Good morning from Hong Kong with a beautiful view. I am off to an (almost) one week trip to the smallest of the four main Japanese islands: Shikoku. After visiting the other three last year, it felt right to spend some days here. Of course, much too short, but I will try to make the best of it. Stops planed are Takamatsu, Kochi, Ozu, and Matsuyama. I don't think there are many reports on that region here yet, so I hope I can share some nice impressions.

The trip started almost 20 hours ago in the wet and cold German winter with an ICE train to Frankfurt Airport. Cathay uses the run-down Terminal 2 which will be out of commission in the next few months. Until then the Sakura lounge is available, which has seen better days. The food is okey and for flights that depart later than mine, the alcohol offerings are quite extensive.

Boarding was on time and I lucked out with a free seat next to me. This is an Aria Suite 777-300ER and I was in 39A, which is an Emergency row window seat. At the beginning and end of the flight it gets crowded around the toilets, but for me it's by far the best seat on the plane (in Economy). The crew was very nice and the flight was not too painful. With the free seat next to me, I managed to work for 5 hours on the laptop, which was rather frustrating, and then finished the book Shōgun to get into the Japan mood.



Transiting in HKG was perfect, from doors open to The Pier Dining Room it was under 20 minutes, including security and walking half the terminal. A wonderful lounge as always, I will miss it once my Emerald status is gone (forever?) in April.




In 50 minutes boarding starts for the next leg to Tokyo Haneda and then it's one last domestic leg to Takamatsu, where I will arrive just after 8pm.

Bon voyage!

The flight from Hong Kong to Haneda was uneventful with the same seat 39A as on the long flight from Frankfurt. I did nap most of the flight and didn't drink or eat anything.
Arrival into Tokyo was on time and I've never seen immigration so smooth: I basically could walk from the plane straight through all steps without queuing anywhere and was on the observation deck with a Kirin in my hand within 20 minutes or so.

The domestic flight to Takamatsu is on JAL so I made my way over to Terminal 1. While strolling through the terminal, I saw this small temporary Haneda Airport Museum which is quite nice for a free exhibition.



And the first souvenir as my current A350 flight tag is already disintegrated.

Now waiting in the Diamond Premier Lounge for the flight to Takamatsu in around two hours. Despite it showing as "Overcrowded" on the JAL website, there are still many free seats. However, the food and drink offerings are not worthy of any photos.

Subscribed! Looking forward to your TR, as Shikoku is the only island (from big 4) I haven't visited yet.

32 hours after leaving my apartment, I've reached my simple but adequate hotel room in Takamatsu (40€ for the night). I only use the room for sleeping so my standards are very low regarding size and amenities. If I splurge on something, it's flights in premium cabins and not hotels usually, but neither on this trip.

Takamatsu at half past nine is virtually dead. I walked around for an hour and only in the end saw groups of (drunk) people around a "dodgy" nightlife area.
Nicely modernized station square:


Takamatsu castle, on my list for tomorrow when It's open:

A deserted covered shopping street:

In the more lively area there was a well-rated Udon restaurant with Curry Udon being the signature dish. The soup was nice but the highlight was (as to be expected) the noodles and freshly prepared Tempura:

On my way back to the hotel I passed by a charming bar and fell back into old patterns from my youth enjoying a shisha. Was a nice experience. Some other guests were quite eager to talk but no-one spoke English (and I don't speak Japanese) so it was not a very fluent conversation.

That's it for today, much too late; but hopefully tomorrow will still be a successful first day of exploring.

Those Toyoko Inn rooms are instantly recognizable after having spent 200+ nights in them.
Was there a line at Tsurumaru? I'm in Takamatsu once or twice a year for work and the last several times the line has been long enough that I've just walked away. I like their curry udon but not enough to wait that long.

The only annoying thing in this room is the giant watch with very loud ticking sounds every second, had to take it from the wall and store it in the bathroom.
There was a line of maybe 10 people, but there was a lot of turnover and it took less than 5 minutes.

My alarm went off at 8am and after a quick shower I packed my bag and checked out of the hotel. It's a beautiful morning with clear sky and the sun makes it feel quite warm.
First stop was the JR office at Takamatsu station to pick up my Shikoku Rail Pass for the next days.


Afterwards, I took the train for 10 minutes towards Ritsurin Garden, apparently the largest garden of its type in all of Japan.
It's a beautiful garden and I spent almost two hours wandering around. The colors will be even more impressive in the next months I assume.
Japanese Apricots already in full colors:






Then it was time for a late breakfast. I wanted to try more Udon as I've read it's one of the specialities of Takamatsu.
First stop for a late breakfast: Matsushita Seimenjo


Directly afterwards it was time for early lunch Udon Sakaeda

This last was definitely my favorite broth and overall dish. The noodles were good in all three places (including yesterday night) and I can't really name a favorite. The Tempura was definitely best last night at Tsurumaru.

I strolled back to Takamatsu station to visit the castle (ruins). It's a nice area with well maintained gardens and I walked through everything in around 30 minutes. Not much of the typical Japanese castle remaining tho.





Final stop in Takamatsu before hopping on the train to Kochi was the free observation deck on top of the "Symbol Tower" at the station. Impressive overview of Takamatsu and surroundings, including an overview of the just visited castle.

So pleased you enjoyed the tempura curry udon at Tsurumaru in Takamatsu. It was one of many highlights of my trip to Shikoku in 2018.
Looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip. And I hope you get to sample more great food in Shikoku - especially katsuo no tataki in Kochi.

