Our last stop in Tottori prefecture was to climb Mount Daisen, a volcanic mountain with an elevation of 1,729m. The view from the summit, overlooking the Japan sea, is supposed to be fantastic.

We will believe the various blogs and reports on that one as we never made it! Long story short, that’s what happens when you are overconfident and underprepared. We had read that there could be snow until end of April, but with the milder and shorter winter we had, we (as great mountain weather specialists) thought it would be ok. Guess what… We were completely wrong!

Geared with warm clothes and layers, but with only hiking shoes and one pair of walking poles for 2, it was not enough to face a snowy mountain. I wish we had a footwear police at the bottom on that one!

We climbed up to the 5th station, which is halfway to the summit. It got more and more challenging on the way, and the people we crossed path with had all ice cleats on their shoes. I was still hoping to make it to the top and was somehow annoyed by a grumpy Eff, who kept ranting about how difficult going back down would be. But I finally admitted defeat, especially when weather started to overcast, ruining our hopes for a clear view.

And as always, Eff was right. Getting back down was tricky. But we made it back safe. Yeaaah!

The bright side was that we had more time to enjoy ourselves in the village, visiting Daisenji temple, and just relax for couple of hours. Finally, we hit the road again.

Quality over quantity

When we planned this trip, our objective was to spend a month discovering the island of Kyushu, where we’ve never been. To be more flexible, the idea of travelling with a campervan was very exciting. Sleeping where you want, waking up in front of amazing sceneries, be totally free… That was the vision. And then came the implementation.

We decided to rent the van from Osaka, and take the opportunity to stop at new places in western Honshu. What we underestimated were the distances and time to get to each stop. We quickly realised that the long to-go list was over ambitious and had to be cut drastically. We had quantity over quality. It was time to change the order and refocus on our main goal: Kyushu. Only 3 more stops on the way: Matsue, Izumo-taisha and Motonosumi Inari Shrine.

Matsue castle

Matsue castle is one of the 5 castles listed as National Treasures in Japan. The 4 others are: Matsumoto, Himeji, Hikone and Inuyama.

It is indeed a well-preserved site, and remote enough to limit the crowds. It was at least our feeling the day we went. The visit of the interior is quite nice: well documented, and interesting as most of the signs are translated in English. Which is not always the case.

Castles in Japan are very bare. Our European castles seem way over the top compared to those wooden towers, without any paintings or furniture. Still, castle wise, sorry Japan but: Europe 1 – Japan 0.

Izumo-taisha

Izumo-taisha is believed to be one of the most important shrine in Japan, and probably the oldest. Magnificent wooden structures which blend very well in the surroundings.

Peaceful visit for a bubble of serenity before hitting the road to the next destination. It was a quite long drive, but the beautiful sunset on terraced rice fields was a comforting reward!

Motonosumi Inari Shrine

This was my must-go place! The picture of those 123 bright red toris on a cliff, facing the deep blue Japan sea was a seller for me.

The picture and the view are indeed stunning! Nevertheless it was quite a disappointment. The site is smaller than expected and quite recent as built only in the fifties. It just shows the power of pictures, and how misleading they can be.

Don’t get me wrong, it is very nice. But I would recommend to go as part of a trip dedicated to the Yamaguchi region, instead of being a goal in itself.

And we will definitely be back. Yamaguchi prefecture has a lot to offer: amazing coasts, beautiful mountain sceneries with hills covered in bamboo, and really charming villages compared to the rest of Japanese countryside. There are many traditional houses, with grey or red tiles on castle-style roofs. Worth another holiday around, so one more destination on our list.

That was it. We wrapped up Honshu and headed to Kyushu. Onsen towns, volcanos and Yakushima, here we are!

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