Tottori Sand Dunes

What?
Tottori (鳥取) is the capital of the prefecture with the same name. That prefecture lies along the Sea of Japan resulting in a rather harsh climate in winter and difficulty of access. Maybe this is the reason why it is the least densely populated prefecture of Japan. The main attraction of Tottori – both prefecture as city – are the Tottori Dunes (鳥取砂丘) which stretch out for 2 kilometers and reach a height of 50 meters. Otherwise the city is a laid back place with the usual temples, shrines and museums, among which the very impressive Sand Museum (砂の美術館) next to the dunes.
Where?
Tottori has an airport but it is only connected to Tokyo Haneda airport (羽田空港). There is no shinkansen connecting the city and limited express trains are quite pricy if you look at the time they need to bridge the distance between Kansai cities Kyoto (京都), Osaka (大阪) and Kobe (神戸). The easiest, fastest and cheapest is just to book a seat in a highway bus that connects any of the following cities: Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Himeji (姫路) and Fukuoka (福岡). Tottori has an expansive bus network, but on weekends and holidays I can highly recommend the Kirin Loop Bus (ループ麒麟獅子バス). A regular bus ticket to the dunes costs you 380 yen while the Kirin Loop Bus has a flat fare of 300 yen. A one day pass costs 600yen and has the added benefits that a “bus stamp” on your timetable (make sure you take it with you from the tourist office in Tottori station) gets you extra discounts at various spots.
URL
Japan Guide Outline

When I just found work in Japan, my colleague took me under his wing and invited me to go to Tottori with him. Later I would find out he’s a train fanatic and thinks of traveling as simply taking slow trains to somewhere and come back. Later I would discover the fun in that like in Northern Hokkaido, but back then it was a whole lot of sitting in a train followed by a whole lot of watering holes where I faked not understanding Japanese. It wasn’t horrible but it wasn’t memorable either. We did go and see the famous Tottori sand dunes, but we only stayed at the rim and that for around 5 minutes.
Really, I went to Tottori but I couldn’t say anything about the place.

So it was long on my “to be revisited list”. And here I was, dead tired and in dire need of some alone time and with a four day holiday. And Tottori being rather close by and accessible by bus was the cheapest option.

My main goal was to relax so I just booked a hotel with an onsen and didn’t really look anything up. But that isn’t really necessary. On weekends and public holidays there is a loop bus that stops at the major attractions of the city. As it was Saturday I just bought myself a day pass and away I was.

My first stop and to be honest only goal were the dunes.
I am a Belgian, and if there are people who know where that actually is, they are surprised that in Belgium too there is a coastline. And there are dunes also.
At least that’s what I called them when I was a kid, but clearly the Belgian dunes and those of Tottori can’t be compared.
No, the Tottori dunes aren’t so big that it feels like you’re in a desert. No, I am no expert in dunes but I am pretty sure the Tottori dunes aren’t near the bigger and most impressive ones in the world.
But yes, on a sunny day like today they are pleasant and if you face the right way you can forget for a moment that you are still in Japan, the land of concrete and tetrapods.

Seen like this the dunes seem really high.

Pretty cool.

A lot of that sand disappeared in my shoes.

Just like a mountain ridge.

At the dunes you can experience paragliding, sandboarding and riding a camel. I did none of those things because I don’t know how to have fun. But by actually just ploughing my way through the sand, filling my shoes along the way and thus probably rejoicing the hotel cleaning staff later on, I found myself to relax a bit. Climbing the biggest heap of sand (50m) I enjoyed watching the sea hitting land unobstructed by any man made obstacles and also the struggling of the paragliders to stay on the ground after landing. I am a bit evil that way.

The next stop would be right nearby and would also consist of lots sand, but with less risk of it filling my shoes.
The sand museum has an ever changing exhibition of large sand sculptures made by artists from around the world. Due to the corona virus, the current one depicting the Czech Republic and Slovakia is on display for much longer than initially foreseen. But the sculptures are still beautifully and impressively preserved.
This museum is perfect. Really impressive art, not too big of a venue but surely not too small, a little bit explanation of how to make sand sculptures and a small outdoor area. When the exhibition changes I am already thinking about visiting again.