TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- Mandarin Airlines announced on Tuesday (July 9) it will launch a new route in September between Taichung and Tottori (鳥取), Japan.

From September 4, there will be two round-trip charter flights every Wednesday and Saturday. The outbound flight will leave Taichung at 7 a.m. and arrive in Tottori at 10:50 a.m. local time, while the return flight will leave Tottori at 11:50 a.m. and arrive in Taichung at 01:45 p.m.

Located in southwestern Honshu (本州), Tottori is famous for sand dunes along the coast of the Sea of Japan. Comprising an area of more than 30 square kilometers, they form the largest sand dune system in Japan.

The unique, windswept landscape is spectacular. Recreational activities such as camel riding and sand boarding are also available on the dunes.

Tottori is the hometown of two famous Japanese manga artists: Shigeru Mizuki (水木しげる) and Gosho Aoyama (青山剛昌). Mizuki is best known for the “GeGeGe no Kitaro” series (spooky Kitaro), and Aoyama is the author of “Case Closed” (aka Detective Conan).

The carrier will work with travel agencies to offer various tour packages for Tottori. To fans of Tottori and manga, the new nonstop flights will spare them the trouble of having to travel via Tokyo, Osaka, or other major Japanese cities.