“Tottori Uminami Road” is a 138km cycling road along Japan Seain Tottori Prefecture.
You can ride through it all in one day, but it is also recommended to take several days to enjoy the beautiful scenery and gourmet food.
First of all, we would like to introduce you to some of the attractions we found while riding the 50km course from east to west along Tottori Uminami Road in one day.
Contents
Start at JR Higashihama Station
The starting point is Higashihama Station on JR Sannin Line, located in the eastern most part of Tottori Prefecture.
Although it is an unmanned station, it has a very sophisticated appearance.
In fact, it is the station where the TWILIGHT EXPRESS Mizukaze, which started its operation in June 2017, stops by.
With this, the station was renovated to blend in with the surrounding scenery, with a stainless steel mirror-finished ceiling and fully transparent glass windows in the waiting room.
Even the mailboxes are in the colors of the TWILIGHT EXPRESS Mizukaze.
As soon as you start the station, you will find AL MARE, a restaurant that also serves meals to passengers of TWILIGHT EXPRESS Mizukaze.
Nishiwaki Coast
About 800m west of Higashihama Station, you will come to the scenic Nishiwaki Coast with its small islands and green pines.
The beautiful contrast between the white sandy beach and the green pine trees seen from Nishiwaki Observation parking lot to the west is also called “The beautiful scenery of waking up.”
Uradome Beach
Uradome Beach is a shallow sandy beach about 3km from Nishiwaki Beach.
You can see the torii gate of Mukojima Ebisu Shrine on the small island at the edge of the beach.
About 2km up the hill from here, the scenery of Uradome Coast opens up.
The 15-km-long rias coast is designated as a national scenic beauty and a natural monument, and has been selected as one of “Japan’s top 100 scenic spots”, “Japan’s top 100 white sand and green pine trees”, “Japan’s top 100 beaches”, and “Japan’s top 100 sightseeing spots in Heisei period.”
From here, you will go downhill at a stretch and pass through a small fishing village to “Otani Beach” about 4km away.
COCCARACAFE
It’s lunch time at COCCARACAFE, which faces Otani Coast.
This is a cyclist-friendly “cycle café” that opened in June 2020.
There are a number of stores registered as “Cycle Cafés” in the prefecture.
Tottori Prefecture is working on a “Daijobu System” (“Daijobu” means “It’s safe and okay”) to support cyclists with the cooperation of local restaurants, lodging facilities, etc., so that they can enjoy safe and comfortable cycling.
https://www.pref.tottori.lg.jp/247048.htm
In order for people to enjoy a leisurely lunch while looking at Otani Coast, the restaurant is open by reservation only from 11:00 and 12:40 (1 hour and 30 minutes each) (*information at the time of the interview).
You can enjoy a delicious meal and beautiful scenery in a restaurant where time flows peacefully.
The view in front of the restaurant.
After the meal, we returned to Route 178 along Otani Coast, and rode along Prefectural Roads 328~319 to Tottori Sand Dunes.
Tottori Sand Dunes
From the middle of the “Sand Dune Road” from Otani Beach to Tottori Sand Dunes, you can ride on a bicycle-only path.
After about 8km, we arrived at Tottori Sand Dunes.
Tottori Sand Dunes is a vast coastal dune on the coast of Japan Sea, and is designated as a specially protected area of Sanin Coast National Park.
Stretching 2.4km north to south and 16km east to west, it is the largest tourist dune in Japan, and if you include the areas that are closed to the public, it is the second largest after Sarugamori Sand Dunes (Shimokita-gun, Aomori Prefecture).
There are also tours and activities that include riding a “fat bike” through Tottori Sand Dunes, so if you have enough time, try riding through the magnificent scenery.
Tottori’s kitchen “Tottori Port Seafood Market Karoichi”
After a short ride from Tottori Sand Dunes, you will come to a bicycle lane and the Inaba Bicycle Path.
After crossing Chiyo River, the road becomes a public road. The road is relatively wide and easy to ride, and you will come to Tottori Port, lined with squid fishing boats.
On the western breakwater of this port, once known as Karo Port, you can see a small island called Torigashima. It looks somewhat like Mont Saint-Michel.
Incidentally, there is another small island with the same name in Tottori Prefecture, Torigashima, which is less than 100m in circumference and is located in Kozan Pond.
1km from Tottori Port, there is “Tottori Port Seafood Market Karoichi”, saying “Sannin is not only crabs! If you want to buy fresh seafood from the Sea of Japan, go to Tottori Port Seafood Market Karoichi, the kitchen of Tottori.”
There are many Matsuba crabs in season right now, so we tried to find the most expensive one.
In addition to the seafood market “Karoichi,” which boasts of its freshness, you can get fresh local vegetables, meat, and even souvenirs at the adjacent facilities.
