Lanterns, Legends, and Landmarks: A Miyoshi City Walking Tour

Miyoshi City sits at the confluence of three rivers in Hiroshima Prefecture. Its geography made it a thriving trade hub, with a foggy mountain landscape that gave rise to a rich tradition of folklore.

On this walking tour, you'll follow the old Iwami Ginzan Roadway – once used to transport silver that represented a third of the world's supply – through a castle town where history and supernatural legend blur at the edges. You'll also discover how one restless teenager's summer in 1749 became the foundation for a local ghost story still celebrated across the city today.

The tour starts at Miyoshi Station's cormorant fishing monument, a nod to the city's 450 year continuous practice of the folk tradition. You'll cross the red Tomoe Bridge into Miyoshimachi, where cobblestone streets lined with mononoke lanterns lead past preserved Edo-period buildings, a former sake brewery, and shops displaying Miyoshi's distinctive hand-glazed clay dolls.

You'll encounter the legend of Heitarō Inō, the unflinching teenager harassed by supernatural creatures for thirty straight nights, and learn how the tale reflected real anxieties as Miyoshi's silver-trade prosperity began to fade. Along the way, you'll visit Dasai Shrine, where three deities – including the great-grandfather of Japan's first emperor – are enshrined together in a story that explains why human lives are as beautiful and fleeting as cherry blossoms. The tour ends at the Yumoto Koichi Memorial Japan Yokai Museum, Japan's first museum dedicated to yōkai, housing over 5,000 artifacts.

On this 90-minute tour, you'll have a chance to:

• Spot one of Miyoshi City's regional manhole designs near Kakuzenji Temple, founded in the late 1500s
• See the cormorant fishing inlet where evening sightseeing boats set out on the Basen River from June through September
• Hear how Lady Aguri of Miyoshi was connected to the famous revenge of the 47 Ronin
• Browse local Japanese confectionary shops and find seasonal treats
• Visit Sanshoji Temple, home to a castle gate relocated from Higumayama when the fortress fell into ruin
• Learn how the Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine – a UNESCO World Heritage Site – shaped trade routes through this mountain city

Miyoshi is for those who wander. Whether beneath blue skies or wrapped in morning mist, there's always something worth discovering.