chugokutottori
Tottori
Tottori is the capital of Tottori Prefecture, on the Sea of Japan coast of the Chugoku region, known for the Tottori Sand Dunes, a great expanse of sand that stretches some sixteen kilometres along the shore east of the city.
- Prefecture
- Tottori
- Region
- Chugoku
- Journeys
- The Custom Tour of Japan
overview
Ridges of sand above the blue of the Sea of Japan, shaped and reshaped by the wind.
Tottori is the least populous prefecture of Japan, a quiet coast of pine-topped islets, fishing harbours and onsen towns between the Sea of Japan and the Chugoku mountains. Its capital is a small castle town of the Ikeda lords, and its fame is the sand: the Tottori Sand Dunes, formed over some hundred thousand years from sediment carried down the Sendai River and piled up by the sea wind. The ridge called Uma-no-se, the horse's back, rises about forty-seven metres above the shore.
The dunes are part of the San'in Kaigan National Park and a UNESCO Global Geopark, which runs east along the coast through the cliffs and islets of Uradome. Inland, Mount Daisen, at 1,729 metres the highest mountain of the Chugoku region, rises to the west, and the prefecture has a string of onsen towns, among them Misasa, Kaike and Hamamura. In winter Tottori is known across Japan for its matsuba crab, the snow crab of the Sea of Japan.
Tottori suits a traveller who has seen the great cities and wants open country and the sea. It is often joined to Matsue and Izumo on a journey along the San'in coast, or reached from Kyoto and Osaka through the mountains.
see and do
What to see in Tottori
The Tottori Sand Dunes
Some sixteen kilometres of sand along the coast, up to two kilometres deep, with the ridge of Uma-no-se rising about forty-seven metres over the sea. The ripples drawn by the wind on its surface change by the hour.
The Sand Museum
A museum beside the dunes where sculptors from around the world carve great scenes in sand on a single theme, each exhibition remade from the beginning, so that no two years are the same.
The Uradome coast
East of the dunes, a coast of granite cliffs, caves and islets crowned with pines, reached by small sightseeing boats that run along the shore.
Jinpukaku
A white villa in the French Renaissance manner, built in 1907 for the Ikeda family below the ruins of Tottori Castle, where the future Emperor Taisho stayed. It is an Important Cultural Property.
Mount Daisen and Daisen-ji
The highest mountain of Chugoku, called the Fuji of Hoki, with Daisen-ji, a temple founded in 718, and the shrine of Ogamiyama on its slopes among old beech forests and stone-paved approaches.
Mitokusan Sanbutsu-ji
A temple of mountain ascetics whose Nageire-do, a small hall of the late Heian period, is set into a hollow in a sheer cliff, a National Treasure that can be seen from a viewing point at the foot of the mountain.
Misasa Onsen
An onsen town of some eight hundred and fifty years by the Mitoku River, its waters rich in radon, with ryokan along the riverbank and a free open-air onsen beneath a bridge.
Kurayoshi
An old merchant town in the centre of the prefecture, where white-walled storehouses with red roof tiles line the Tamagawa canal, crossed by small stone bridges.
Mizuki Shigeru Road, Sakaiminato
A street in the port of Sakaiminato set with some 177 bronze figures of yokai, the spirits and monsters drawn by the cartoonist Mizuki Shigeru, who grew up here.
experiences
The best of Tottori
The dunes in the evening light
A walk on the sand towards the end of the day, when the low sun throws the wind ripples into relief and the ridges turn gold above the darkening sea.
Snow crab
Matsuba crab, the snow crab of the Sea of Japan, served at a ryokan in a long dinner: raw, grilled, steamed and finally in a hot pot, the last broth made into rice porridge.
An onsen ryokan by the river
A night at Misasa Onsen in a ryokan on the river, with its own onsen and the sound of the water through the night.
The coast from the water
A small boat along the Uradome coast, past pine-capped islets and the clear blue water of the caves.
plan your visit
Tottori on a journey through Japan
- How long to stay
- One night sees the dunes and the city; two let you add the Uradome coast, Misasa Onsen or Mount Daisen.
- Getting there
- Tottori Sand Dunes Conan Airport has flights from Tokyo Haneda of about one hour fifteen, twenty minutes from the dunes. By the Super Hakuto limited express from Osaka in about two and a half hours, or by the Super Inaba from Okayama in about one hour forty-five.
- Pairs well with
- Tottori joins the San'in coast west to Matsue and Izumo and east to Kinosaki Onsen and Amanohashidate, with Okayama the gateway from the Shinkansen.MatsueIzumoKinosaki OnsenOkayamaAmanohashidate
journeys
Tottori on a private journey
We shape a journey to Tottori as a Custom Tour of Japan: created around your party alone, on your dates, with a Tour Director beside you.
questions
Tottori: questions answered
How big are the Tottori Sand Dunes?
About sixteen kilometres long from east to west and up to two kilometres wide, with the ridge of Uma-no-se rising about forty-seven metres.
How do you get to Tottori?
Fly from Tokyo Haneda, about one hour fifteen, or take the Super Hakuto from Osaka, about two and a half hours, or the Super Inaba from Okayama, about one hour forty-five.
Is Tottori worth visiting?
Yes, for the dunes and the Sea of Japan coast, the onsen towns of the prefecture and its snow crab; it suits a journey that wants open country and the sea.
How long do you need at the Tottori Sand Dunes?
Two to three hours for the dunes and the Sand Museum, and half a day with the Uradome coast.
What is Tottori known for?
Its sand dunes, the Sand Museum, matsuba crab, nijisseiki pears, Mount Daisen and onsen towns such as Misasa and Kaike.
Can Tottori be part of a private tour of Japan?
Yes. The Custom Tour of Japan is created around your party alone, on your dates, with a Tour Director beside you, and it can include Tottori. For independent travel, the Expert Japan Itinerary plans every day for you.
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More in Chugoku
Tottori, planned for you.
Tell us when you would like to travel and what draws you to Tottori. We will answer with a journey shaped around it: one of our tours, a journey of The Private Collection, or a Custom Tour of Japan created around your party alone.