After arriving in Kochi I checked in at the Kochi Pacific Hotel, which is again simple but has decorative stone balconies (?). New for me, but I do not really see the benefit of it.


After a quick nap I went out to explore a little bit. The sun was already setting.


"Interesting" architecture, reminds me of a similar bigger "castle" along the Meguro river in Tokyo that stuck in my head since walking past there last year.



The highlight of the evening walk was certainly Kochi castle. The castle itself was already closed, but the park surrounding it is publicly accessible and still offers nice views of the castle...

... and the city.


Last task for the day was finding something to eat so I went to Hirome Market.


I had the same idea as the commenter above:
And it was, as expected, very delicious. Tender and flavorful fish with light smokey flavor and the salt is a perfect combination.

I am not that hungry today but really tired, so I decided to postpone trying out more food to tomorrow evening. Now hopefully a long refreshing night, as tomorrow I need be extra-awake to not drive my rental car on the right side of the street.

After a desperately required 8+ hours of sleep I awoke refreshed for my 8am rental car pick-up. It's my second time driving in Japan after I had my license translated, which is required for German driving licenses, last November. I rented with NISSAN Rent a Car this time. The staff was not overly friendly, but the car was fine pick-up and return went smooth.


I only had a vague plan to go into Iya valley.


First stop were the Iya Valley Vine bridges.



From here on, the scenery only got more impressive. I had stop myself from parking all the time to take pictures.




At the far end of the valley, I wanted to walk over more vine bridges. However, seemingly I should have done more research as they are closed over the winter months.


On the way back I stopped in the Nagoro "Scarecrow" village, which, as far as I know, was created as a reaction to the ever lasting land flight. Quite an experience.

The "highlight" is the old gymnasium of the school, which is not needed anymore with less than 30 inhabitants remaining.


From there I drove back to the first Vine bridge and the further down the Iya Valley until reaching the main road again.



Iya Valley "Peeing Boy" statue:

The color of the water is not edited:


And back to Kochi along the main road through Oboke Gorge.


My pictures certainly don't do the beauty of this area justice, I can only recommend spending (ideally) multiple days here. I would love to come back and do more hiking as today it was mainly driving and stopping.
Regarding the driving itself: It's really tiring to drive one the small mountain roads that are usually to narrow for opposing traffic. Luckily, it was very calm today. Added difficulty is, of course, the left-hand driving, which requires additional focus all the time if you're not used to it. Before returning the car, I accidentally drove onto the Expressway and had to go 10 km up and down. At least now I know how to pay tolls in Japan.

I didn't eat anything except a 7-eleven sandwich in the morning. So changing that is my main goal for the night.

First dinner at Myojinmaru, famous for Katsuo no Tataki. It was on another level than yesterdays attempt. To drink I had the Sake sample tray.

More food: So-called Chotaro and Bonito Skewers and with tree types of flavor (Wasabi, sweet miso, and yuzu pepper mayo).


To finish a delicious lemon sour with fresh lemon and a little bit of salt and two types of nigiri: bonito and wagyu. The latter was sort of a waste since I only tasted fish after all the bonito before.


All together was only a little over 30� which I think is amazing value.


While walking around I found a Ramen place (Tosanoya) that had a long queue yesterday. Today it was only few people so I felt tempted to try it out. Supposedly it�s Yokohama style Ramen, very rich and tasty!


After two dinners it�s time for a small walk. On the way I saw a small craft beer shop. The bar tender took a lot of time for a (in his opinion) perfect draft. The beers were just okey. The second one had a spicy note that was quite unique.



My original destination was Kochi castle. This time nicely illuminated.

The plan for today is going to Ozu on the east coast of Shikoku with a few stops on the way.

First train for today is the Limited Express to Kubokawa. It�s the first grey morning of this trip.
At some point we paralleled the coast with some heavy industry at the port.





Quick change to the Yodo line to cross east to west. Another train waiting at Kubokawa station:

First views of the Shimanto river:


First destination for today is Ekawasaki. I decided to stop here and continue with the next train two hours later. Conveniently there�s bike rental at the station. Unfortunately, they do not seem to cater to tall people, so it was quite a painful ride in the legs. My route was 10km down and then back up the Shimanto valley. The water is pretty low at this time, but still some nice views. The valley it�s famous for the submersible bridges that cross the river quite low and have no railing.






Now I�m on the next Yodo line train bound for Uwajima, my next stop.

Another painted train at Uwajima station:


Bull fighting is big in Uwajima and they have a statue at the station. The palms along the streets immediately remind me of the Mediterranean cities.

The shopping street is deserted on this Friday afternoon:


My destination was the castle which is above the city on a hill. It�s one of only 12 castles in Japan that are original and not reconstructed from scratch.

A wood model shows the skeleton of the donjon to scale. If the camera translation is correct (no English signs at all), the donjon in this form was built in the 17th century.

Good views all around:



Next and last stop today: Ozu

Ozu is approximately half-way between Uwajima and Mastuyama. The town is known for its old town with some nice residences that I plan to visit tomorrow.




First stop was dinner at a Izakaya Restaurant "Ozurobata Aburaya". Very different vibe compared to the smoke-filled huts I've visited on previous trip to Japan.


Sashimi of the day:

Grilled prawn:

Buttered grilled potato with SYUTO salted and fermented tuna:

Grilled duck with leek:

Grilled scallop wrapped with nori:

All in all a delicious meal in a nice setting. Two tasty Sake that were recommended by the staff and the five dishes were a reasonable 30�.

And for the night walk I passed Ozu castle that was only in the last years rebuilt.