Kurayoshi Shirakabe Storehouses & Hawai Onsen

Kurayoshi's Shirakabe (white-walled) storehouse district lines the Tamagawa canal with Edo and Meiji-period buildings that once served as sake breweries and soy sauce warehouses, now housing craft shops, cafes, and small galleries; it is one of Japan's designated Important Preservation Districts for Groups of Historic Buildings. From Tottori Station, the JR San'in Line reaches Kurayoshi in 40-60 minutes. A morning stroll along the canal, crossing its small stone bridges and browsing the storehouse shops, pairs well with the short trail up nearby Mount Utsubuki, the wooded hill overlooking the district, for a view back over the white walls and river below. Local specialties, including Kurayoshi soba and sweets made from the region's produce, are available at cafes along the canal. In the afternoon, a short bus ride or 15-minute taxi continues to Hawai Onsen, a hot spring district on the western shore of Lake Togo in the town of Yurihama, formed from the historic merger of Hawai, Togo, and Tomari. The spring water here, a sodium-calcium chloride type known for its skin-warming and beautifying effects, bubbles up from beneath the lakebed itself, and several ryokan around the lake offer day-use bathing. The Hawai Onsen and Togo Onsen Tourist Information Center rents bicycles for a ride around the lake's edge, a relaxed way to close out the day before the return train from nearby Matsuzaki or Kurayoshi Station. Combining the historic storehouse district with a lakeside onsen makes for a day that balances culture and relaxation without the longer travel times required for Mount Daisen or Mitokusan.