2-day One way Minibus Tour around IZUMO from KOKURA to HIROSHIMA

7:30 < Pick Up > KOKURA Station [ Shinkansen] ( North ) gate Bus Parking Lot, 2-13-22 Asano, Kokurakita Ward, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka. This package always departs from the chartered bus parking lot at the north exit of Kokura Station. The SANYO Shinkansen from Hakata Station to Kokura Station takes about 15 minutes per section. The first train from Hakata Station leaves at 6:00 AM. If you can catch the Shinkansen at Hakata Station at 7:00 AM at the latest, you can depart from the north exit of Kokura Station at 7:30 AM. The fare for the Shinkansen from Hakata Station to Kokura Station is 2160 yen (≒ about 10-20 USD) for a standard seat. By the way, there are also many business hotels at the north exit of Kokura Station. *It takes about 4 hours to get from Kokura Station, the northernmost major station in Kyushu, to Izumo Taisha Shrine via the expressway. (If you depart by bus from Hakata Station, add an extra hour and a half! This is difficult...) It's a long journey, so if you're early in the morning, you can take a nap in the bus, safely driven by our professional driver. We will stop several times for toilet breaks along the way.

9:00 < regal break > Chugoku Highway KANO Service Area, Shunan city, Yamaguchi Pref. *It takes about 4 hours to get from Kokura Station, the northernmost major station in Kyushu, to Izumo Taisha Shrine via the expressway. (If you depart by bus from Hakata Station, add an extra hour and a half! This is difficult...) It's a long journey, so if you're early in the morning, you can take a nap in the bus, safely driven by our professional driver. We will stop several times for toilet breaks along the way.

10:15-10:30 < regal break > Chugoku Highway ASA Service Area, Asakita Ward, Hiroshima

11:45-12:00 < regal break > Roadside station Tataraba-Ichibanchi, 4378-31 Yoshidacho Yoshida, Unnan, Shimane

13:15-16:15 < lunch-1 and guided walk > Izumo Taisha, Taishacho Kizukihigashi, Izumo, Shimane. *There are many shops along the approach to the shrine. The three-tiered "Izumo Soba" is famous. Izumo Taisha (出雲大社) is one of Japan's most important shrines, located in Izumo, Shimane Prefecture, a one hour train ride west of Matsue. There are no records of exactly when Izumo Taisha was built, but it is often considered the oldest shrine in Japan, being already in existence in the early 700s as revealed by the nation's oldest chronicles. Izumo used to be ruled by a powerful clan in pre-historic times, and the region plays a central role in Japan's creation mythology. The main deity (kami) enshrined at Izumo Taisha is Okuninushi no Okami. According to the creation myths, Okuninushi was the creator of the land of Japan and the ruler of Izumo. He also became known as the deity of good relationships and marriage. Visitors consequently clap their hands four times instead of the usual two times during their prayers: twice for themselves and twice for their actual or desired partners.

17:45-19:15 < dinner-1 > *recommended: Ajidokoro "Misa", 6 Kyomachi, Sakaiminato, Tottori. We recommend fresh fish dishes in Sakaiminato, one of Japan's leading ports. This izakaya is a great place to have a drink and eat delicious fish dishes without being too fancy. It has even been featured on Japanese TV. *open17:30-23:00. *close:Sunday.

[ Day-1 DROP OFF ] 19:45 < guest hotel > "KAIKE ONSEN" e.g.) Bayside Square Kaike Hotel, 4-21-1 Kaikeonsen, Yonago, Tottori. * Your hotel arrangements and payments must be made by yourself. The next day we will leave at 8:30am. The driver will pick you up at your hotel. Gaze at Mt Daisen, the Chuugoku Region’s highest peak, from along the lovely seaside dotted with pine trees. The warm, salty waters rich in sodium and calcium chloride, well up under the ocean here at San’in’s largest hot spring area. Kaike Onsen enjoys a most convenient location for trips to Tottori and Shimane—right smack in the middle of San’in. Feel free to make it your headquarters for touring the whole area. Right in the center of San’in, Kaike Onsen is the spot from which to tour the area. Type Sodium and calcium chloride springs, average temp. 66.5 degrees. Effective against Nerve pain, skin conditions and anaemia.

[ Day-2 PICK UP ] 8:30 < guest hotel > "KAIKE ONSEN" e.g.) Bayside Square Kaike Hotel, 4-21-1 Kaikeonsen, Yonago, Tottori. * Your hotel arrangements and payments must be made by yourself.

9:00-10:00 < Japanese Art > Adachi Museum of Art, 320 Furukawacho, Yasugi, Shimane. *open 9:00- *fee￥2300/adult. Conveying the harmonized beauty of Japanese paintings and Japanese Gardens is the aim and wish of Adachi Museum of Art, which is best known for having one of the greatest collections of modern to contemporary Japanese arts. Such works of art include numerous masterpieces by the great Japanese painter Yokoyama Taikan, ceramics and 165,000 square-metre Japanese gardens. This museum is listed as a three-star site in the Michelin Green Guide Japan while Adachi’s spectacular and immaculately maintained Japanese Garden have been ranked at No.1 in a row since 2003 by Sukiya Living Magazine : The Journal of Japanese Gardening. You can appreciate the splendid beauty of their gardens which show a different appearance as time / days / months / seasons change.

