Hōfu

About Hōfu

The name says it all: Hōfu means the provincial capital, and for centuries this city on the Seto Inland Sea was the administrative heart of ancient Suō Province. Its plain, crossed by the Saba River, has been settled since the Jōmon period, and the old imperial highway to Kyushu once passed right in front of its Nara-era provincial temple. Today Hōfu is a city of about 115,000 people in central Yamaguchi Prefecture.

The area was famous for salt making, and many of the old salt fields were later turned into land for factories, including a large Mazda car plant. During the Edo period it belonged to the Chōshū Domain of the Mōri lords, whose grand Meiji and Taishō era residence now houses a museum of national treasures. The anime film Mai Mai Miracle is set in 1950s Hōfu, and the free-verse haiku poet Santōka Taneda was born here.

For visitors, the highlights are Hōfu Tenmangū, one of the major shrines to the scholar-god Tenjin, the Mōri Gardens, the historic Suō Kokubun-ji and Tamanooya Shrine, and quiet temple gardens such as Amida-ji, all within easy reach by bus, bike or taxi.