9 Popular Tourist Spots Where You Can Fully Enjoy the Charms of Yonago, the Gateway to San’in

If you are planning to visit Yonago, autumn is the best season, when mountains such as Mt. Daisen are colored with autumn leaves.
Mt. Daisen, one of Tottori’s most famous fall foliage spots, often receives its first snowfall while the autumn leaves are still at their best, allowing you to enjoy the beautiful contrast of snow and foliage.
Autumn is also peak season for mackerel, making it the best time to enjoy the local specialty saba shabu-shabu.

Because Yonago has Yonago Kitaro Airport, it is Approx. 1 hour 20 minutes by plane from Tokyo.
There are no direct flights from Osaka’s airports, so the trip takes Approx. 3 hours 20 minutes by transferring between the shinkansen and a limited express train.
Yonago Kitaro Airport also has international flights, so it can be reached directly from Hong Kong, South Korea, and China.

This was the first early modern castle in San’in, with construction beginning in the late Sengoku period.
It stands on the summit of Minatoyama, Approx. 90m above sea level, at a site jutting out into Nakaumi about 1km west of Yonago Station, and is also known as “Kume Castle.”
Soon after the start of the Edo period, it became a branch castle of the Tottori Domain. It is also known as a rare castle with a “twin-headed keep,” featuring both a five-story main keep and a four-story turret keep (sub-keep).

An ancient shrine that serves as the center of Mt. Daisen worship, enshrining Onamuchi-no-Mikoto as its main deity.
It is also the ninth sacred site of the Izumo no Kuni Shinbutsu Reijo, a group of 20 historic shrines and temples. The shrine consists of a main shrine at the foot of Mt. Daisen and an inner shrine on the mountainside, and from the main shrine to the inner shrine runs an Approx. 700m approach made of natural stone through giant cedar and beech trees.
It is the longest stone-paved approach in Japan, built in the early Showa period.

A compound volcano rising 1,709m above sea level, Mt. Daisen is the highest peak in the Chugoku region and a symbol of Tottori Prefecture, selected as one of Japan’s 100 Famous Mountains and one of Japan’s 100 Scenic Views.
The surrounding area is designated as Daisen-Oki National Park, which includes the Hiruzen area, the Oki Islands, the Shimane Peninsula, and the Sanbe area.
Viewed from the west, from the Yonago City side, it is called Hoki Fuji because of its mountain form, with foothills spreading out in a conical shape.

A sightseeing farm located at the foot of lush green Mt. Daisen. Visitors can observe and interact with various animals such as sheep, capybaras, and ponies.
You can directly interact with goats, sheep, capybaras, rabbits, guinea pigs, and other small animals, and there are also feeding experiences.
At Wanwan Land, you can play surrounded by many dogs, from large breeds such as golden retrievers to small breeds such as miniature dachshunds.

Nakaumi, which spans Tottori and Shimane prefectures, is one of the San’in region’s leading wild bird habitats, with records of Approx. 40% of all wild bird species confirmed in Japan.
Yonago Waterbirds Sanctuary, located on its northeastern shore, is a birdwatching facility where an Approx. 28ha wetland area has been developed as a protected zone where waterbirds can live safely.
Starting in late autumn, whooper swans that migrate here to spend the winter in Japan arrive, and many other waterbirds also visit the park, including ducks, herons, and nationally protected species such as greater white-fronted geese and bean geese, resting their wings on the ponds and wetlands.

The first public art museum in the San’in region, located in Yonago City, Tottori Prefecture.
It opened in 1983 thanks to the strong enthusiasm of local residents. Through exhibitions that provide a venue for local people, special exhibitions focusing on artists connected to the region, and collection exhibitions of works in the museum’s holdings, it shares a rich artistic culture.
The collection includes Approx. 1,900 works. It features works from a wide range of genres, including Western-style painter Kanji Maeta, known for his distinctive “Maeta-bari” style, and Yoshitaka Kiyama, a pioneer of story manga who was also active in the United States.

A park developed around the Mukibanda Kofun Cluster, burial mounds built from the middle to late Kofun period. Across two separate hills are 15 burial mounds in total, including eight keyhole-shaped kofun, and the site was designated a National Historic Site in 1994.
Inside the park, a 15m-high raised-floor building and pit dwellings have been reconstructed, allowing visitors to imagine the lives of ancient people. A mid-Kofun-period scallop-shaped burial mound surrounded by 104 haniwa figures has also been reconstructed, creating a space where you can feel as though you have traveled back to the Kofun period.

Yumigahama Peninsula juts out toward the Sea of Japan in northern Yonago. On its eastern side, a coastline tracing an arc like a bow stretches for Approx. 20km.
The beautiful scenery of Yumigahama, where the wide blue sea, white sandy beach, and lush pine groves come together in harmony, has been selected as one of Japan’s 100 Best Beaches and one of Japan’s 100 Best White Sand and Green Pine Shorelines.
In summer, you can enjoy marine activities, and the spectacular sunset views that color the coast are another of its charms.

A hot spring area stretching along the coast of Yumigahama facing the Sea of Japan, Approx. 15 minutes by car from central Yonago City. The spring water bubbling up from the seabed of Miho Bay is a sodium-calcium chloride spring, commonly known as “salt spring” water.
Its high salt concentration provides excellent heat retention, making it one of San’in’s most popular hot springs for beautiful skin.

Located on the northern side of Yonago City, Kaike Onsen is a seaside hot spring resort known for its beautiful white-sand beach and sweeping views of majestic Mt. Daisen, attracting many visitors year-round.
Founded there in 1927, Kaike Shogetsu is known for its heartfelt hospitality, made possible by keeping the inn at just 19 guest rooms, the same number as when it first opened.

One of San’in’s leading long-established ryokan, known for its views of the Sea of Japan stretching out in front of it and majestic Mt. Daisen. You can enjoy the natural beauty of San’in from throughout the property.
It is the only ryokan in Kaike Onsen with its own private hot spring source, and in the large public bath you can enjoy a soak while looking out over the Sea of Japan from marble bathtubs and open-air baths. In addition to four private baths, it also offers guest rooms with open-air baths, allowing families and couples to enjoy a private, relaxing stay.