Yamaguchi City Edition of Popular Japanese Travel Guide Hits Shelves

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:00 JST, October 11, 2025

The Yamaguchi City edition of the popular guidebook series “Chikyu no Arukikata” (“Globe-Trotter Travel Guidebook”) was released Thursday.

The latest domestic edition is the third in the series to focus on a single city in Japan, following Kitakyushu and Yokohama.

Spanning 256 pages, the guidebook introduces Yamaguchi City, and includes the culture, history and local cuisine of the area.

According to the publisher, Tokyo-based Arukikata Co., a group company of Gakken Holdings Co., the guidebook was created because Yamaguchi City was listed on The New York Times’ “52 Places to Go in 2024.”

The cover has an illustration of Rurikoji temple’s Five-Storied Pagoda, a national treasure. The book also highlights the sightseeing train SL Yamaguchi, which is operated by West Japan Railway Co. (JR West), and bari soba – a local specialty made with Chinese-style noodles served in thick chicken broth with vegetables and other toppings. The book also covers the characteristics of the city’s sake breweries.