How Do You Get to Tsuwano and Get Around the Castle Town?

Published 2026-10-04 · Sources checked 2026-10-04 · Treasure Hunting Co., Ltd.

This guide is for visitors who want to reach Tsuwano, the small castle town in western Shimane Prefecture, and plan how to move around it. It uses the English pages of the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) and the official Shimane travel guide. All pages were read on 2026-10-04. Timetables and fares for trains and buses are not on these pages, so confirm them with the operators.

The short answer

JNTO says Tsuwano is in the west of Shimane on the Sea of Japan side of Honshu, and is "30 minutes by express train from Masuda" on the JR San-in Main Line. From the other side, the Shin-Yamaguchi shinkansen station is one hour from Tsuwano. JNTO says Shin-Yamaguchi connects with Osaka in less than two hours and with Tokyo in around four and a half hours.

By train and by air

• From Shin-Yamaguchi: JNTO gives about one hour to Tsuwano.
• From Masuda: 30 minutes by express train. JNTO calls Masuda the transportation hub of western Shimane, and says Hagi-Iwami Airport in Masuda has daily flights to and from Tokyo.
• By steam train: JNTO describes the SL Yamaguchi-go, one of the few working steam locomotives left in Japan, as arriving in Tsuwano after passing over the mountains from Yamaguchi. The pages we read give no operating days, so check the schedule.

By bus from Hiroshima or Osaka

The Shimane guide says direct highway buses connect Hiroshima and Osaka with Shimane without complicated transfers, and its page on the bus trips mentions Tsuwano. A separate news item on the same site announced a special offer for international travelers of a ¥1,000 discount bus ticket from Hiroshima to Tsuwano, for an autumn season. The item in our copy does not give the year or the dates, so confirm before you rely on it.

Getting around on foot

JNTO says that most of Tsuwano's major draws are easily reached on foot or on rented bicycles. The Shimane guide gives these walking times from JR Tsuwano Station:

• Anno Mitsumasa Art Museum: about 1 minute on foot.
• Tonomachi Street, the lane with white plaster walls and carp in the canal: about 10 minutes.
• Yomeiji Temple: about 10 minutes.
• Tsuwano Catholic Church: about 12 minutes.
• Taikodani Inari Shrine: about 5 minutes by taxi, or about 30 minutes on foot.

The castle ruins

The ruins stand at 362 meters. The Shimane guide says to ride a chairlift from Taikodani Inari Shrine, which takes about 5 minutes, and then walk about 20 minutes to the main enclosure. Its page gives operating hours of 9:00 am to 4:30 pm, with the last trip down at 4:20 pm, and says the lift is closed on weekdays from December 1 to the end of February, except January 1 to 3 and public holidays. The page lists fares for two age groups, but in the copy we read the labels do not make clear which prices are one-way, so check at the lift.

Farther afield

• Washibara Hachimangu Shrine: about 10 minutes by car, 25 minutes by bicycle or 40 minutes on foot from the station.
• Hori Garden: about 30 minutes by bus from the station to the Hori Gardens stop. The page says it is closed every Monday except holidays.

Cycling tours

The Shimane guide lists two three-hour cycling tours: an E-bike tour around the "100 views of Tsuwano" with a guide, and a photo tour that starts in front of Tsuwano Station. Booking is through the organisers named on those pages.

Start at the station

JR Tsuwano Station works as the hub for the town. The Anno Mitsumasa Art Museum is a minute away on foot, the photo cycling tour starts in front of the station, and the Shimane guide says check-in for a machiya guest house is at the Tsuwano Tourist Association office in front of the station. The guide also lists a walk of about 5 minutes from the station to that guest house, a townhouse renovated from a house of the 1890s.

What we could not verify, and therefore left out

• Train and bus timetables, fares and journey times other than those quoted.
• Where to rent a bicycle without joining a tour.
• Operating days of the SL Yamaguchi-go this year.
• The dates and conditions of the Hiroshima bus offer.

Related guides

• What is Tsuwano? The "Little Kyoto" of San-in, Tonomachi, carp and Taikodani Inari
• What is Tsuwano like through the year? Yabusame, the heron dance and autumn colour

Sources

All URLs retrieved 2026-10-04.

1. Tsuwano & Masuda (JNTO) — (rail, air, SL, walking and cycling)
2. Bus Trip to Shimane from Hiroshima and Osaka (Shimane official travel guide) — (highway buses)
3. Special Offer for International Travelers (Shimane official travel guide) — (Hiroshima bus offer)
4. Tonomachi Street, Tsuwano (Shimane official travel guide) — (walk from the station)
5. Tsuwano Castle Ruins (Shimane official travel guide) — (chairlift)
6. Taikodani Inari Shrine (Shimane official travel guide) — (taxi and walking time)
7. Tsuwano Catholic Church (Shimane official travel guide) — (walking time)
8. Yomeiji Temple (Shimane official travel guide) — (walking time)
9. Anno Mitsumasa Museum (Shimane official travel guide) — (walking time)
10. Washibara Hachimangu Shrine (Shimane official travel guide) — (car, bicycle, walking)
11. Hori Garden (Shimane official travel guide) — (bus)
12. Tsuwano Cycling (Shimane official travel guide) — (E-bike tour)
13. Photo Tour in Tsuwano (Shimane official travel guide) — (photo tour)