Iwakuni, Suo Oshima Travel Guides

Iwakuni and Suo Oshima area offers tourist attractions such as Kintai Bridge, Chausu Mountain, and Kinpusan Mountain, tourist events such as the Ume Festival, Green Festa, and Spring Festa, and local delicacies such as Uiro, Iwakuni sushi, and Rikyu Manju.

Located in the eastern part of Yamaguchi Prefecture, Iwakuni borders Hiroshima Prefecture. The name of the area is confirmed in the Manyoshu, and during the Warring States Period, it was a territory given to the "Mori Honke" family by "Mori Terumoto. It was the domain of the Mori family until the abolition of feudal Japan. It was originally an independent prefecture called Iwakuni Prefecture, but was eventually absorbed into Yamaguchi Prefecture, where it remains today.

During the Pacific War, Iwakuni was a military city with a strong military flavor, with a naval submarine base and the navy's Iwakuni Air Squadron being established. Today, the city has developed mainly as an industrial city.

Yanai is located in southeastern Yamaguchi Prefecture. Its history is old, and it is the place where the Chausuyama burial mound, as it is commonly called, was built. Tokuyama was once located in the eastern part of Yamaguchi Prefecture, but due to a merger, it became Shunan City and has virtually disappeared. Only the name as a local name remains.

The former Iwakuni was originally a castle town in the Iwakuni domain, which was under the control of the Yoshikawa clan, but was not recognized by the Choshu clan. Today, the old name has been adopted and is collectively known as the "Yamashiro area. Yanai had many ties to emperors, including Emperor Go-Shirakawa, and traces of these ties remain to this day, and the area is a manor of the Kyoto Kamigamo Shrine.

After the Edo period, it was the domain of the Iwakuni-Kikkawa family, and remained so after the Meiji Restoration. Remnants of the family's former prosperity can still be seen at the site today. What is not so well known about Tokuyama City is that it was the last refueling point for the battleship Yamato during the Pacific War.

Iwakuni has a variety of local products, but the most famous are Iwakuni-zushi, local sake, and Takamori beef, which can be divided into a wide variety of contents. This is probably due to the fact that the mountains and the sea are close to the land, which provides a favorable environment for harvesting both seafood and mountain products. It is easy to get lost in the many local delicacies, but they are all delicious, so try to eat them as efficiently as possible.

In Yanai, there are many local delicacies such as "yam," "sweet soy sauce," and "triangular rice cakes," which reflect the local character of the area and are good for those who are hungry.