Discover 5 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Hagi (Japan). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Shōkasonjuku Academy, Hagi Castle, and Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel. Also, be sure to include Meirinkan in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Hagi (Yamaguchi).
Table of Contents
Shōkasonjuku Academy
Shōkasonjuku Academy, or Shōka Sonjuku, is a small size academy also known as a national historic site of Japan. The location of Shōka Sonjuku is 1537-1 Chinto, Hagi city, Yamaguchi.
Shōka Sonjuku is inside a shrine: Shōin Jinja (also Shōin Shrine). Shōin Shrine was built for Yoshida Shōin, to memorialize the leading figure of the Meiji Restoration. The traditional wooden building was one of the most crucial origins of political and philosophical ideas, specifically in manners of Western technology and critical industrialization of Japan. The area of Shōka Sonjuku is 50 m2 (540 sq ft). It consists of an 8-mat classroom, 10-mat prep room and a 3.3 m2 (36 sq ft) earthen floor. The common view of Shōka Sonjuku is that this sonjuku (a place for academy) was established by Yoshida Shōin (one of the most unique intellectuals and philosopher of wang yangming school of mind in Japan). The actual origin of this sonjuku was when Shōin’s uncle Tamaki Bunnoshin used his own residence to establish a shijuku (independent private school of the Tokugawa system). Shōka Sonjuku fostered many outstanding figures, who contributed to the Meiji Restoration. It closed in 1892 and the guideline of the songjuku was "support the Mikado (the emperor of Japan) and resist the imperialism from other countries".[1]
Hagi Castle
Also known as: 萩城
Castle in Hagi, Japan. Hagi Castle, also known as Shizuki Castle, was a Japanese castle located in Hagi, Yamaguchi Prefecture.
Hagi Castle was built in 1604 at the beginning of the Edo period as the main castle of the Mōri clan, and served as the seat of the Chōshū Domain for over 250 years until 1863. Hagi Castle was demolished in 1874 shortly after the Meiji Restoration.
Hagi Castle's former site has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site since July 2015.[2]
Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel
Also known as: 明治日本の産業革命遺産 製鉄・製鋼、造船、石炭産業
Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining are a group of historic sites that played an important part in the industrialization of Japan in the Bakumatsu and Meiji periods, and are part of the industrial heritage of Japan. In 2009 the monuments were submitted jointly for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List under criteria ii, iii, and iv. The sites were accepted at the 39th UNESCO World Heritage session.
Eight areas are registered, with twenty-three component sites:[3]
Meirinkan
Also known as: 明倫館
School. Meirinkan was a han school located in the Chōshū Domain of Japan. The school was one of the three major educational institutions in Japan, along with the Kōdōkan in Mito Domain and Shizutani School in Okayama Domain.[4]
Address: 602 Emukai, 758-0041 Hagi
Hagi Uragami Museum
Specialty museum, Museum
Address: 586-1 Hiyako-machi, 758-0074 Hagi