Name: 3 Days in Yamaguchi
Uploaded: 2026-03-18T17:43:09.000Z
Duration: 13 min 53 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

My name is Raina Ong and I'm going on an adventure.

This is Honshu, Japan's main and largest island.

Sentences with advanced comparative

Most travelers stick to the middle part, Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and maybe go as far as Hiroshima.

But today I want to tell you why you should go even further west.

The place that I'm visiting is known as the Kyoto of the West.

It's got the atmosphere, the culture, the history, just without the crowds.

The region is also different in the best way.

It's got massive limestone caves, wide open karst fields, and

it's also home to Japan's most famous pufferfish cuisine.

My journey takes me to Yamaguchi Prefecture, right at the western edge of Honshu.

On day one, I'll explore Yamaguchi City and its Kyoto inspired streets.

On day two, I'll head underground into Japan's largest limestone cave.

And on the final day, I'll travel to Shimonoseki, the fugu capital, before walking under the sea to end my trip in Kyushu.

And we start right here in Yamaguchi City.

Yamaguchi City has been on my list of places to go ever since I read about it in the New York Times 52 places to visit article.

Now it's my first time here, so let's go check it out together.

Okay, but before I dive into sightseeing, let me quickly introduce Yamaguchi's history.

Its westernmost location played to its advantage, far enough from Kyoto to be independent and close to the sea to trade in every direction.

And by the 15th century century, it had grown so important that it became known as the Kyoto of the West.

And behind me is the guy who made this possible when he established his base here.

He deliberately modeled Yamaguchi after Kyoto, turning it into a political and cultural center.

The city is easily accessible by train, about an hour from Hiroshima or two and a half from Osaka.

And you can do it as a day trip from either cities if you're short on time.

But I definitely recommend staying the night and slowing down to enjoy the less visited area.

The standouts in the city are the calm and casual atmosphere, friendly inhabitants, and

This is the Ichinosaka River, Yamaguchi's version of the Kamogawa, the big river that runs through central Kyoto.

These cherry trees look a little bare right now, but come spring gonna be so beautiful.

Cafes and restaurants can be found along the river, which leads me to this cabin, cute restaurant behind me serving Kawara soba, a Yamaguchi specialty.

This is a kawara or a ceramic roof towel.

And it gets heated up till it's really hot so it can act like a hot plate.

The noodles are then placed on top so that you get nice textures.

Crispy at the bottom, but soft and chewy in the middle.

The way to eat Kawara soba is the first bite you have is just of the noodles itself.

And the next mouthful I'm gonna try dipping.

I like the soba better than the regular soba.

I don't know how they do it, but every mouthful has been like better than the previous one.

You can't come to Yamaguchi and not visit its most famous symbol and national treasure, Rurikoji Temple's five story pagoda.

And of course, that's where I'm heading to after lunch.

This pagoda was built in 1442 as a memorial for one of the celebrated lords of the ruling family.

Now it was also recently renovated, a first in 70 years.

This five story pagoda is also considered one of the three most beautiful pagodas in Japan, alongside the ones at Horyuji Temple in Nara and Daigoji Temple in Kyoto.

Inside the Treasure House, they've got models of other five storey pagodas from across Japan and I'm gonna see how many I've visit.

So I think I've done 16 to 17 of all the pagodas displayed here.

There are other historical sites in the city.

But I'm gonna get started towards my accommodation for tonight.

Instead of walking back the way I came, I'm going via the former government buildings this time.

Well, looks like my walk led me to a coffee shop.

And I'm not going to complain about having a coffee break.

It's about 30 minutes on foot from the cafe to my accommodation in Yamaguchi's hot spring district, Yuda Onsen.

There are about five foot baths in Yuda Onsen and this for me is the prettiest one.

When you're in Yuda Onsen, you're going to be seeing lots of foxes like these over here.

Well, the reason is a long time ago an injured white fox bathed in the waters and was healed.

And people begin to know about the healing properties of the water.

There are six foot baths that are free to use in Yuda Onsen and a number of hot spring accommodations in the compact town to enjoy a leisurely bath.

Whenever you visit a hot spring area, it's always a good idea to bring a small towel so that you can enjoy the free foot baths and then dry your feet before putting on your shoes.

A hot spring bath awaits me at my hotel, so I bid you goodnight and see you tomorrow.

Can you tell I'm really excited to see the Akiyoshidai Plateau?

Charlie, thank you for putting up with my energy.

The reason I'm so excited is that the Akiyoshidai Quasi national park is home to the largest limestone cave and karst landscape in Japan.

Akiyoshi do the massive limestone cave and Akiyoshidai, the plateau above it.

The temperature in the cave stays at around 17 degrees Celsius all year round, making it nice and cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

And because it's a cave, it's perfect to visit even when it's raining like today.

This is one of the largest limestone caves in Japan.

Hey, look, that's the Mount Fuji of the caves.

This is the start of the adventure course.

So I walk here, go up and then down those stairs back to the entrance.

While the view of the cave from here is pretty nice.

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3 Days in Yamaguchi

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