If the Yamaguchi post office were looking for an image to place on a commemorative stamp of their prefectural capital, they would probably choose the city's magisterial five-story pagoda, built on the grounds of the Ruriko Temple. Made from Japanese cypress, the pagoda is typical of the Muromachi Period Kyoto style. It is strikingly situated beside an ornamental pond graced by bushes and topiary, the effect only slightly marred by a twittering tape recording that gives you an account of the building's history.
The bullet train does not number Yamaguchi among its stops, sparing the city some of the "development" blight which has vulgarized so many Japanese cities. Its best-known form of transport is a 1937 locomotive, one of the few in Japan to remain in regular service. Operating on weekends and holidays, the gleaming steam engine, called the SL Yamaguchi-go, runs between the castle town of Tsuwano and Ogori.
During the Warring States Period (1482-1573), Japan's century of anarchy, much of the cultural and political life of the country shifted to the provinces. Of the dozen or so self-styled "little Kyotos" dotted around Japan, Yamaguchi, which describes itself with some accuracy as the "Western Ancient Capital," has a visible legacy of the Imperial city.