11:00-12:00 < guided walk > Mizuki Shigeru Road Bus Parking Lot, 28-3 Matsugaecho, Sakaiminato, Tottori. * Entrance fee of MIZUKI SHIGERU Museum ￥700/adult. * open 09:30-17:00. Home town of the manga artist of its namesake, Sakaiminato’s Mizuki Shigeru Road is a popular destination for children and adults alike. The road, extending from Sakaiminato Station into the city proper, is an 800-meter-long arcade with some 153 bronze statues of Mizuki’s fantasy creatures on display, including details on each character. Stopping for a close look at each of these could take all day! A stroll along the road at night, when all the statues are lit up, is an altogether different delight. From the healing Kappa Spring, to the Yokai Jinja, a sort of fantasy shrine at which fortune slips can be drawn, to the Yokai Post, where mail with the ‘fairy postmark’ gets delivered, Mizuki Shigeru Road will surround you with bizarre creatures. To Make the Most of Mizuki Shigeru Road. Option 1: Rent a bicycle. Bicycles can be rented at the Sakaiminato Tourism Office, located inside the Minatosakai kouryuukan right next to Saikaminato Station. Sightseeing guides and pamphlets are also available. Option 2: Get your hands on a Yokai Guidebook. Collect yokai stamps at the different facilities along Mizuki Shigeru Road, and exchange the stamps for various gifts available only at the Sakaiminato Tourism Office. Option 3: Learn more about the creatures. Each bronze statue is equipped with a bar code reader. Scan it with your mobile telephone to get more detailed information and become a ‘creature connoisseur’! Option 4: Rest on a creature bench! Mizuki Shigeru Road has tons of things to see. If you’re tired of walking or want to sit for a takeaway meal, plenty of benches are available along the road. Option 5: Get your picture taken with the creatures. You’ll meet famous characters like Kitaro and Neko Musume along the road. Commemorate the experience with a photograph. Tons of Kitaro goods can only be bought at the shops on Mizuki Shigeru Road! The shops are full of eats like Kitaro bread and creature-shaped cakes. You might become a ‘creature connoisseur’ here too! Shigeru Museum. Filming location for the 2010 Korean TV drama Athena: Goddess of War

12:15-13:00 < lunch-2 > Sakaiminato seafood direct sales center, 9-5 Showamachi, Sakaiminato, Tottori. A marine products direct sales center located along the coast a 20 minute walk from the popular Mizuki Shigeru Road tourism destination in Sakaiminato City, Tottori Prefecture. Sakaiminato boasts some of the largest fishing catches in the nation, and this direct sales center is one of the first places the city’s ultra-fresh marine delicacies are delivered to. 14 shops stand side by side in the center, selling fresh fish and processed marine products. Here you’ll find seasonal seafood sold at reasonable prices, such as Pacific bluefin tuna and Iwagaki oysters in summer, red snow crab from fall to early summer, and matsuba crab in winter. This popular marketplace attracts not only tourists but also local shoppers.

13:30-13:45 < Lake SHINJI > San'in Highway SHINJI-KO Service Area. *Here you can try Lake Shinji's specialty, Shijimi Soup. Lake Shinji spreads out to the west of Matsue City, the “City of Water.” The view of the lake at sunset is particularly spectacular, and it has been selected as one of Japan’s 100 famous landscapes. In addition to water leisure sports such as yachting and canoeing, in winter, it is also possible to enjoy birdwatching at the lake. Because it is a brackish lake that contains some seawater, it is rich in fish and shellfish. Japanese sea bass, sand shrimp, eels, cattle egrets, freshwater clams, carp, and icefish are referred to as the “seven delicacies of Lake Shinji,” and are the tastes that represents Shimane Prefecture. In particular, the lake is one of Japan’s largest sources of Japanese basket clams, which are also popular as souvenirs. It is a fantastic feeling to jog or run on a clear morning while taking in Lake Shinji. After refreshing your mind and body, enjoying the Matsue Shinjiko Hot Spring area along the shore of the lake is a good way to start the first day of a wonderful journey.

14:45-15:15 < shopping > Hiroshima Miyoshi Winery, 10445-3 Higashisakeya- machi, Miyoshi, Hiroshima

16:45 < DROP OFF 1 > Hiroshima Station [ Shinkansen ] ( North ) gate, 1 Matsubaracho, Minami Ward, Hiroshima. *On your way back, you can get off at Hiroshima Station or Miyajimaguchi Station, a World Heritage Site. From Hiroshima Station to Osaka, it takes about 2 hours by Sanyo Shinkansen. It takes about an hour by train from Osaka to Kansai International Airport.

17:45 < DROP OFF 2 > Miyajimaguchi Station, 1-3-23 Miyajimaguchi, Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima. *On your way back, you can get off at Hiroshima Station or Miyajimaguchi Station, a World Heritage Site.

19:30-19:45 < regal break > Sanyo Highway SABAGAWA Service Area, Hofu, Ymaguchi

21:15 < DROP OFF 3 > KOKURA Station [ Shinkansen] ( North ) gate Bus Parking Lot, 2-13-22 Asano, Kokurakita Ward, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka. *If you want to get off at Kokura Station, where you got on yesterday, that's possible. However, due to Japanese law, we cannot go all the way to Hakata Station. The last Shinkansen train from Kokura Station to Hakata Station is at around 10pm.