Tomonoura is the Inland Sea's best-preserved Edo-period port — a labyrinth of stone walls, wooden merchant houses, and lantern-lit alleys that so captivated Hayao Miyazaki he used it as inspiration for Ponyo. A private guide and a sake cellar awaiting your visit make this ravishingly intimate.
What to expect
Your local historian meets you at the ancient tomo (harbour wall) and leads you through streets unchanged in three centuries — past a ship-chandler's warehouse turned gallery, a hilltop temple with the full bay spread below, and a sun-bleached boatyard still building wooden craft. The centrepiece is Iroha Honten, one of Japan's oldest producers of kōshu-shu (aged tidal port sake), where the master brewer pours five expressions in a cool stone kura. The silence here is the silence of another century.
Good to know
Tomonoura is accessed from Fukuyama Station (15 min by bus) or directly by boat from Onomichi. It is a half-day excursion, ideal when paired with another Hiroshima-area stop. Pre-book the brewery tasting as private sessions are limited to small groups. Wear flat shoes — the harbour cobblestones are beautiful but uneven.