Charming Kurayoshi ... 4 Weeks After 6.6 Earthquake

This was one of my favorite photos from our 16-day trip through West Japan, taken at possibly the most unknown destination on our list, merely four weeks after a devastating 6.6 magnitude earthquake.



Most non-Japanese readers may not have heard of Kurayoshi, an obscure but beautifully preserved feudal town in the wooded foothills of Western Honshu's mountain ranges, in a region so heavily shaded that it became known as San'in, or Mountain's Shadow. In other words, we're in the Black Forest of Japan.



Like Germany's Black Forest, Japan's San'in also hosts some of its country's most charming historic towns, several of which have been crowned UNESCO World Heritage Sites in recent years. In an age when Hagi and Iwami Ginzan are slowly gaining attention from international travelers, Kurayoshi has somehow managed to remain largely anonymous.



That mystery of the unknown was exactly why we picked Kurayoshi for a day-trip from our convenient homebase of Matsue, a worthwhile destination on its own. While we did consider the popular sand dunes of Tottori or the eccentric Anime/Manga town of Sakaiminato, little Kurayoshi was simply too quaint and exotic to pass up.



Thanks to the ridiculously cheap San'in Okayama Area Pass (4500 yen for 4 days!), Kurayoshi was merely an hour away from Matsue on JR's Express trains. As we hopped on the local bus from the modern train station, the scenery slowly shifted from 21st Century to the 1950s and beyond as we followed the locals into their centuries-old town centre.



Just weeks ago on a Friday afternoon, a 6.6 magnitude earthquake struck the entire San'in Coast devastating hundreds of buildings and displacing dozens of families. The city closest to the epicentre was -- you guessed it -- historic Kurayoshi. With news of damages as far away as the Matsue Castle 60km to the west, we arrived half-expecting collapsed roofs and uninhabited buildings. But Kurayoshi proved so much stronger.



One must admire the resilience of the townspeople at their most difficult hour, amid damaged houses, cancelled hotel bookings and subsequently significant drops to visitor numbers. But repairs soon started and had been carried out at an astonishing pace for such a major earthquake. The Great Hanshin Earthquake was 6.9 magnitude in comparison with toppled buildings, collapsed bridges and a death toll of 4000. Miraculously in Kurayoshi no one died, and life essentially resumed within days.



When we arrived on week four, some of the minor damages had already been repaired and the town was fully welcoming visitors once again. One of most severely damaged heritage buildings, the 110-year-old bathhouse of Taisha-yu, amazingly reopened its doors in just 6 days. And to anyone visiting the pictured Benten Sando and its aisles of little lanterns leading to the Dairenji temple, the earthquake hardly left any mark.



In fact the town's star attraction, the 250-year-old merchant residence of Yodoya, was so marvellously well-engineered that it survived with nearly no damage. Models of its ingenious construction has always been part of the permanent exhibits, alongside feudal era cash registers (great props for selfies!) and some spectacular Fusuma screen doors.



Just around the corner was my personal favorite, the 120-year-old Toyota Residence with its arching wooden bridge and stone pagoda, framed inside the most exquisite garden courtyard for its pint-size. For 500 yen the host would personally guide you around the mansion and adjust the screen doors to give you the best possible viewpoint for that memorable shot.



Crossing the wooden bridge would lead you into a living quarter of ornate Tatami rooms, featuring walls decorated with gold leaves and some of the finest and most intricate window lattices. Touring these immaculately preserved houses one would not have known that a magnitude 6 earthquake had just hit, less than a month ago.



One of the shops that suffered significant losses was the revered Gensui Sake Brewery, frequent award winners for its Daiginjo and the pride of Kurayoshi since late Edo Period. No sense crying over spilled Sake, and the brewery was essentially back in business the next day.



For inquisitive travelers looking to explore beyond Kurayoshi's classic medieval storehouses perched upon its narrow canals, a simple stroll through town would transport you unexpectedly back into the Showa Era, decades ago when this 1940s advertisement for Morinaga Caramel must have signified a favorite after-school meeting spot for local kids.



