The coast surrounding the Seto Inland Sea near Hiroshima is one of the most scenic in Japan and Takehara, with its nicely preserved Edo-era historic center, is a well located base from which to explore the area. We were here at year-end spending a day exploring the town before taking a drive and ferry ride for a round trip visit to nearby islands. Takehara is probably best known these days for Nikka Whiskey, with the family still residing in town, as well as being the setting for a popular anime cartoon. But the area also produces good salt, sake and potatoes.

Takehara means Bamboo Field as the town was named after the abundant bamboo groves that grew here. The town is relatively quiet as aging demographics has taken its toll this area. One of the interesting snippets about Takehara is that there was a factory making poison gas used during World War II on nearby island, Okunoshima, that is now opened to visitors. I didn’t have time to go there but the island is known these days for a large rabbit population so it’s now known commonly as Bunny Island.

A walk around Takehara’s historical district should only take a couple hours. The well preserved area showcases Edo era buildings, best known for their grey-blue color tone and thick plaster lattice details.

To get a good view of the town, climb up the stairs to the Saihoji Temple. The temple itself is simple and small, especially compared to those in Kyoto, so it’s really just the view from here that’s the main draw.

A short drive from Takehara is Mount Shirotaki where there’s a great view of the sea and islands. Unfortunately, it was a hazy late afternoon so we only saw shadowy outlines of the islands. But it was a good walk up the hill behind the Ryuusen temple to the peak with buddhist carvings on the rock face that date back to the ninth century.

There are a few temples in Takehara itself, but we visited one that was en route to Mt. Shirotaki, tucked away on a quiet rural road. Buttsu-ji Temple is a zen buddhist temple surrounded by lots of greenery and a stream that runs along the front of the temple. There was no one else there when we visited, making for a very pleasant (and zen) experience.

There are a few inns and small hotels in Takehara but we stayed with friends during our visit. Since we used Takehara as our base for visiting the nearby area, we were here for two nights but as we visited in winter, some of our activities were curtailed and I imagine that during summer, more can be done in some of the island visits and more time could be warranted. From Takehara you can drive to the islands and also take a ferry. It’s also possible to visit some of the other towns, namely Mitarai on Osaki Shimo-jima island, by taking the ferry and walking into the town centers although having your own car is definitely the most flexible option.

We had some great meals in Takehara, including a wonderful lunch in a “farmhouse” restaurant, called Nishino Farmhouse Restaurant (see Nishino blog). Il Traghetto is also a nice place for a meal- it’s simply good, hearty Italian food with Japanese accents and decent wine (see Il Traghetto blog).