Home/Tottori/Yonago/Yonago Kamogawa Canal Walk

Yonago Kamogawa Canal Walk

KamogawaYonagocanal warehousesTeramachimerchant town

Tottori · Yonago

35.4313°N, 133.3274°E

Yonago was the commercial capital of San'in in the Edo period, and the goods moved by water: the Kamogawa runs through the middle of the old town and the merchants built their warehouses along it, white-plastered with the loading doors facing the canal. A stretch of them survives, along with the merchant houses behind, in a district that most people driving to Daisen never notice.

Running parallel is Teramachi, a street with nine temples on it, laid out that way deliberately as a defensive line for the castle town. A local tradition has people walking the Kamogawa counting the Jizo statues set along it — there are said to be a specific number and finding them all takes a couple of hours. Volunteer guides run set walking routes of about two hours. A small boat operates on the canal and out into Nakaumi.

Essential Information

Opening Hours

Streets open at all times | Boat and guided walks on their own schedules

Closed: Open year-round

Entrance Fee

Free to walk | Sightseeing boat and guided walks charged separately

Best Season

Year-round | Spring and autumn for comfortable walking

Visit Duration

1.5–2 hours

Getting There

Access Information

Around Tenjin-cho, Yonago. About 5 minutes by car from JR Yonago Station, or by the Dandan community bus to the Tenjinbashi stop then 5 minutes on foot. Free to walk. Volunteer guides offer three walking routes of about 2 hours each; a Kamogawa and Nakaumi sightseeing boat operates from the canal and is charged separately.

Insider Guide

Premium

**Look at the loading doors.** The warehouses face the water because that is how goods arrived, and the openings at first-floor level are what tell you this was a working canal rather than a scenic one. **Walk Teramachi as well.** Nine temples in a row, placed as a defensive line for the castle town. It is two minutes from the canal and is a completely different street. **Count the Jizo.** The local walk involves finding the Jizo statues set along the Kamogawa. It is a genuine local pastime rather than a tourist invention. **Take the boat if it is running.** The canal and Nakaumi cruise gives the view the merchants had. Schedules are limited. **Five minutes from Yonago Station.** Which makes it a good use of a couple of hours between trains on the way to Daisen or Matsue.

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