Tottori Sand Dunes Conan Airport
Tottori Sand Dunes Conan Airport is about 2km from “Karoichi.”
The nickname “Tottori Sand Dunes Conan Airport” was chosen in reference to Tottori Sand Dunes, a tourist attraction in Tottori Prefecture, and the manga work “Detective Conan” by Gosho Aoyama, a manga artist from Tottori Prefecture, in order to raise the profile of the airport.
The airport is exactly like a “Detective Conan” theme park, with a number of scenes recreated for those who know the story.
There is also “trick art” that can be enjoyed by those who are not familiar with the manga.
There are also a variety of souvenirs.
At the observation deck, you can see Japan Sea and planes taking off and landing up close.
The airport is also equipped with rental bicycles.
Hakuto (White Rabbit) Coast / Hakuto Shrine
A 5km ride from the airport will take you to the roadside station “Shinwa-no-sato Shiro Usagi (Mythical Village of White Rabbit)” along the national road.
In front of the roadstation is the beautiful “Hakuto (White Rabbit) Coast” with its arching white sandy beach, which was the setting for the myth “The White Rabbit of Inaba.”
The island of Okinoshima, which can be seen to the west, is also the setting of the myth “The White Rabbit of Inaba.”
Depending on the season, the sunset over the island can be seen from this beautiful beach.
If you pass through the torii gate adjacent to the roadside station, you will see Hakuto Shrine.
It is a shrine with a long history, and its main deity is White Rabbit God of the “The White Rabbit of Inaba,” a Japanese myth written in Kojiki, the oldest book in Japan.
The alcohol spray is also a white rabbit.
We took a break at the roadside station “Mythical Village of the White Rabbit.” The honorary station chief, Mikoto-kun, welcomes you.
We took a coffee break at Sunaba Coffee, a famous coffee shop in Tottori.
Hakuto Coast is said to be a power spot for romance based on a mythological story, and was designated as a “sacred place for lovers” in 2010. The post box is also pink, giving it a lovey-dovey look.
If you ride 5km on National Route 9 from Hakuto Coast, you can see the 180° panorama of Japan Sea from Tatsumidai.
Cafe Wave, located right next to Tatsumidai, is also a cyclist-friendly café.
After going down a slope that seems to suck you into the sea, turn left onto Prefectural Road 32 to reach today’s inn.
Kano Onsen National Hotel Sanshien
We finished our day of cycling at Kano Onsen National Inn, Sanshien.
This is the first facility to be certified as a “cyclist-friendly inn” by Tottori Prefecture starting in 2021, and you can push your bicycle from the lobby to your room.
▽Tottori Cyclist-Friendly Inn
https://www.pref.tottori.lg.jp/297462.htm
From your room, you can enjoy the vast Japanese garden.
The inn offers an open-air garden bath with weakly alkaline hot spring water, commonly known as “onna-mizu,” (female water) and a variety of dishes using local ingredients.
Course Introduction
▼Tottori Uminami Road
https://www.pref.tottori.lg.jp/282838.htm
▼COCCARACAFE
https://www.coccaracafe.com/
▼Tottori Sand Dunes
https://www.sakyu-vc.com/jp/
▼Karoichi
https://karoichi.jp/
▼Tottori Sand Dunes Conan Airport
https://www.ttj-ap-bld.co.jp/
▼Roadside Station: Village of Myth, White Rabbit
http://sirousagi.com/
▼Shikano Onsen National Hotel Sanshien
https://www.sanshien.jp/
Access to Tottori
▽Train (Osaka Station to Tottori Station)
About 2 hours and 20 minutes by Chizu Express “Super Hakuto”
▽By car
About 2.5 hours from Osaka via Hanshin Expressway, Chugoku Expressway, and Tottori Expressway (free of charge)
▽Airplane
From Haneda Airport to Tottori Sand Dunes Conan Airport, about 1 hour and 15 minutes by ANA flight.
Summary
The first part of “Tottori Minami Road” is a 50km cycling tour along the eastern side.
The course runs along Japan Sea, with beautiful nature and port towns that keep changing their expressions.
There are a few ups and downs, but there are no long mountain passes, and the cycling road continues from Tottori Sand Dunes onward, so this course can be enjoyed by beginners and intermediate cyclists alike.
There is an airport as well as a train station on the way, so access is excellent.
From Kansai area, it is convenient to take a car or a train with bicycle, but from Kanto area, flying is recommended!
You can also rent a bicycle from the airport and enjoy seafood while visiting Tottori Sand Dunes and Hakuto Beach.
If the season changes, you can also see the bright blue of Japan Sea. Please enjoy Tottori, which is easily to access, in various seasons.
Advertiser: Tottori Prefecture Tourism Exchange Bureau
Photo&Text :Hanada (TABIRIN Editorial Devision)
