For the visitor interested in the Japanese castles, Hagi may not be on the priority list because Hagi-jō, the local castle, was demolished at the beginning of the Meiji Period and was never rebuilt. However, Hagi is today one the best preserved castle towns (jōkamachi) in Japan, featuring an old samurai residential area filled with authentic houses transformed in museums. Some of these houses even belonged to important personalities from the history of Japan, such as Takasugi Shinsaku and Kido Takayoshi.

There are also beautiful areas with merchants’ houses, built in the machiya style, like the street photographed here, featuring buildings older than 300 years…

Hagi-jo Jokamachi, Hagi, Yamaguchi

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Yesterday’s Japan Photo: The star-shaped fort, Goryokaku