"Japan's Hidden Treasure" Tsuyama by Rabbityama

Tsuyama Travel Guide: 22 reviews and 64 photos

A Little City With Lots of History!

In the summer of 2003, I spent four weeks in Tsuyama, living with a host family, who took me to two festivals, as well as many other sites throughout the city. Compared to most of the other cities in Japan, Tsuyama is quite small, which can be a nice change of pace.
Although most tourists (and even many Japanese) have never heard of Tsuyama, it is a beautiful city with a lot of culture and historical sights. It is known as one of Japan's Little Kyotos because it of its vast history and well-preserved historical and cultural sights!

Gongo Festival

Fireworks over the lanterns at the Gongo Festival

The Gongo Festival was a wonderful experience. Everyone went to the Yoshi River to celebrate. There were vendors all along, and people set out blankets to sit on and watch the fireworks. The fireworks show was interesting. Instead of shooting fireworks the entire time, they would give a fifteen minute show, then stop for about ten minutes, and then give another show. I believe they gave four or five firework displays by the time it was all over. This allowed all of us to enjoy the festivities for a longer period of time. What a great idea! Why aren't all fireworks done like this?

Five Years Later...

The last sunset of 2008

I finally returned to Japan five years later and came back to Tsuyama to visit my host family! I was invited to spend New Years with them, and part of their New Years tradition was to go with the family to see the last sunset of the year, so I went with them! This is something I'd never done before, and I felt honored to be a part of their family tradition!

In April I was also able to return to see the family and the cherry blossoms! Although Tsuyama is small, the castle ruins contain over 5,000 cherry trees, making it the best spot in the entire region to see the cherry blossoms!

Pros and Cons

Pros:Small Town, Nature, Cherry Blossoms, Hidden Treasures, Wonderful People
Cons:The location is out-of-the-way for many tourists, but the trip is worth it!
In a nutshell:The Japan everyone dreams of!

Intro Updated Oct 13, 2010
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Reviews (20)

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Inaba looks like a typical Shiseido Cosmetics shop that you can find anywhere, and the shopping is indeed very typical... more travel advice

Tsuyama History and Folk Museum - Tsuyama

Tsuyama History and Folk Museum Things to Do (10)

The History and Folk Museum is located in what used to be a library built by Christians. The building itself was... more travel advice

Ume no Sato Things to Do (10)

Ume no Sato (Plum Village) is an entire hillside filled with plum blossom trees tucked away in the Kume area of Tsuyama.... more travel advice

Shurakuen Garden Things to Do (10)

Shurakuen Garden is a beautiful and historical garden in Tsuyama. It was made it 1657 by Mori Nagatsugu, Tsuyama's... more travel advice

Transportation (3)
See All Affordable Travel from Osaka and Kyoto
Shopping (2)
See All Exploring
Local Customs (1)
Sea Memorial Holiday

Travelogues (1)

Written Oct 13, 2010

8 photos

Great Memories from My First Stay in Tsuyama

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Comments (22)

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taigaa001 Nov 13, 2011 at 4:42 PM

Shuraen Garden seems to be nice. Great work.
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globetrott Jun 17, 2010 at 4:35 AM

an interesting page and especially that kind of eating noodles sounds very unique !
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Pixiekatten Oct 20, 2006 at 6:02 AM

Great pages on Japan! Going back there next summer and your tips were real helpful! Thanx!! =)
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bebejepang Oct 7, 2006 at 3:23 AM

Hi, I went to tsuyama last april (2006) only for the cherry blossom matsuri in Kakuzan Park, because I don't know other interesting places in this area. Thx for your good and informative page...
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Conspirator Sep 15, 2006 at 3:53 PM

Thanks for your great page. I lived for a year in Tsuyama as an exchange student (in an otera) back in 1994 - brings back fond memories.
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Sininen Aug 28, 2006 at 6:55 AM

Hello Brandon! Great page on Tsuyama, maybe one day I will visit it. Happy birthday from Finland!
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sevilsungur Jul 1, 2006 at 1:30 PM

Thanks for your comments. I didn't see Istanbul on your list, I'll build an Istanbul page just to convince you.
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jungles Jun 7, 2006 at 4:45 AM

Tsuyama looks great. Thanks for this very informative page.
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Jim_Eliason Jun 6, 2006 at 5:04 PM

cool page!
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wreckloose Mar 28, 2006 at 2:12 AM

Yup. Just Tokyo... and only for 2 days. I intend on doing a longer trip in the future.