The birthplace of revered Buddhist ascetic Kobo Daishi, Shikoku is synonymous with natural beauty and the pursuit of spiritual perfection. It’s home to the 88 Temple route, Japan’s most famous pilgrimage, even if some henro(pilgrims) today make the trek in air conditioned comfort.
Yet, this is not merely a place for passive soul searching. The stunning Iya Valley, a rugged and ancient Pacific Ocean coastline, gorgeous free flowing rivers and mountain ranges all beckon to be explored firsthand.
If the inner demons are restless, there’s also Takamatsu, Kochi and Matsuyama, attractive and youthful cities with excellent regional cuisine and all the trappings of ‘mainland’ modernity.
Travelers are quietly heralding the virtues of the island mountains to escape their Genji pursuers.
Easy to access from Honshu via two glorious feats of engineering, Shikoku offers an adventurous retreat from the outside world.
Tokushima
With Mt Bizan looming in the west, and the shinmachi gawa cutting a gentle swathe through the middle, Tokushima is an appealing modern city and, with a number of nearby temples, make a popular starting point for pilgrims.
Every August, the Aawa odori Matsuri a traditional dance festival, attracts thousands of Japanese from across the country.
At other times, the Naruto whirlpools have visitors in a spin.
Kochi
Kochi is compact city with a deserved reputation for enjoying a good time. The prefectural office is located in Kochi City.
The town also boasts a samurai of great national significance. During the Meiji Restoration, Sakamoto Ryoma was instrumental in bringing down the feudal government. His existence is still inherited in the future generations.
Ehime
Occupying the western region of Shikoku, Ehime Prefecture has the largest number of pilgrimage temples 27 of them, to be precise.
Like Tosa, the southern part of the prefecture has always been considered wild and remote; by the time pilgrims arrive in Shikoku’s largest city, Matsuyama, they know that the hard work has been done.
There are large clusters of temples around Matsuyama and the Shimanami Kaido bridge system, which links Shikoku with Honshu and makes for a spectacular bike ride.
Prefectural highlights are the immaculately preserved feudal castle and historic Dogo Onsen in Matsuyama, and the sacred peak of Ishizuchi-san, the tallest mountain in western Japan.
An interesting story about Ehime is that there are areas where orange juice comes out of the faucet of the school. In other words, we can see that Ehime produces a large number of oranges.
Kagawa
Kagawa prefecture is famous for udon noodles. The prefectural office is located in Takamatsu City.
Udon is said to have originated in China and traveled west across the Silk Road to become Italian pasta. In Japan, it seems to have spread as udon and soba.
It changed little by little depending on the climate of each land, and was propagated to various places.
Not only in Kagawa, you can eat udon noodles at Marugame Seimen and Hanamaru Udon chain restaurants.
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If you are planning to visit Japan, you can try these lessons and make the most of your trip! Well then, we are looking forward to seeing you on our next column!
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