Tottori

Tottori exists because sand dunes exist. The Tottori Sand Dunes—Japan's largest, stretching 16 kilometers along the coast—draw tourists to what feels like desert transplanted to Japan. Camel rides, sandboarding, and the Sand Museum (featuring sculptures that change themes annually) create a tourism industry from what was once considered agricultural disaster.

The prefecture is Japan's smallest by population (fewer than 550,000), but converts size into identity. "Gegege no Kitaro," a famous manga about yokai (supernatural creatures), was created by Shigeru Mizuki from Sakaiminato; the town now features yokai statues throughout. The pear industry leads Japan; Tottori's volcanic soil suits the fruit.

Economic development focuses on what's distinctive rather than competing with larger neighbors. By 2026, Tottori's bet is that smallness itself can be marketed—that tourists seeking escape from Tokyo crowds might value Japan's least-populated prefecture precisely because it's least populated. The sand dunes that frustrated farmers now fund the prefecture. Sometimes constraints become attractions.