Introduction of Japan or My Hometown
By Students of Takamori High School

I’ll introduce my city, Iwakuni. There are three beautiful places for sight seeing to visit in Iwakuni.
First, Iwakuni is most famous for Kintaikyo Bridge. This wooden bridge, about 200 meters long and 5 meters wide, has five continuous arches which span the Nishiki River.

It is characterized by its beautiful shape and the technique by which wooden parts are joined. Originally built in 1673, it is one of the most famous bridges in Japan.

Second is Jakuchikyo Gorge. This is a beautiful gorge with waterfalls of various sizes, uniquely shaped rocks, and deep water pools. The clear water running here is widely appreciated and designated as one of the best waterfalls in Japan.

Third is Mikawa Mu Valley. This theme park, established at the old site of a mine, creates the image of the legendary continent of Mu. It has a mysterious atmosphere with huge stone statues, a temple, underground waterfalls, and a mystic lake.

If you visit Iwakuni city, you might as well go to these three beautiful places…but now to our next topic.

Talking of Japanese traditional cultures, I think that the best are Japanese festivals and traditional foods.

The best festival is Kintaikyo festival. There are many events held at this festival, such as a feudal lord’s procession, with participants dressing as samurai and feudal lord’s retainers of the Edo period. It a festival from old days, and it is like watching a scene from a picture scroll of feudal time. I think it is a terrific festival.

            The best food is Iwakuni zushi. Staying fresh and being easy to carry, the sushi was a meal for samurai, and is a necessary part of festivals and celebrations today.

Welcome to Japan! I’m very glad you’re visiting Japan. I want you to know and enjoy Japan. I considered what part of Japan I should introduce, and decided to talk about my prefecture, Yamaguchi.
Yamaguchi, where I have lived from birth, is not a very famous prefecture, but there are many wonderful places, foods, and kind people.

            First, I want you to visit Kintaikyo in Iwakuni by all means. It is a five-arched and one of the three most famous Japanese bridges. It is near my house, so I often go there to enjoy seasonal scenes—cherry blossoms in spring, snow scenes in winter. Now the trees are changing their color and autumnal tints are at their best. Momidjidani Park near Kintaikyo is a famous maple tree viewing spot. Long established gardens of the temples here have been combined and made into a park. The scarlet leaves provide gorgeous decoration for the temples and shrines here. You can feel Japanese autumn.

Do you like Japanese pottery? Hagiyaki from Hagi is traditional pottery. If you are interested in it, you can make tea cups and bowls yourself at some Hagi potteries. I have tried a few years ago. It is very difficult for me, but this is a good opportunity to experience Japanese traditional culture.
Have you decided where to stay? You’d better reserve Japanese-style hotel with a hot spring in advance. Hot springs are popular with both men and women of all ages as places of relaxation and rest. There are many hot springs in Yamaguchi. Soaking in the hot springs cures your fatigue.

Finally, I recommend you buy a souvenir from Yamaguchi. Yamaguchi prefecture is surrounded by sea, so seafood dishes are very delicious. But you may think you don’t have to bring back seafood because it would spoil quickly. Don’t worry.  Vacuum packed seafood is sold in various places in the prefecture and kamaboko (fish cake), processed fish seafood, is very nice. I will write a komgboko dish recipe if you like.

If you tell me when you’ll come to Jana, I will guide you. I’m looking forward to meeting you.
Hi! I’m Moe Matsumura! I will introduce you to travel suggestions. I’m living in Yamaguchi prefecture. Yamaguchi has a lot of history.

In Iwakuni, there is a famous bridge. People call it Kintaikyo. Under the bridge is the Nishiki River. There are very beautiful views. In spring we can see the cherry blossoms in full bloom. This is the most popular tourist attraction in Yamaguchi.

In Shuto town, there are many mountains. This town is composed and peaceful. There is a fishing trench in the heart of the mountains. We can fish for “ayu” and have barbecues there. Ayu Is a Japanese fish inhabiting beautiful rivers. Shuto’s river is beautiful, and the fish are very delicious. And we can eat beef. The name is Takamori-gyu. It is very famous beef in Yamaguchi. I sometimes eat Takamori-gyu, and it is very delicious! I recommend it to you!

In Oshima, We can to go to hot springs. It is a natural hot spring, and it contains saline, iron, and other metals. Japanese people like hot spas, so this tourist attraction is popular, too.
Yamaguchi has many good tourist attractions. I’d love for you to come to Yamaguchi!
There are a lot of places to enjoy in Yamaguchi prefecture. If you like nature, you ought to visit Akiyoshidai. There are limestone caves and you can see stalactites near you. They are very beautiful and big. If you visit there in early spring, you can see them light fires on the side of the mountains. It is very exciting, and you will be surprised.

            If you like buildings, you should go to Kintai Bridge and Iwakuni castle or Kanmon Bridge. Is made of wood and has five arches. Even from inside, you can see Kintai Bridge and the view of Iwakuni City with cherry blossoms. The combination is very beautiful.
Kanmon Bridge is big.  A lot of ships pass under the bridge.

