Yamaguchi, Japan

Yamaguchi is the capital of Yamaguchi prefecture, at the western tip of the island of Honshu, Japan. In the city, there is a beautiful Japanese town which flourished as "Kyoto in the West" in the Medieval Period. We can find lots of traces of its prosperity there. Yamaguchi City is the seat of prefectural government, so it functions as the "capital" of this prefecture. However, it is not a big city and impresses us as a planned city. Actually, it is a planned city where Hiroyo Ouchi, the liege lord of this region, placed his government in 1360. From then on, the town developed, copying the elegance of Kyoto, which used to be the capital of Japan. As Ouchi family prospered, this city also flourished and it was called "Kyoto in the West" in those days. Especially, while Kyoto was devastated by Onin war, Yamaguchi developed as the alternative capital. Many cultured people and foreigners visited the city. It was as if Yamaguchi was practically the capital of Japan. But regrettably the destruction of this family in 1551 caused the city to fall. We can see a lot of things in this city that suggests its prosperity in medieval times. During the Sengoku-jidai (Warring States) period (1467–1573), Yamaguchi prospered as an alternative capital to chaotic Kyoto. In 1550 the Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier paused for two months in Yamaguchi on his way to the imperial capital, but quickly returned to the safety of this provincial centre when he was unable even to find the emperor in Kyoto! In the following centuries Yamaguchi took turns with Hagi as the provincial capital and, like Hagi, Yamaguchi played an important part in the Meiji Restoration. Today this ‘Kyoto of the West' is a peaceful town with interesting attractions.