shikokukochi
Kochi
Kochi is the capital of Kochi prefecture, the old province of Tosa, on the Pacific coast of the Shikoku region, a castle city about an hour and a quarter by air from Tokyo and known for its open-air market and its food.
- Prefecture
- Kochi
- Region
- Shikoku
- Journeys
- The Custom Tour of Japan
overview
A castle city on the Pacific, its market under the trees every Sunday.
Kochi faces the Pacific across Tosa Bay, cut off by mountains from the other three prefectures of Shikoku, and it has always kept a character of its own: warm, generous, fond of sake and of company. The old province of Tosa was home to Sakamoto Ryoma, born in Kochi in 1836, the samurai who did more than almost anyone to bring about the end of the shogunate and the Meiji Restoration, and the city remembers him everywhere.
At its centre stands Kochi Castle, whose keep and main palace both survive from the Edo period, the only castle in Japan where they do. Below it, every Sunday for more than three hundred years, a market has run along the avenue to the castle gate, more than a kilometre of stalls under the trees. Kochi is a city that eats well, and its dish is katsuo no tataki, bonito seared over a fire of rice straw and eaten with salt, garlic and citrus.
Beyond the city, the rivers of Kochi are among the clearest in Japan. The Niyodo runs a blue so pure it has a name of its own, and the Shimanto, far to the west, is crossed by low bridges built without rails, so that high water passes over them. Kochi is the natural centre for a journey along the southern coast of Shikoku.
see and do
What to see in Kochi
Kochi Castle
A castle completed in the early seventeenth century and rebuilt in the mid eighteenth century after a fire, the only one of Japan's twelve original castles where both the keep and the main palace survive, on a hill above the city.
The Sunday Market
A street market on Otesuji avenue every Sunday since the seventeenth century, some 1.3 kilometres of stalls of Kochi vegetables, citrus, knives, flowers and pickles running up to the castle.
Hirome Market
A covered food hall near the castle, with dozens of stalls around shared tables, where katsuo is seared over straw flames in front of you and the city gathers in the evening.
Katsurahama
A crescent of beach on the open Pacific south of the city, framed by pines and a small shrine on a rock, watched over by a great statue of Sakamoto Ryoma looking out to sea.
Chikurin-ji
The thirty-first temple of the Shikoku pilgrimage, on Mount Godai above the city, with a five-storey pagoda among cedars and a garden of the Muromachi period.
Makino Botanical Garden
A botanical garden on Mount Godai beside Chikurin-ji, dedicated to Kochi's great botanist and planted with thousands of species in a series of buildings by the architect Hiroshi Naito.
Kochi Prefectural Museum of Art
A museum on a moat-ringed site on the city's edge, with one of the largest collections of Marc Chagall's work in Japan.
Monet's Garden Marmottan, Kitagawa
A garden in the village of Kitagawa, east of the city, made in the image of Monet's garden at Giverny, with a water garden of lilies and a wisteria bridge, approved by the foundation that keeps Giverny.
The Niyodo River
A clear river west of the city, its pools and falls a vivid blue known in Japan as Niyodo blue, best seen at the pool of Nikobuchi and along the gorge of Yasui.
Ino
A town on the Niyodo west of Kochi, famous for Tosa washi, the hand-made paper of the province, with a paper museum where you may watch the papermakers work.
experiences
The best of Kochi
Katsuo over straw
Katsuo no tataki seared before you over a crackling fire of rice straw, sliced thick and eaten warm with salt and garlic, with a cup of dry Tosa sake.
The Sunday market with a cook
A walk through the Sunday market with a Kochi cook, tasting yuzu, small citrus and mountain vegetables, then lunch made from what you chose.
Paper made by hand
An afternoon with a maker of Tosa washi in Ino, dipping and shaking the frame to lay down a sheet of paper fine enough to see through.
The blue river
A day along the Niyodo by private car, stopping at the pools and falls of its gorge, with a riverside lunch of sweetfish grilled on skewers.
plan your visit
Kochi on a journey through Japan
- How long to stay
- Two nights in Kochi suits most journeys, with a day for the castle, the market and the city, and a day along the Niyodo or the coast.
- Getting there
- Kochi Ryoma airport is about an hour and a quarter from Tokyo by air and half an hour from the city by car. From Okayama the Nanpu limited express takes about two and a half hours through the mountains, by way of the Iya Valley at Oboke.
- Pairs well with
- Kochi sits at the heart of the southern coast: the Iya Valley is an hour north by train, Cape Muroto two hours east by the sea, and Matsuyama two and a half hours west across the mountains.Iya ValleyMurotoMatsuyama and ImabariKotohira and TakamatsuNaruto
journeys
Kochi on a private journey
We bring guests to Kochi on the Custom Tour of Japan, created around your party alone, on your dates, with your own Tour Director.
questions
Kochi: questions answered
What is Kochi famous for?
Kochi is famous for katsuo no tataki, bonito seared over straw, for its original castle, its Sunday market, and as the home of Sakamoto Ryoma, a hero of the Meiji Restoration.
When does the Kochi Sunday Market take place?
Every Sunday, all year, along Otesuji avenue below Kochi Castle, from morning into the afternoon, as it has been since the seventeenth century.
Is Kochi Castle original?
Yes. Kochi Castle is one of the twelve castles in Japan whose keep survives from the Edo period, and the only one where the main palace survives as well.
How do you get to Kochi from Tokyo?
By air from Haneda to Kochi Ryoma airport in about an hour and a quarter. By train the journey runs by Shinkansen to Okayama, then the Nanpu limited express, about six hours in all.
How many days do you need in Kochi?
Two nights covers the castle, the market and a day out to the Niyodo River or the coast; three allows Cape Muroto or a night in the Iya Valley.
What is katsuo no tataki?
Katsuo no tataki is bonito seared quickly over a high flame, in Kochi traditionally of rice straw, so the outside is smoky and the inside raw, served in thick slices with salt or citrus sauce and garlic.
Can Kochi be part of a private tour of Japan?
Yes. The Custom Tour of Japan is created around your party alone, on your dates, with your own Tour Director, and it can go anywhere in the country, Kochi included. If you would rather travel independently, the Expert Japan Itinerary plans every day for you.
shikoku
More in Shikoku
Kochi, planned for you.
Tell us when you would like to travel and what draws you to Kochi, and we will answer with a Custom Tour of Japan created around your party alone, or, if you would rather travel independently, an Expert Japan Itinerary that plans every day for you.