With some awesome day trip options available in the surrounding area, having your own car makes sense. Without one, it’d be much harder to enjoy all that Kitakyushu, 35 miles away, has to offer. Among your first few stops here ought to be Kokura Castle, Riverwalk Kitakyushu and Sea Mall Shimonoseki. Locals will also likely point you in the direction of Tsuwano, 35 miles away. If you can only find time for one attraction here, let it be Road Station Tsuwanoonsen Nagominosato. (But we’d also highly recommend Tsuwano Catholic Church and Tsuwano Castle.)