos.
Although I passed on Tamatsukuri Onsen, I did not miss the famous tourist attractions such as Izumo-Taisha Shrine, Akiyoshidai, and Shuhodo Cave. Yet, I was able to avoid the crowds and take my time on the entire itinerary.
Indeed the San’in region was a hidden gem.
