On the morning of the second day, I woke up early and drove across the Kanmon Strait to Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi Prefecture.
My target was the "Ikiiki Bakangai" event, which is open to the public only on weekends at the Karato Market.
The venue is filled with energetic shouts and cheers, and by midday it's so crowded you can barely move.
There are plenty of fresh nigiri sushi made with seafood caught that day! You can even find some with unusual ingredients like raw conger eel. You can choose and buy your favorites one piece at a time. Asking the shopkeepers about seasonal local fish to choose from is one of the fun things about a market. You can enjoy your sushi in the eat-in area or on the rooftop lawn.
5-50 Karato-cho, Shimonoseki City
Karato Market Website
From the Karato Terminal, right next to the Karato Market, you board the Kanmon Ferry and cross the Kanmon Strait to Mojiko Port on the Kitakyushu side. You can enjoy the 5-minute boat trip while sitting on the open deck and feeling the sea breeze.
5-50 Karato-cho, Shimonoseki City
Kanmon Ferry Website
Mojiko Port, where we arrived, opened in the early Meiji period and boasts a 120-year history. As a gateway to Japan where foreign cultures quickly entered the country, many brick buildings constructed during the Meiji and Taisho periods still stand today. The area exudes a nostalgic atmosphere reminiscent of the era when it prospered through foreign trade, and it has become a popular tourist destination known as "Mojiko Retro," an area that preserves its history.
JR Mojiko Station, which reopened in March 2019 after renovations, has a retro atmosphere that makes you feel like you've traveled back in time to the romantic Taisho era. It is the first station building in Japan to be designated as a National Important Cultural Property.
The Blue Wing Moji, one of Japan's largest pedestrian-only drawbridges at approximately 108 meters in length, rises six times a day. It is said that the first couple to cross the bridge after it is opened will be blessed with happiness.
At Bee Honey Mojiko, a specialty honey shop, you can enjoy 100% locally produced pure honey. At the Red Brick Glass Museum, you can find glass works from all over the world, including glass from Kyushu, Japanese cut glass, and Venetian glass from overseas. If you get hungry, we recommend the famous "baked curry," a local comfort food.
Next, to walk across the Kanmon Strait, we boarded the cute "Torokko Shiokaze" train from Mojiko Retro and headed for the "Kanmon Tunnel Pedestrian Entrance." This trolley train, the shortest in Japan, takes you to Kanmon Kaikyo Mekari Station in just 10 minutes. We then descended to the seabed via elevator, leaped across the prefectural border, and arrived back on the Shimonoseki side of Yamaguchi Prefecture in just 15 minutes.
There's a historical drama behind the ban on eating fugu (pufferfish) under Toyotomi Hideyoshi's "Fugu Ban Edict," which was lifted 290 years later by Ito Hirobumi. Shunpanro Honten is the very place where that ban was lifted. It's a long-established restaurant, the first officially recognized fugu restaurant, and also a historical site for the Sino-Japanese Peace Conference in 1895, where the Treaty of Shimonoseki was signed. You can enjoy an authentic fugu kaiseki (multi-course) meal while taking in the tranquil view of the Kanmon Strait from the window. (Locally, fugu is simply called "fuku.")
Shunpanro website
After enjoying a "Fugu Kaiseki" (fugu multi-course meal), we'll head north along the Sea of Japan coast from Shimonoseki, aiming for a place with breathtaking scenery. Our accommodation for the second night is Hotel Nishinagato Resort, a must-visit for refreshing both mind and body.
From the terrace, you can overlook the cobalt blue sea, and if you stretch your gaze, you can also enjoy views of tomorrow's destination, Tsunoshima Island and the Tsunoshima Bridge. Enjoy a dinner full of mountain and sea delicacies, and then relax in the open-air hot spring bath, listening to the sound of the waves and watching the beautiful sunset over the sea. This is the kind of luxurious time you can only spend at a resort hotel.
