Originally Posted by
13901
Thanks! I've been to Japan a fair number of times, but if there's one thing I've always missed was the "small town" feel, and the rural parts of the country. I'm following on Instagram a group of bikepackers and now this TR is going to be a great addition.
(When you can make it back) definitely go visit some of the smaller towns and rural areas! And despite its reputation, the majority of the country area-wise is forest and smaller towns rather than big cities.
As far as biking goes, there's the famous Shimanami Kaido between Shikoku and Honshu, but also a
1000-ish km circuit around the island that's pretty popular. Doing it all in 11 days seems like it would be pretty brutal for most people though, especially with all the hills.
Originally Posted by
FlyerBeek
Great trip report! Thanks so much for sharing this portion of Japan with us. Living in the Tokyo area this year, one of the few positives of the pandemic (and all the States of Emergencies in most major Japanese cities throughout the year) has been the ability to explore more remote areas of Japan that I wouldn't ordinarily visit. I've yet to travel to this corner of Shikoku, but I definitely want to visit there in 2022. I recently had a great trip to Matsuyama and hiked Mt. Ishizushi (Shikoku's highest peak) in September.
-FlyerBeek
Thanks!
Last year I went to Shikoku twice, in July (Ehime/Kochi) and then again in September (Kagawa/Tokushima), and it's far enough away even from Osaka that you need more than a weekend to get to most of the interesting places. At one of the guesthouses I stayed at last year, the owner (mostly) jokingly said that people from Tokyo forget that Shikoku even exists, and the majority of visitors are from Kansai or further west.