As we toured the historic quarter we picked up breakfast in the form of a Kani Manju, a Chinese-influenced steamed dumpling akin to Chashaobao but stuffed with snow crab meat from the local fishing port of Yonago. At 450 yen it didn't sound cheap, but the crab was definitely real and the warm from the steamer was much welcome on a cold November morning.



We also picked up a soya milk smoothie from the popular Kudamonoya, always made fresh with seasonal offerings such as strawberries in January or this cup of Saijo persimmons, one of the most representative fruits of West Japan, in November. After rummaging around town for a few hours, we took the bus back to the train station to sample one of the region's original culinary inventions.


Food Review: GOTTSUO RAMEN (Kurayoshi)
Address: Ageicho 1-Chome 370, Kurayoshi-shi, Tottori Prefecture
Hours: Lunch Tue-Sun 11:30-14:00; Dinner daily 18:00-02:00 or whenever the soup is sold out
Map: from Google Maps
Directions: Starting from the train station, walk straight down the main road for 350m. Gottsuo Ramen is on your left.


Aside from the highly recommended Menya Hibari in Matsue, this was the other Ramen joint in the San'in region that we've been raving about, both featuring their own unmistakeable local specialties. At Matsue's lakefront it was a savory broth of Flying Fish, and in the case of landlocked Kurayoshi, a rich, fatty broth extracted from the soup bones of local Wagyu cattle.



Simmering behind the counter was a large steel vat that held Gottsuo's prized Beef Bone soupbase, limited to just 100 bowls per day. A cheap 650 yen (CAD$7.6) would buy you a bowl of classic Beef Bone Ramen, 850 for a bowl with extra Chashu meat, and 950 yen (CAD$11.2) for top-of-the-line Aburi Chashu Ramen with pan-seared pork belly.



Pictured was my Aburi Chashu Ramen with an overindulgence of Nitamago, the soy-marinated, soft-boiled egg for an extra 100 yen. Accompanying five evil slices of seared pork belly were slivers of wood ear mushrooms and some classic marinated bamboo shoots, all floating on top of a slick oily soupbase. I wouldn't want my doctor to ever see this photo for the cholesterol intake, but this was more tempting than you can imagine.



How good was this? So good that I had completely forgotten to take a close up aside from this blurry pic from my wife's cellphone! While the soupbase was exactly as oily as it looked, the unconventional combination of Wagyu beef bones and roasted snapper heads gave the broth an intense Umami flavor with a long aftertaste from the beef fat. To all Ramen enthusiasts, this is a definite must-try if you're traveling to the San'in Coast. Gottsuo has branches in Kurayoshi, Yonago and Matsue as of 2017.

Bill for Two Persons

Aburi Chashu Gottsuo Ramen x 2	1900 yen
Nitamago x 2	200 yen
TOTAL	2100 yen (CAD$24.7)

Besides the outstanding Ramen, we also came across this delectable Wagashi dessert known as Nashika Mochi, a pillowy soft cake of glutinous rice flour with a filling of Tottori Prefecture's most successful export, the famous 20th Century Nashi Pears. This box of 12 Mochi was bought for about 700 yen at the train station's adjacent Omiyage shop.


Noticeably sweeter than our favorite Wagashi at the two previous stops (Matsue's Yuzugomoro and Bitchu-Takahashi's Yubeshi), this Nashika Mochi would be best complemented by a strong tea, in our case a simple bottle of Itoen's Koicha from the vending machine. This was our afternoon snack on the express train towards our next destination.



Our five hours in Kurayoshi was strangely comforting despite the various signs of damage that we witnessed. There was no doubt in my mind that the locals would recover just fine, perhaps even within a few more weeks, thanks to their own diligence and dedication to preserving their architectural heritage. While we did enjoy the authenticity of seeing no other foreigner in town, I really hope that more independent travelers would discover this hidden gem in one of the least visited regions of Japan. Besides, the townsfolk can really benefit from more tourism yen right now.

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