In Yamaguchi prefecture, you can buy Hagi Ware. Hagi ware is Japanese traditional ceramic ware and it is white. You can buy oouchi-nuri, too. They are boxes, dishes, trays, vases, or dolls painted with Japanese lacquer. The dolls are very cute and we become calm and happy when we see their faces.

In particular, you can enjoy Japanese tradition in a festival. There are a lot of stalls and many people come there in yukata. Yukata is Japanese traditional clothes and there are various colors. You can enjoy festivals more if you wear yukata.

Yamaguchi prefecture is in the countryside, so you may see various animals, but you should not approach them. Some animals are very dangers, such as masmushi and wild boars. In Yamaguchi prefecture there are a lot of delicious foods, so you can eat good fish and fruits each season. I think the most important thing is to try everything.

I think the most beautiful place is Kyoto. This city is the most beautiful. I think two things about it are beautiful.

The first thing is the many temples and shrines. It is a wonderful place. Appreciating the city is good, taking pictures is good, and knowing Japanese culture is good. It is very beautiful. It is calm and natural.

The second thing is the festivals there. Kyoto holds many festivals, like Arashiyama’s Daimonjiyaki. It is a festival on Mount Arashi. Daimonji means big letters and yaki means burn. They create a large kanji (word picture symbols, like 大 is read “dai” and means “big”) on the mountain using trees and at night set it on fire. It can be seen and read clearly from great distances.
Beautiful places for sightseeing

You should visit Kyoto at least once. There are a lot of natural areas in spite of it being a big city. Kyoto is probably comfortable to live in. It is easy to reach by public transportation, and it is easy to go to Osaka or Hyogo. Osaka and Hyogo are also popular sightseeing spots. It is nice that we can enjoy three tourist spots easily.

  Next, Kyoto is famous for temples. For example, I think that Kinkakuji is the most beautiful. It is golden, and when we see it, it looks bright. It is so wonderful that we cannot take our eyes off of it in spite of ourselves. Ginkakuji is very famous, too, but it has quiet colors and is smaller than Kinkakuji. It was built about 500 years ago, so it is a world heritage.
  I think not only foreigners, but also Japanese, should go to Kyoto.

2. Traditional cultures to experiences; Things you can actually do
      I think taking part in Japanese festivals is fun and easy, because they are held all over Japan in this season. For example, kurakake-jo festival is going to be held in Kuga November 21st-22nd. There are a lot of men who look like Samurai and women dancing with kimono. It is also nice to buy good food from street shops.

     If you come to Japan in summer, there are bon-odori festivals where people dance together in yukata. It is a lot of fun, too.

3.Travel Advice
You should carry a folding umbrella. Especially in fall, we can’t expect when it will rain very
well in Japan. If it rains, we can easily enjoy shopping or watching Japanese movies.
I hope you’ll enjoy Japan very well!!

  1. Beautiful places for sightseeing
  I live in Iwakuni City.  Iwakuni City is a traditional city.  For example, there is Kintai Bridge.
It is very beautiful.  The view from here is truly beautiful.  We can see the Nishiki river running from Mikawa Town.  We can go swimming in the clear water in summer.

2. Traditional cultural experience. I live in Kawagoe.  It is the countryside.  We can experience many things in Kawagoe. 
 I used to visit a ceramic artist in my town.  I made Hagiyaki-style ceramic works with him.  I learned how to make it from him.  Have you tried making ceramic works of art?

3. Advice
If you try to find a lot of information about Kintai Bridge, you will have fun by it in Iwakuni.

    Welcome to Japan!  I think Japan is a very nice place.  You should have a camera because you will see nice views. 

Japan has a lot of Shinto shrines, old buildings and beautiful natural scenes.
You will realize that Japan is a very nice place.  We can’t destroy Japanese old buildings, so you cannot touch them.  You can only look at them.  I hope you will feel good by looking around beautiful things in Japan.

 I live in Yanai City, so I’ll introduce Yanai.  Yanai City has a lot of beautiful places.  For example, there is a park called “Yanai Flower Land.”  As the name shows, there are many kinds of flowers.and we can enjoy seeing flowers all the year round.  What is particularly interesting is “Hana-kururin” which is like a Ferris wheel.  This is not for people.  The machine turns flowers.  It is very beautiful.

As another beautiful place, I’ll introduce “Shirakabe no machi-nami,” which means “white wall town.”  There are many traditional houses which have a while wall.  In the old days, people had lived there but now many of these houses are used as shops, so the street is suitable for sightseeing.
Finally I’ll introduce “Chausu-yama Kofun,” which is an old burial mound.  This was made for the king of Kumage, and built on a high hill to be able to see a foreign enemy, so we can see a beautiful view from there.

    There are beautiful and interesting places in Yanai City.  Please bring your camera, and you will be able to take good pictures.