Japan Guide
Western Honshū
Iwakuni
Heading south along the San'yō coast from Miyajima, you'll soon cross the border into western Honshū's last prefecture, Yamaguchi-ken. The first place to pause briefly is the pleasant old castle town of IWAKUNI, some 40km west of Hiroshima and home to an American military base. Two kilometres west of the present town centre is one of the country's top three bridges, Kintai-kyō, an elegant five-arched structure, spanning the rocky Nishiki-gawa like a tossed pebble skipping across the water. What you see today – and can walk across for ¥300 – is the 1953 reconstruction, no less impressive for that. For once, the hordes of tourists add something to the bridge's attraction, as they parade across the steep arches like figures in an ukiyo-e print.
Adjoining the bridge on the west bank of the Nishiki-gawa is a landscaped park, Kikkō-kōen, once the estate of the ruling Kikkawa clan. With its grass lawns and cooling fountains, the park preserves some of the layout and buildings of the former estate, despite also having some modern features. Immediately ahead from the bridge, on the right, is the Nagaya-mon, the wooden gate to the home of the Kagawa family, samurai to the Kikkawa daimyō. There are several other samurai houses you can wander around and, at the far west side of the park, the Kikkawa family graveyard, a compact series of white-walled enclosures with moss-covered gravestones. There's a mildly interesting collection of old maps and plans from feudal times, photos and prints featuring the bridge through the centuries, as well as craftwork from Iwakuni's past, on display at the Chōko-kan (Tues– Sun 9am–5pm; free), at the north end of the park. Just round the corner from there is the Kikkawa Historical Museum, or Kikkawa Shiryōkan (daily except Wed 9am–5pm; ¥500), which has various artefacts from the Kikkawa family collection, including swords, jewellery and hanging scrolls, although the explanations are all in Japanese.