My Tottori, My Dune

We were now just 300 km from Hiroshima City, at the Tottori Sand Dunes. Among Japan’s prefectural capitals, Tottori has one of the lowest populations—having seen only a 20% increase after WWII. The population has remained remarkably stable over the past century.

Tottori (鳥取市, Tottori-shi)is the capital and the largest city of Tottori Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. As of 30 November 2022, the city had an estimated population of 183,383 in 81,732 households and a population density of 240 persons per km².[2] The total area of the city is 765.31 square kilometres (295.49 sq mi). Most of the city is within the San’in Kaigan Geopark.

The visit was fascinating, and I’m glad we made the detour. Though there were other tourists around, everyone was considerate, making space so others could capture their perfect photos.

The dunes themselves are impressive in scale. During our visit, I picked up some locally roasted beans from a charming roadside shop, ~Weekday Coffee Roasters~.

I haven’t tried the coffee yet, but I’m confident it will be delicious.

If you’re in the area, I’d recommend stopping by Tottori. While the region’s main attraction is its magnificent sand dunes, that’s precisely what makes it special—it’s refreshingly different from typical tourist destinations.

From there, we drove to Hiroshima to return our rental car (dropping it off at 8 PM after covering 1,000 km). We checked into our hotel, planning to spend a few days exploring before continuing our journey south…