Hofu Tenmangu Mitokuji temple Izumo Taisha Omori Silver mine Xavier memorial church peace memorialpark miyajima sanctuary_outline Shukkeien Adachi garden Ikouji Rurikouji temple Amida-ji Sourin-ji Kourakuen Japanese trad.Garden_outline Matsue Yonago Shimonoseki Okayama Hiroshima HAB CITY_outline TSUYAMA TSUWANO MATSUE CHOFU IWAKUNI HAGI SAMURAI towns_outline ONOMICHI YANAI TAKEHARA KURASHIKI TOMO SHIMOKAMAGARI Xavier Cathedral SHIMONOSEKI Washi Touken Bizen Pottery Hagi Pottery & Kilns Japanese trad.artcrafts Experience-outline GEGEGENO Kitaro Matsuda museum Naval Base of Kure MAZDA,Hofu plant Modern Japan-outline Kirin beer Park in Okayama Tottori sand dune Mt.Fuji of Sanin DAISEN SHINJI Lake Iwami coast Oki Hagi coast Nagato SANIN COAST-outline SHUHODO Trail to Hikimi Hiruzen Highland Kibi Highland Tsuyama Travel with Stream locomotive Deep Inland Tour-outline SETO-OHASHI Seto-inland seas OANORAMA view Tiboli Park Tokiwa Park Inland-sea-outline List of Japanese terms Bathing in Japan 7seafood of the Lake Shinji Blow fish Stone fish Show Crab Oysters Buchwheat Noodles Peach and Other fruits Okonomiyaki
 
  Hofu, located on the Sanyo Honsen train line in the middle of Yamaguchi prefecture, is a small town with a couple of big attractions. Foremost among them is the HouhuTenmangu Shrine, where students go to pray before taking their tests. The shrine, together with Kitano Tenmangu (in Kyoto) and Dazaifu Tenmangu (in Fukuoka), is counted among Japan's Three Greatest Tenmangu Shrines.  
 
 
     
   
 
Hofu is rich in history and has many ruins and other places of interest for those who enjoy seeing the relics of Japan's bygone ages. One of these is the Amidaji temple. On either side of the gate of Amidaji stands Nio (the statue of a temple guard), which has been designated as an Important Cultural Asset. Amidaji is located in the beautiful natural surroundings and its precincts have been planted with 50 kinds of hydrangeas.

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  A strategically positioned port on the Seto Inland Sea, Hofu is also home to Mazda Motor Corporation's newest automobile plant. While not exactly "traditional", this plant is a marvel of Japanese technical engineering and can produce an entire vehicle per minute. Visitors can tour the plant, and seeing the robots put a car together in the blink of an eye is an experience that seems more out of a Terminator movie than real life. If you think that Japan is all samurai and geisha, this very modern facility will give you a glimpse of Japan as it is today.

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