Moopon

1. Once visitors exit immigration and customs at Kansai Airport, visitors will be on the 1st floor. Follow the signs for “Railways”, taking one of the 4 escalators or 3 elevators to arrive at the 2nd floor.

2. Once on the 2nd floor, follow the signs to one of several walkways and walk across the road to Kansai-airport Station. Visitors need to exit the air terminal building to arrive at the JR Station (two separate buildings connected by a walkway). Two train companies use Kansai-airport Station: JR (blue/green) and Nankai (orange). Only JR can take visitor to the platform Haruka departing from. DO NOT use Nankai.

3. Before entering tickets gate, find JR Ticket Office where visitors can purchase ticket or reserved ticket for JR train.(there is a huge sign in English above their head).JR ticket office staff may or may not speak English, but they can read place names and train types written in the Roman alphabet. 

4. With one’s tickets, go through JR ticket gate and take an escalator to get to Platform 4.

Most famous for its unique structure of the Kintai-kyo Bridge, Iwakuni (岩国)　is a small city of 150,000 people in Yamaguchi Prefecture.  Among the tourist attractions in Iwakuni are White Snake Park, Iwakuni Castle (built by the Kikkawa family in the early 17th century), Cormorant Fishing, Sanzoku (also known as the Chicken Shack), and so on.

Iwakuni’s local cuisine includes foods such as Iwakuni sushi, unique for being made in a square mold.  A local soup Ohira made with stewed vegetables, wild plants and chicken is quite popular as well.  Iwakuni is also famous for fresh lotus roots which can be stewed, sautéed or made into tempura.

Being blessed by nature, Iwakuni is a beautiful city with its mountains and rivers. The beauty is all year round; however, visitors are particularly recommended to visit Iwakuni in the spring, during the cherry blossom season. The area near Kintai-kyo Bridge is especially breathtaking, with cherry blossom or sakura trees along the banks of the Nishiki River.

Access Information:
From Tokyo :
[Air] 1h 30 mins from Haneda to Iwakuni Kintaikyo Airport, and 10 mins from the airport to Iwakuni Station by bus.
[Rail] 4h 30 misn from Tokyo via Hiroshima to Shin-Iwakuni Station by JR Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen Line.
From Osaka :
[Rail] 2h 10 mins from Shin-Osaka via Hiroshima to Shin-Iwakuni Station by Shinkansen.
From Hiroshima:
[Rail] 15 mins from Hiroshima to Shin-Iwakuni Station by Shinkansen
[Rail] 50 mins from Hiroshima to Iwakuni Station by Local Train.

The Hagi Uragami Museum, located in Hagi City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, was rated by  “Michelin Green Guide Japan 2009” as a two-star tourist attraction.  Next to Iwakuni’s  “Kintai-kyo Bridge”, one of the three most beautiful bridges in all of Japan, this is the highest ranked attraction in Yamaguchi Prefecture.

The Hagi Uragami Museum is located within a short walking distance from the former castle town. It was founded in 1996.  It displays the donated collection of Hagi-born entrepreneur Toshiro Uragami.

Hagi Uragami Museum
The museum features art works of Hagiyaki Pottery, ukiyo-e and contemporary art. Among them are valuable Hagiyaki pieces, some of which have been preserved for centuries. Also on display are documents and films on Hagiyaki wares.

Hours: 9:00 to 17:00 (entry until 16:30)
Closed: Mondays (if Monday is a national holiday, the museum will be closed on the following day), New Year holidays
Admission: 300 yen

Access Information:
**a short walk to the south from the former castle town