Stroll Through the Castel Town of Hagi

Walk through streets full of ambience

Hagi is a castle town which was prosperous during the Edo period as the home of the Mori family, Lord of
Choshu Clan. Hagi also turned out many important figures at the end of the Edo period to the Meiji Restoration such as Toin Yoshida, Takayoshi Kido, Shinsaku Takasugi, and Hirobumi Ito.
The biggest attraction of Hagi is the streets which retain the traces of the Edo period. Surprisingly, Hagi is a town where the original “map of the castle town” has practical use even today. Since the streets and residential lands are passed on from the Edo period, earthen and stone walls of samurai mansions or traditional merchant houses can be spotted when strolling the streets.
There are also many points of interest in Hagi such as the Hagi Castle Ruins, home of Hirobumi Ito, and Matsushita Sonjuku where Touin Yoshida taught before the Meiji Restoration. It is recommended to rent a bicycle to enjoy the town filled with these sites. By train, get off at Higashi Hagi station where there are many rental bicycle shops nearby.
Hagi is surrounded by the Matsumoto River and Hashimoto River which break off from Abu River. It is quite pleasing to ride into the center of town by crossing the many bridges.