Tottori Tourist Taxi, Abe-san Knows Best

If you are a foreign tourist, Japan’s least populated prefecture wants you to visit. Tottori is currently offering visitors a 2000Yen Tottori tourist taxi. That’s 2000 Yen (under $20) per person for three hours. Given that the Tottori Sand Museum estimates the fare for a 20 minute ride at 2,500Yen, this is a remarkable deal.

Luckily there were still tourist taxis available when we arrived at the Tottori City International Tourist Support Center on a recent Tuesday morning. There are several sample routes, but you can also customize your trip. Note that regular taxi rates apply after 3 hours.

I requested a drive along the Uradome coast, and visit the least crowded area of the Tottori sand dunes. In the interest of spending the most time at the famous dunes, I decided to skip the sand museum and boat ride. Our driver Abe-san arrived within minutes, and we were on our way. As I requested, we first stopped at the overlooks over the Uradome Coast.

After pointing out the limited and obstructed view of the coastline, Abe-san urged me to reconsider the boat ride.  He stressed that the rugged coastline along the Sea of Japan was the highlight of Tottori. He also pointed out that several days of rain made it unlikely that I would find the wind ripples that I hoped to see.

Abe-san gave us bags of shrimp chips to feed the seagulls. I have only seen this in Japan. The seagulls flock to the boat and politely grab the chips right out of your hand.

On this occasion, our shrimp chips also attracted a hawk.

Eager to keep our fingers intact, we chose to let the birds retrieve the chips from the water.

As Abe-san said, the rugged coast was even more spectacular from the boat.

The boats really get in close to some of the rocks.

We saw plenty of canoes and people hiking along the coast.

The boat tour includes Japanese explanation of many of the unusual rock formations.  Senganmatsu Island got its name from Ikeda Tsunakiyo, the Second Lord of the Tottori Domain, who offered 1000 kan (sengan) of silver to anyone who could move the rock with the pine (matsu) to his garden.

The 30 minute boat ride slowly takes you through the rocks, before picking up speed to return to the port.

When the boat turns, protect your camera. It’s a rough ride and you will get splashed.

Before you head back to the dock, you get a preview of Tottori’s famous attraction.  Tottori has Japan’s only sand dunes.

The dunes are typically crowded and the main entrance looks like a tourist trap with camel rides and a chair lift.  Again, Abe-san pulls through and takes us to a more secluded area right across from the entrance to Children’s Country.

After spending our time on the Uradome Coast, we only have one hour remaining.  It takes 20 minute to drive back to Tottori City, so we quickly follow Abe-san’s directions to find the most likely area for wind ripples.

Abe-san was right yet again, the sand was wet and the fumon (wind ripples) were hard to find.

We followed his directions and found our fumon.

I’ve read other bloggers complain that the dunes aren’t as spectacular as those in deserts around the world.

They are unusual in Japan though.  Accompanied by the dramatic coastline and pine filled mountains, I happen to think they are pretty special.

On the way back to Tottori City, Abe-san took a detour to show us a special view that includes Tanega-ike pond, the dunes and the ocean.  We got back to Tottori Station exactly 3 hours after we started.

We had a great experience in Tottori thanks to our expert guide.  Thankfully we abandoned my original plan and realized that Abe-san knows best.

Details

Tottori is about 75 minutes from Tokyo by plane. It is about 1.5 hours by train from Himeiji.  It is partially covered by the Japan Rail pass, but you will need to pay a supplement since the JR trains use private rail lines for part of the journey. Find a hotel in Tottori.

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The Tottori Tourist Taxi can be booked at the Tottori City International Tourist Support Center. Exit the North Gate of Tottori Station and make a right.  You must be a foreign visitor to secure the 2000 Yen per person rate, but Japanese citizens may accompany foreign tourists.  Note that some of the online information still lists the original 1000 price, but it was 2000 Yen per person at the time of this post.

The boat tour of the Uradome Coast is unavailable during the winter.  Please check the website for availability.