Hagi

Hagi is a city located in Yamaguchi, Japan and was incorporated as a city on July 1, 1932. Formerly part of Abu District. On March 6, 2005, the former city of Hagei merged with the towns of Susa and Tamagawa, and the villages of Asahi, Fukue, Kawakami and Mutsumi to form the new city of Hagi. Iwami Airport in nearby Masuda, Shimane Prefecture serves Hagi.

The first castle in Hagi was built by the Yoshimi clan. But it was not until 1608 when the Mori clan, exiled here after a humiliating defeat by the Tokugawa shogunate, built their massive, imposing castle at the foot of Mt. Shizuki. The Mori clan transferred the capital of the Choshu Domain (Choshu-han) from Hiroshima to Hagi at the same time, where it remained the political center of the region for over 250 years.

In the middle of the 19th century, the Choshu allied with the Satsuma Domain to deliver some long-awaited payback, toppling the Tokugawa shogunate and thereby spurring the Meiji Restoration — and, with it, the modernizing of feudal Japan. Many Meiji statesmen were born and raised in Hagi, such as Hirobumi Ito, the first Japanese Prime Minister.

The closest Shinkansen station is Shin-Yamaguchi. Most Hikari and some Nozomi trains stop there. From Shin-Yamaguchi, the "Hagi-go" bus will, appropriately enough, go to Hagi. It's run by Chugoku JR Bus. The San'in Main Line runs around Hagi and on to the suburbs. There are three stops in town: JR Higashi-Hagi Station, across the Matsumoto River to the east of the city center; JR Hagi Station, a long walk to the south of the city center; and JR Tamae Station, a short walk south of the castle ruins and Mt. Shizuki.

The city center is on a delta between the Hashimoto River and the Matsumoto River. If you decide to walk, you're joining a long tradition — Hagi-Oukan, which connects Hagi and Yamaguchi City, was an important route during the Edo period, traveled frequently by merchants and samurai. It's now a popular trail for history-minded tourists.