Hagi is a castle town on the Sea of Japan coast, in the far west of Honshu, and a place where a small, quiet town changed the country. It was the capital of the Choshu domain, and in the nineteenth century young samurai from here played a leading part in bringing down the Tokugawa shogunate and starting the Meiji era. Several of the figures who later led modern Japan, including Ito Hirobumi, the first prime minister, came out of this town's circle.
What survives gives a strong sense of that time. The old castle town of Hagi has streets of white plastered walls and tiled gates, with orange trees leaning over the lanes, because the samurai families were encouraged to plant citrus. The Shokason Juku, a small wooden schoolroom, is where Yoshida Shoin taught the future reformers before he was executed in 1859. The castle itself was dismantled in the 1870s, and only the stone walls and the moat remain, with the bay and the green hill of Shizuki behind. Also on the list of heritage sites here are the reverberatory furnace and shipyard remains, which show the early push toward industry.
Hagi is also known for Hagi ware, a soft, pale pottery whose glaze develops fine cracks with use, treasured by tea masters. The seafood is excellent, with fresh squid and fish from the nearby Japan Sea coast, and the town has several small museums and shops selling pottery. The delta of the Abu and Hashimoto rivers gives it an unusual shape, a flat triangle between water and hills.
For riding, the coastal road, Route 191, runs along the sea cliffs with islands offshore and wide views, with little traffic outside holidays. Winter weather on this coast is grey and windy, with occasional snow, and summer typhoons can bring heavy surf. Spring and autumn are the best times. Fuel is simple in the town, and there are plenty of places to eat. Allow a slow morning among the old walls.