Chugoku

The Chugoku region is the entire western part of Honshu made up of 5 prefectures which are Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, and Yamaguchi.
It is a long region running from the east to west with the Sea of Japan on its northern side and the Seto Inland Sea on its southern side. The Chugoku Mountain Range stands in the center and the Sea of Japan side is called Sanin while the Seto Inland Sea side is called Sanyo.

The climate is very different in Sanin and Sanyo.
In the Sanin area, lots of snow fall during winter and some of its parts experience heavy snow that accumulates to a height of several meters. Daylight hours are short and many of its days are either cloudy or rainy/snowy.
Meanwhile, the weather in the Sanyo area is mild with little rain throughout the year. Unlike the Sanin area, the daylight hours here are very long.

In terms of sightseeing, Chugoku is an attractive region with popular historic sites, beautiful ocean and nature, and good old Japanese townscape.
Some of the major ones are Itsukushima Shrine and Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Atomic Bomb Dome), Iwami Ginzan (silver mine) site (all three are World Heritage sites), Izumo Taisha (shrine), and the castle town of Hagi City as well as natural scenic spots such as the Tottori Sand Dunes and Akiyoshi Plateau (the largest karst tableland in Japan).

As for food, you can enjoy fresh seafood from the nearby ocean and among such, Shimonoseki's blowfish is especially famous.